Page 43 of Back to You

He watched the text thread to see if Brandon was responding. All he got was a notification that his message had been read. He waited and waited, hoping for a response.

All he got was left on read.

CHAPTER 10

BRANDON STARED AT his phone, scrolling slowly through his last few texts with Ethan.

[3 days ago] Ethan: Just this one more night, we’re almost done with this case.

[2 days ago] Ethan: Please don’t kill me, this is the last time I swear.

[Yesterday] Ethan: I’m sorry, I don’t know what else to say. I’ll be home as soon as I can.

I swear. I promise. Just one more night.

How many nights did Brandon have left in him?

He heard the door open and glanced at the time. 10 p.m.

“Oh, you’re awake!” Ethan said as he hurried inside. “I’m so glad to see you!”

“You promised me.”

Ethan stopped, his face falling. “What?”

“You promised me, Ethan. You promised me I had you back.”

“You do have me back. I’m so sorry, it’s just this Ortiz case —”

“It’s always a case, isn’t it? If it’s not the Ortiz case it’s the Smithson case. Or the Debardelaben case. Or the Williams case. There’s always some big case.”

“I can’t believe you remember all of those.”

“It’s hard to forget the names of everyone who’s more important than you,” Brandon said, lifting his eyes to Ethan’s. He saw Ethan flinch, and almost felt bad. Almost.

“No one is more important than you,” Ethan whispered in horror. “I didn’t mean to make you feel that way.”

“You never mean to make me feel that way, but you still do it. I’ve told you time and again that I can’t live like this forever, and you promised me, you promised me, that you were done with the crazy hours.”

Ethan just stood there, staring.

“And here you are. Not even a day before you were right back to it, same stupid schedule. Right back to me going to sleep alone. Right back to me never seeing you. Do you really think that’s a sustainable relationship?”

“Brandon —”

“Because I don’t.”

Ethan took a step forward, lifting one hand almost unconsciously. “What are you saying?”

“I don’t know.” Brandon stood up from the couch. “I just don’t know, Ethan. I keep staring at these text messages, waiting to feel something. All I feel is empty. I feel like I have nothing anymore, because you’re not there.”

“I will be here, I promise.”

“What good have your promises been so far? You’ve been lying to me, Ethan! You swore up and down you would cut back as soon as you made senior associate. But it’s been a week and you’re still working yourself to the bone. When does it end? Does it ever end?”

“It will end! Just this last case —”

“What happens when there’s one more case? When Cartwright just can’t do it without you? Nia told you to say no, I was sitting right there when she did! She does it all the time, and she’s on the same level as you. Why can’t you do that? Why can’t you say no?”

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