Page 92 of Unspoken Rules

I nod. “Yeah, and I told him to fuck off. He didn’t like it.”

Cole doesn’t say anything to that. It’s quiet for a while and I get to my feet.

“I’m going to pack my stuff,” I say as I move to the hallway.

“Why?” I turn around to find Cole standing. “You’re not leaving.”

“I am, actually. I can’t stay here without Chris.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s weird.”

He frowns. “For who?”

I search his eyes, his face, trying to find a single reason he would want me to stay here. And it hits me all too fast. I see it then. It’s there, all over his face.

Cole is lonely. He doesn’t want to be here by himself.

“Do you have any idea why Chris is mad at you?” I ask softly.

“No! Not a fucking clue. If I did, maybe I’d be able to fix this.” He pauses, chest heaving. Cole takes a step closer to me. “Do you?”

I chew on the inside of my lip. “I do, but I’m not sure I should tell you.”

“Why the fuck not?” he barks.

“Because I don’t want to be involved with this, Cole. I left my father’s because he was an asshole. I come here and get the same treatment from someone who is supposed to be my best friend. I don’t want to fuck things up with Chris more than I already have.”

He steps to me. “You aren’t the one who did anything.”

“You don’t even know that.”

“I do know that.”

I shake my head and step away, forcing myself to move even though I don’t want to. What I want to do is lose myself in Cole. Hug him. Tell him to make everything okay. Make him feel okay. This is way more than I ever thought I’d be dealing with in this house. What hurts the most is knowing there is a remedy, and he’s standing right in front of me. Yet he’s so out of reach.

“Please don’t go,” he says. The desperation in those words nearly breaks me. When he speaks again, they sound stronger. “The least you can let me do is allow you a place to stay.”

I look away from him, shaking my head. This is such a bad idea.

“Why, Cole? Why do you feel like you have to do anything for me? You owe me nothing.”

“Because—” He stops abruptly and I expect an elaborate explanation, but he closes his mouth and shakes his head. “Just because. Please let me do this, Bryson.”

I sigh, relenting. “Fine, but I’m not going to be here long. I got the job.”

I turn and head up the stairs. It’s another lie. I don’t usually lie. But I’ve told two lies so close to one another and they fell from my lips so easily. What the hell am I going to do when I find out I didn’t get the job? Come up with another lie to cover up this one? But I need a reason to leave here. More than “I don’t want to be here.”

This is why lying isn’t worth it. It’s never worth it.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Bryson

My cell phone wakes me too early on Saturday morning. I grumble a "hello” into the receiver after blindly swiping at the screen to answer it.

“Good morning, is this Mr. Bryson Montgomery?”

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