Chapter Two
Holden
“You piece of fucking shit.” Wyatt’s fist meets my jaw with a power he usually reserves for assholes who cheat at cards during the Thursday night poker game at Mullet’s bar.
It’s a habit he hasn’t been able to quit since he tried giving up the casino.
I’m not sure how betting on cards at a local bar is any different, but I don’t ask him many questions anymore.
I haven’t since the shit hit the fan between he and my sister. I get why he hates me, but I know damn well if the tables were reversed, he’d have done the same damn thing.
Blood drips from my bottom lip as he pulls back his fist for round two.
Every instinct has me cocking my fist in return, but I hold back.
Sure, part of me understands why he’s doing this.
I messed up his life, and now I’m sneaking around with his baby sister.
That said, a bigger part of me doesn’t want Maya to see what I’m capable of.
“Stop!” Tears roll down her cheeks as she pleads with her brother. “Please, just stop. This is all my fault.”
“No, my baby.” I land my hand on her curved hip and wipe my bloody nose with my sleeve. I’m talking to Maya, though I’m staring toward the heathen in front of me. “This isn’t your fault. Your brother is making his own decisions.”
Wyatt lets out a low chuff as though he’s a bull about to charge. “No, you’re making the decision, Holden. She’s young. She doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing.”
“Guess I could’ve said the same about Alice then, right?”
“You did.” He spits the words and rolls the sleeves of his flannel up, exposing new ink.
I don’t know where he’s getting the money to pay for all that.
He lost his job at Blackrock after he showed up drunk too many times.
Sure, he’s taken odd jobs here and there, but it’s not enough to pay the bills, let alone pay for new ink.
Maya steps between us again, twisting her long red hair to one shoulder before she says, “Wyatt, I smell the alcohol on you. Why are you drinking again?”
He offers a Cheshire grin as he scrubs his hand over his beard. “I stopped by to say good morning and bring donuts for my baby sister, so that means I’m drunk?”
Maya rolls her eyes and steps toward her brother. “How did you get here?”
“I walked,” he nods once, then steps toward me again. “Truck is still parked outside of the bar.”
“So you’ve been drinking since last night?
” Maya’s voice lifts a few octaves as she yells, “Oh my God, what’s wrong with you?
” She wipes a few tears from her eyes. “I thought you wanted to try and get your old job back? The guys need another hand. They’ve been struggling since you left.
I know they’d take you back if you tried to get better. ”
“Is that right?” He nods toward me. “What if I don’t want to go back? Also, I ain’t been drinking all night. I slept off last night’s buzz in the truck. That’s all.”
She glances down at his coffee mug. “So, there’s not a shot of whiskey in that cup right now?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
Hell, he says it so straight I almost believe him.
“Cool.” Maya snatches the cup from his hand and takes a sip herself, recoiling as she swallows. “There’s more whiskey than coffee in this thing! Don’t you have a job out at the falls today?”
“Finished it last week, but this isn’t about me, baby sister. This is about the scum of the fucking Earth abusing his power and playing grab ass with an employee at work.”
Maya throws up her hands and tucks into her office chair as though she’s fed up with the whole thing. I can’t blame her. There’s been no talking to Wyatt for a while now. He’s a shell of who he used to be.
“That’s enough.” I step toward him. “You need to leave.”
He laughs and takes another sip of coffee-infused whiskey. “I’m not going anywhere, buddy. You ruined my fucking life, and now I’m gonna ruin yours.”
I roll my eyes to the side and back again.
“I didn’t put the money in your hands and gamble it away for you.
I didn’t tell the fucking lies. I didn’t treat Alice like shit when she wanted to talk about it.
That was you. If you wanted her back, you could’ve gotten your shit together.
Instead, you became a drunk, wasting everyone’s patience. ”
He steps toward me, balls his fist, and then throws a haphazard cross that’s easy to avoid.
“You got your free shot,” I say, stepping forward, “and I deserved it for hiding things from you, but that’s all you get.”
He laughs and readjusts his cap. “You’ve always thought yourself a righteous man, haven’t you, Holden? Always so much better than everyone else with your fucking morals and fake fucking integrity.”
I shake my head and stare at him. “We grew up the same damn way in the same damn town. You get to choose every day how you live your life, same as the rest of us.”
“See… you’re a self-righteous prick.” Wyatt shakes his head and takes a step back. “You know… I loved your sister. She was everything to me.”
I shrug. “You should’ve acted like it.”
His teeth clench, and at some point, I realize I’m kicking an angry rooster with a steel-toed boot, but if I let this guy roll in here and think he’s got the upper hand, he’s never going to stop.
“I treated her right,” he says, anger seething across his face.
“You lied to her, you made her cry, then left her there alone. How is that treating her right?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Wyatt spits and steps forward.
“You think you’re so fucking perfect. I bet Maya is eating that right up, isn’t she?
I bet she believes this good-boy act you put on.
” He tilts his head to the side slowly as though he’s desperate to ruin my life.
“What if my sister knew the real you, Holden?” His voice is low enough now that his words are only meant for me to hear.
“What if she knew why you’re such a good boy now? ”
My stomach tightens as I stare at him like I might rip him limb from limb.
Maya must pick up on this as she screams, “Wyatt!” Maya stands from the office chair and makes her way toward us. “Go home and sleep this off. I’ll check on you later and we can work all this out.”
Wyatt laughs and glances toward me like the Joker in some dark Batman scene where everything is about to go to hell. “You should call me later,” he says, glancing back toward Maya. “I’ve got a few stories I want to share.”
My body stiffens as I stare toward the guy who I called a best friend most of my life.
I’ve known him since we were kids. We built forts together, went to scouts together, and made sure we worked for the same construction company when we grew up.
We were as close as brothers. Now, nothing is further from the truth.
We’d have gone to war for each other. Hell, we did on multiple occasions. He stepped into fights for me, I stepped into fights for him, and we kept secrets about things. Things that are meant to stay buried. Things that could ruin a man.