Page 123 of Unspoken Rules

I stand there for a long time staring at the door, wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do. How do I get through to him? I just want my son to talk to me about what’s going on. I want to fix this. But I can’t do that unless he wants to, and it’s clear he doesn’t.

At some point, I pull away and go back into the kitchen. I’m not sure how long it was that I was gone, but Bryson took the food off the stove so it wouldn’t burn. He looks at me as I walk in and seeing him sitting at the table only confuses me more.

He’s the one thing that will make me feel better right now. But in making myself feel better, I’m only digging us deeper into this grave we’ve dug for ourselves.

How fair is it for me to take him down with me? How fair is it for me to do this with him?

Yet I’m so weak when it comes to him. So I go to him. Because he makes me forget the pain.

And he must see the devastation on my face because he gets up so quickly the chair scrapes on the floor. He wraps his arms around me, holding me as I hold him.

This is a mess. It’s such a fucking mess, and it’s only getting worse.

Chapter Fifty-One

Bryson

Mila picks me up from work on Friday since I don’t need to go home and change or anything and drives us right to dinner to a Hibachi place about a half hour away. We get there twenty minutes early and stay in the car to catch up while we wait for the others.

She invited Mark, Onyx, and Tomas. She said she reached out to Chris, but he didn’t answer her. Even if he did, he wouldn’t have come.

“Have you talked to him at all?” I ask.

She shakes her head, looking out the window. “I’ve been so worried, but I ended up calling his mother and she told me he’s fine. But the way she said fine makes me think he isn’t.”

“He showed up at the house yesterday.”

Her eyes widen, and she turns to me. “To stay?”

I run a hand through my hair, sighing. “Just to get his things. He and Cole shared some words.” I huff. “I don’t want to be mad at Chris because he’s dealing with something, but it’s hard to ignore how he’s treating everyone like shit just because he’s mad.”

“That’s Chris though.”

“He’s never done this before.” Mila winces. “What?”

She sighs, turning her gaze on me. “Bryson, Chris has always been like this. You just never saw it because it wasn’t toward you.”

My brow furrows. “What do you mean?”

“Chris is an asshole. He treats people like crap when he’s mad about something. You’re like the only person he never did it to, and honestly, we all realized he didn’t do it around you either. We could never figure out if it was because you made him different or if he wanted to hide those parts from you. But this stuff with Chris? Though it's been bad lately, this is nothing new.”

“I don’t understand… He’s always been like this?”

“Yeah, Bry. He has. But we never took it personally because he was just always grumpy. That was Chris. He obviously didn’t want you to see him like that. Take it as a compliment.”

I slink down in my seat. “I feel deceived.”

“No,” she says adamantly, shaking her head. “He didn’t do it on purpose, not for any bad reason. I think he saw how good of a person you were and knew he was being mean but couldn’t help himself. With the drinking now, he just doesn’t care who sees.”

“Mila, I need to tell you something…” I lick my lips and sneak a glance at her. She looks scared. “It’s nothing bad. I mean, at least it shouldn’t be, but you have to promise not to tell anyone.”

“Of course, Bryson.”

“I’m serious. Even if you get captured and tortured.” I smile, and she does too. “You take this to your grave.”

She shifts in her seat, turning her body toward me. “I promise I won’t say anything. What’s going on?”

I take a breath and let it out slowly. Telling her may not be the best idea, but I need to get this off my chest. “I’ve been—”

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