Page 310 of Steamy Ever After

“I can’t. Don’t ask me to. First, I tell Peyton, and she doesn’t say anything. Nothing. Then Maddox forces me to tell him. And the result? Nothing again. Wouldn’t you think that if you admitted the absolute worst thing you’ve ever done in your whole life, someone would say something?”

“I think you should tell me, Brodie. I’ll say something. I might even be able to help you.”

“Stay out of this, Alex.”

Neither he nor Alex had noticed Maddox walk over.

“You stay out of it, Maddox. Leave me alone, and stay the hell away from Peyton. You can scowl all you want. I’m a Butler too and can do it as well as you can.”

Alex looked up at him. “Maddox, I’m trying to help.”

He shook his head.

“This is ridiculous. I know how Peyton feels, because she told me. Brodie is obviously tortured by this. Why does it have to be this difficult?”

“He’s going to make it worse,” Maddox mumbled.

“See, Brodie? I told you your brother was trying to protect you, not keep you from Peyton. Right, Mad?”

“It’s true. I don’t want to see things get so bad they’re irreparable.”

Ales stood and put her hand on his brother’s arm. “Please go away, Mad. Let Brodie talk to me.”

He huffed and shook his head, but did as Alex asked.

She grabbed Brodie’s hand. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“For a ride.”

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this, Alex.” They were sitting on a bench near the boardwalk on Moonstone Beach. “Getting away, the ocean air on my face, I feel like a different person.”

“Brodie, tell me what happened that night at Stave.”

“Alex, please.”

“Before, I asked you to look at me. I’m going to ask you to do that again.”

He turned his body so they were face-to-face.

“She needs you. There’s a lot of shit happening in her life right now, and she needs you to help her through it. In order for you to be able to do that, I have to know what happened that night.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you, but if you do to me what Mad’s been doing, I swear I’ll lose my mind.”

“I won’t, Brodie. I’ll be completely honest with you.”

Alex leaned forward with her head in her hands.

“You told me you were going to be honest with me.”

“Did you tell Maddox everything you told me?”

“Yes. Jesus, Alex.”

“I get it. Now, I’m going to tell you how Peyton sees it.”

Brodie walked into his parents’ house feeling more like himself than he had since before he left for Argentina.

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