It’s for the Best
EASTON
It's for the Best
It’s been two days.
Two days since I walked into that restaurant, and my entire world crashed before my eyes. Two days since she looked at him and said the words that I haven’t been able to forget.
It’s fake.
I roll onto my back and stare at her small form beside me.
She’s fast asleep, her back against my arm, curled up with the covers riding low. She’s in one of my t-shirts, and she looks so peaceful, I can’t help staring at her.
Everything has been different since we returned.
She’s barely looked at me. Barely spoken to me, and I don’t know how to fix it.
I want her. Lord, I want her so badly. I want to sit her down and tell her there’s nothing fake about what I feel for her. But she’s told Mason how she sees it.
And she knows I’m hiding something.
Maya…
How do I tell her the truth? All of it?
Fuck! She’ll run. It’ll be the perfect excuse. The perfect reason to truly end it all and go our separate ways.
My heart squeezes painfully at the thought of losing her. The pain is so much that I subconsciously reach for her, a way to anchor myself that she’s still here, with me.
I wrap my arm around her waist and gently pull her close.
She makes a sound in her sleep but doesn’t move away. I lean in and kiss her head.
Mine.
I’m still holding her when my phone buzzes on the nightstand.
I glance at it, and it’s Mason.
It’s six-fifteen in the morning, and I know what it is. The call I’ve been dreading.
I know my best friend too well to foolishly believe he let it slide just by hearing her call it fake.
Slowly, I slide out of bed, grab the device, and head for the living room when I’m sure Riley is still fast asleep.
“Mase.”
“Don’t.” A breath on the other end. The silence stretches, then he speaks again. “I’ve been thinking about it for two days. I’m going to say it once, and I need you to just take it.”
I swallow.
I know what’s coming, but it doesn’t make it any easier. My chest constricts, and my jaw clenches before he says the words.
“End it.”
“Mason…”
“I’ve watched you for fourteen years, and I know you too well to take this from you, Easton.
The Vegas girl. The girl from the gala. The one whose name you didn’t know even after three months, and then Maya.
I never said a word, because they were adults and it was your life and none of it was ever my business. ”
“Mason—”
“No, Easton. It’s my business now, and I won’t let it happen. Not with you. Not to my sister.”
Every word I have in me dies in my throat because there’s nothing to say to that.
“She got out of six years relationship with a bastard, Easton. She’s not ready for another. She’s ready to figure out who she is, and she can’t do that in the same house with you…” He stops. “She doesn’t belong in your world. She’ll never fit. She’s not cut out for you, f-for…”
My jaw aches. His words sting.
“And I know you think you love her, but you don’t.
Easton, you’re not ready. First, you keep her under your roof.
The proximity makes people feel things. And she’s in a fragile place.
These feelings are normal. But then you continue to hide the Maya situation from her.
That’s not the kind of scandal she wants to face right now.
Not while still trying to cleanly get away from Preston. You know I’m right, Easton.”
“Mason, I promise it’s not like that. I…”
But he cuts me off again.
“I don’t want to hear it, Easton.” His voice is cold, and I know he’s made his final decision.
But his next words gut me. “If you’re truly my friend and you value this friendship, you’ll let her go.
End it. Never speak to her again, let her heal and fully pursue the life she deserves, on her own terms.”
The words are at the tip of my tongue. The love confession.
I love her. It’s not the same. It’s never been the same, not for one hour of it.
But I can’t say it. He’s made his final decision.
The silence stretches. I can’t find the words to say what he wants. But I know he’s waiting for an answer.
And as if the universe is punishing me for my old sins, my eyes suddenly land on her.
Riley, at the foot of the stairs, hair a beautiful mess, a yawn escaping her lips, and sleepy eyes staring at me.
“Say something,” Mason urges.
“E-Easton…” Riley calls, moving towards me.
Lord. I’m in trouble, and I know it.
I can’t push her away. And I can’t speak to her like I want. Not now. Not when Mason is on the call, waiting for a response.
“What do you want me to say?” I ask weakly, lowering myself onto the couch to avoid losing my balance.
“She’s there.” It’s not a question. He knows. He heard her voice. I don’t respond.
“Tell me that you’ll end it.” His voice hardens. “The fake thing. The arrangement. Whatever the two of you are calling it this week. End it, and let her stand on her own…”
Riley moves closer and stares down at me. There’s a small frown on her face. I place a finger on my lips to signal to her to stay quiet. Her frown deepens, but she says nothing.
“It’s for the best, man. You’re my best friend, but not at the expense of my sister. End it.”
I close my eyes.
“Okay.”
He’s quiet for a long moment.
“I’m not the bad guy here, Easton. I love you both, but this is for the best.”
He hangs up.
I drop the phone, and Riley finally speaks.
“W-who’s that?” For the first time since I’ve been with this woman, I see the doubt in her eyes.
She didn’t have this look when she told Mason it was fake. But now… now she looks at me like she’s one thread away from unraveling. From breaking down, and I can’t help it.
I reach for her arm and pull her onto my lap.
“It’s a call from coach, baby. Some change of plans about the Chicago game. Didn’t want to wake you, so I came down to take the call.”
“Y-you’re not going anymore?”
I wrap my arms around her and pull her to my chest. My lips land on her temple.
“It’s still on, and I’m going. Just some last-minute changes on the meeting time for the trip.”
I don’t think about how the lie flows fluently. Instead, my head stays on the conversation I’d just had with her brother.
Lord. I can’t do it. Not now, not today.
I’m not strong enough. But I have to. I have to respect Mason’s wishes.
And I know he’s right.
I’m not the right man for her. Not with my reputation. Not with Maya hanging by a thread.
Fuck!
I should have told her the truth all along… let her in on who I truly am. What I’ve been hiding. Now, it’s too late.
She doesn’t need that in her life. Not when she’s doing well.
She doesn’t need me anymore.
She’s got a client. She’s got her mother back, half of her father, a brother who’d walk through a wall for her, two friends she’s reconnected with. She did all of that herself. I bought her a fifty-dollar camera and she built the rest with her own hands while I watched.
She’ll be fine. She’ll be better than fine.
She’ll be better off without me standing in the way. Without another scandal dragging her down.
Resting my head on hers, I decide.
I’ll end it.
Four days. Chicago, then Detroit. I’ll play, I’ll come home, and I'll tell her. I’ll finally let her go.
“Practice today?” she asks, raising her head.
I shake mine, because I can’t speak.
Eventually, I carry her back to the bedroom, and we lie in bed in silence. She soon falls asleep, leaving me to my thoughts, and I stay awake, watching her, memorizing every little curve of her angelic face, knowing it’s the last time I will ever see her this peaceful.
***
She drives me to the lot on Thursday.
Six-forty in the morning, gray light, my bag in the back.
She’s in my hoodie with her hair up and one hand on the wheel, the other on my knee. She seems super excited about the game, as she rambles on about her gig. She talks about the lighting, the venue, whether they’ll let her move a lamp. And I listen to all of it, smiling because I can’t help it.
I’m enthralled by this woman. By all of her.
She pulls in beside the bus. Wyatt is already at the door, yelling something at Kai.
She turns to me.
“Go kill it, superstar,” she says with a smile and leans in to kiss me.
I’m powerless to it. I take her lips, palm settling on the nape of her neck to keep her close as I kiss her one last time. I savor the moment, committing her taste to memory.
My heart aches with every flick of her tongue against me, and when I pull away, her smile slips.
“I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you more, sweetheart.”
I kiss her one final time, and I move.
I get the door open and my bag off the back seat. I’m out on the concrete with the cold on my face, and I lift a hand and wave.
I love you, baby. The words are on my lips, but I don’t say them.
She sits there in the driver’s seat with her mouth slightly open.
I walk to the bus.
I want to run back and hug her. Tell her how much I love her. Tell her the truth that it was never fake.
But I know it’s for the best.
Four days and it’ll be over.