Chapter 25
DEX
Dylan’s Place was packed for Trace’s bachelor party.
It had started out as just us but then word had spread and everyone wanted to celebrate Trace finally getting to marry the love of his life.
We’d taken over the back section with the pool tables.
Someone had brought a Bluetooth speaker, and classic rock played at a volume that was just loud enough to talk over but not so loud that we’d get kicked out.
Trace was on his third beer and currently destroying Gage at pool. Booker sat at a high-top table, nursing a whiskey and watching everything with his usual quiet presence. Xander was at the bar ordering another round, chatting with Dylan himself.
I leaned against the wall, beer in hand, and tried to enjoy the moment. One of my best friends, my brothers, was getting married tomorrow. This should be a celebration. And it was.
But my mind kept drifting to Leigh.
To our date last night. To the way she’d fit perfectly under my arm as we walked through town. To how right it felt to introduce her as my girlfriend. To the future racing toward us that neither of us knew how to navigate.
“You’re thinking too loud,” Xander said, appearing at my elbow with a fresh beers and a ginger ale for him. He handed me the beer. “Stop it.”
“I’m not thinking about anything.”
“You’re absolutely thinking about Leigh. You get this look. Like you’re trying to solve an equation that doesn’t have a solution.”
“That’s pretty accurate actually.”
He clinked his bottle against mine. “Want to talk about it?”
“Not particularly.”
“Tough shit. We’re talking about it.” He steered me toward a quieter corner, away from the pool tables. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
I took a long drink. “It’s nothing.”
“Dex. Come on. We’ve been friends for over twenty years. I know when you’re spiraling.”
“I’m not spiraling.”
“You are absolutely spiraling.” He waited, patient. “Talk to me.”
I sighed, setting my beer down. “Three weeks. That’s all we have left. And we’re just... ignoring it. Pretending like August 16th isn’t coming. Like she’s not going back to Blue Point Bay and I’m not staying here and this whole thing isn’t about to blow up in our faces.”
“So don’t let it.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It literally is that simple.” Xander’s voice was firm. “One of you moves. Problem solved.”
“I can’t just leave Willowbrook. The garage, you guys, everything…”
“The garage is a building. We’re your brothers whether you’re two miles away or two hundred. None of that changes just because you change your address.”
“But my grandfather…”
“Is dead,” Xander said bluntly. “I’m sorry to be harsh about it, but he is.
And I promise you, he wouldn’t want you to spend your whole life trapped by something he left you.
He’d want you to be happy the same way that he got to be happy with your grandmother.
He wouldn’t want to give us on something like that,”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do, actually. Because that’s what people who love you want. They want you to be happy. They want you to live your life.” He paused. “Dex, you’ve spent your entire adult life taking care of everyone else. Your grandparents. Your business. Us. When are you going to take care of yourself?”
“I am taking care of myself.”
“You’re maintaining. There’s a difference.
” He leaned against the wall beside me. “You’re keeping the garage running because that’s what’s expected.
You’re staying in Willowbrook because that’s what you’ve always done.
You’re living the life your grandfather laid out for you instead of building your own. ”
“That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?” He turned to face me fully. “Tell me honestly, if you could do anything, go anywhere, be anyone, what would you choose? And don’t tell me you’d choose exactly what you’re doing now. I won’t believe you.”
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Because he was right. If I was being completely honest with myself...
“I’d want to build something of my own,” I admitted quietly. “Not inherit it. Not maintain someone else’s legacy. Actually create something from scratch that’s mine.”
“Okay. What else?”
“I’d want to wake up excited about the day instead of just going through the motions. I’d want to feel like my life is moving forward, not just staying in place.”
“And?”
“And I’d want to wake up next to Leigh every single morning for the rest of my life.”
There it was. The truth I’d been avoiding.
Xander smiled. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“But I can’t just…”
“Yes, you can. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.
You can sell the garage. You can move to Blue Point Bay.
You can start over. You can build a life that’s yours, with the woman you love.
” He gripped my shoulder. “I know it’s scary.
Believe me, I know. But staying stuck because you’re afraid of change?
That’s not living, man. That’s just existing. ”
I took another long drink, trying to process everything he was saying. “What if I move there and we don’t work out? What if I give up everything and it’s for nothing?”
“What if you don’t move and spend the rest of your life wondering what if?” He countered. “What if she’s the best thing that ever happened to you and you let her go because you were too scared to take a risk?”
“Moore!” Trace called from across the room. “Get over here. You’re up.”
I looked at Xander. “We’re not done talking about this.”
“I know. But go. Play pool with our brother on his last night as a single man. We’ll talk more later. Maybe rope in Booker for his sensible, stick in the mud type of advice.”
I walked over to the pool table shaking my head and with a smile on my face. A genuine hopeful smile because Xander had put a thought in my head and now that it was there, I was starting to see options where before I’d seen nothing but barriers.
Trace was lost in his own bubble of happiness and grinning like an idiot. “Ready to get destroyed?”
“In your dreams,” I said, chalking my cue.
We played, and trash-talked, and I tried to focus on the game. But Xander’s words kept echoing in my head.
You’re maintaining, not living.
Build something that’s yours.
Wake up next to her every morning.
“You’re distracted,” Trace observed, sinking an easy shot. “Not like you.”
“Just thinking.”
“About Leigh.”
“Maybe.”
He straightened, studied me. “You love her.”
It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah. I do.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’m starting to get the beginnings of an idea.”
He moved around the table, lining up another shot. “You know what Delaney told me when we first got together? She said that love isn’t about finding someone who fits perfectly into your existing life. It’s about being willing to build a new life together. One that fits both of you.”
“That’s... actually really good advice.”
“I know. I’m marrying a smart woman.” He sank his shot. “Point is, you’re not going to find a solution where nothing changes. Something’s got to give. The question is what you’re willing to sacrifice.”
“I don’t want her to sacrifice anything.”
“Then you’ll sacrifice everything. Because you can’t have her and keep your life exactly the same. It doesn’t work that way.”
Gage joined us, carrying fresh beers. “What are we talking about?”
“Dex being an idiot about Leigh,” Trace said.
“Ah. Yeah, that tracks.”
“I’m not being an idiot…”
“You kind of are though,” Booker said, appearing with his whiskey. “You’re in love with her. She’s in love with you. The solution is obvious.”
“There is no obvious solution,” I protested.
“Sure there is,” Gage said. “One of you moves. Preferably you, since she’s got a family tie that she needs to stay in the area for and you could literally rebuild a garage anywhere.”
“It’s my grandfather’s garage…”
“Was,” Booker interrupted. “Was your grandfather’s garage. It’s yours now. And you can do whatever you want with it. Including selling it to start fresh somewhere else.”
“With someone you love,” Gage added. “Building a life you actually want instead of the one you inherited.”
I looked around at my brothers. At these men who may not biologically be related to me but they were my brothers nonetheless. And all I saw here was nothing but support. Love. The belief that I deserved to be happy.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” I admitted. “Leave Willowbrook. Leave you guys. Leave everything I know.”
“Yes, you can,” Trace said firmly. “You’re one of the strongest people I know, Dex. You’ve been through hell and come out the other side. You can do this too.”
“And you’re not leaving us,” Xander added. “Geography doesn’t end family. We’ll visit. You’ll visit. We’ll FaceTime and text and stay in each other’s lives. The only thing that changes is your address. Besides, just try and keep the kids away when they realise you live by the sea.”
“And the fact that you’ll finally be happy,” Gage said. “Really, truly happy. Not just going through the motions.”
I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. “When did you all get so wise?”
“We learned from you,” Booker said quietly.
“You taught us what it means to be there for people. To put family first. To sacrifice for the people you love.” He paused.
“Now let us return the favor. Let us tell you it’s okay to put yourself first for once.
To go after what you want. To choose happiness. ”
“I don’t even know if she wants me to move there,” I said. “She keeps talking about how I belong here. How this is my home. What if that’s her way of telling me that she doesn’t want me to come?”
“Then tell her how you feel,” Trace said. “Actually talk to her. Not about the logistics or the problems. About what you want. What you’re willing to do. What kind of future you want to build together.”
“And stop trying to solve everything on your own,” Xander added. “You’re a team now. Figure it out together.”
Around midnight, people started to leave. Hugs were exchanged, last-minute advice was given even though most of it was terrible. Gradually it was just the five of us, me and four men that meant the world to me.
“Can’t believe you’re getting married tomorrow,” Gage said to Trace. “The first one to fall.”
“Well, not for long,” Xander added with a grin. “We just need Dex to bend the knee and then we’re all officially taken.”
“Can we not?” I said, but I was smiling.
“Too late. We’re all thinking it. Blake said she’s already picked out her outfit for the engagement party.”
“There’s no engagement.”
“Yet,” Booker said. “No engagement yet.”
Trace clapped me on the shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I think you two are good together. Really good. Don’t let fear keep you from something that could be incredible. Don’t be an idiot. Fight for her.”
#
I drove home through quiet streets, my head full of everything my brothers had said.
They were right. All of them. I’d been so focused on what I’d be giving up that I hadn’t stopped to think about what I’d be gaining.
A life with Leigh.
Waking up next to her.
Building something that was ours, not inherited.
Actually being happy instead of just maintaining.
My phone buzzed as I pulled into my driveway.
Leigh: How was the bachelor party?
Dex: Good. Lots of pool and terrible advice.
Leigh: The bachelorette party was similar. Lots of wine and pointed questions about us.
Dex: What did you tell them?
Leigh: That we’re taking it day by day. Living in the moment.
Leigh: Which is true. But also feels like we’re avoiding the real conversation.
Dex: Yeah.
Leigh: Dex?
Dex: Yeah?
Leigh: I don’t want to avoid it anymore. After the wedding, we need to really talk. About everything.
Dex: I know. I’ve been thinking the same thing.
Leigh: Okay. After the wedding. We figure this out.
Dex: Together
Leigh: Together
I sat in my truck for a long time after that, staring at my phone.
After the wedding, we’d talk. Really talk.
And I’d tell her the truth.
That I’d move to the moon if it meant being with her.
That I was ready to let go of the life I’d been maintaining and start building the one I actually wanted.
That she was my home, not Willowbrook.
That I loved her enough to change everything.
I just hoped she’d let me.