Page 74 of Lost in the Current of You

By then, his friends had started to disperse, taking a piece of cake as Jake handed them out, so it was just a quiet conversation between us.

“Reece, stop. This isn’t you. I know this is a hard day for you-”

“You don’t know anything,” he croaked. “You’ve never lost someone like I have. Never been blamed for it your entire life.”

My heart ached as he tilted his head up to the ceiling while wrapping an arm around me almost absentmindedly as he swayed in the spot.

He went to grab the bottle again and brought it to his lips but I snatched it off him before the liquid could touch his lips.

He scowled and dropped his gaze to me. “That was a bit rude.”

“I think the party is over for you. Come on.”

There was a flash of anger in his eyes as he wrinkled his nose, but he still kept his arm around me as if I was the only reason keeping him standing. “Who are you to tell me when I’ve had my fun? I am perfectly fine,” he spat while slurring his words.

My head jerked back. I’d never seen him so angry before. I was concerned for him, knowing he was on a downward spiral and that he wasn’t one to spout all his family’s personal matters to anyone listening. He’d confided to me that only two people knew in his life, adding me would be three. He didn’t want to have to explain that his mother died while giving birth to him. Didn’t want the sympathy and ‘sorry for your loss’ when he wasn’t sure what he even lost, in his words. He’d never met her. Never knew what she was like or the sound of her voice or the feel of her arms around him.

Nate came to his side again, overhearing our conversation from where he was cutting up the cake.

He nodded to me as he wrapped his arm around Reece and I stepped away, making Reece’s arm drop from me, the cool breeze replacing his touch.

“Come on, buddy, let’s go on an adventure,” Nate said, directing him around to head inside while I followed behind.

“Who would’ve thought you were the fun Summers,” I heard Reece mumble, and it was like he was aiming to kick me in the stomach with every word he spoke. I stayed quiet as I followed their stumbling frames up the stairs.

“I’m always loads of fun,” Nate quipped.

Reece scoffed but said nothing more.

I’d never been to Reece’s house before but Nate walked confidently through it like he’d been there many times before. He opened a door to a bedroom I assumed was Reece’s and guided Reece through the room towards another door while I lingered by the doorway to the bedroom, eyes bouncing around every detail, or lack thereof.

Nate turned his head towards me as he spoke. “You might want to stay out here. I’m putting him in the shower.”

Reece turned to me then. “Why are you ruining the fun, Nate? Dakota can join if she wants.”

Nate scowled and pushed him lightly into the bathroom before closing the door behind them but not before I heard him mutter, “Like hell that’s happening.”

I decided to sit on the bed while my eyes bounced from wall to wall, noting the bare minimum in here. A desk and gaming computer against the wall to the right of the door, the two bedside tables, and the opened wardrobe that’s messily shoved with clothes and baskets of clothes yet to be put away.

There was a shriek from the bathroom that made me jump before I heard Reece’s voice shout, “What the fuck, Nate? That’s freezing.”

And then Nate’s voice boomed, “So you can sober the fuck up. The only reason I haven’t kicked your ass for how you spoke to my sister and that little comment before is because you’re shitfaced. So sit here and wake the fuck up before I try a different strategy.”

Nate walked out of the bathroom moments after and released a sigh as he dragged a hand over his face then made his way to me and sat on the bed next to me. The drowned-out trickles of water against tiles from the bathroom and the rumbling of music broke through the silence that drew out between us. I’d never heard him stick up for me like that. Never heard him defend me or protect me. I didn’t think he was that type of brother. I had thought he never really cared about what I did or what someone said to me.

“I’m sorry. Today is a lot for him and I tried to control him but he disappeared from me and by the time I found him he was already like half a bottle down.”

I sighed. “I know.”

Nate tilted his head to me. “You know?”

I smiled sadly. “Yeah. He told me.”

Nate watched for a moment before turning his head forward. “Huh.”

I tilted my head, my brows furrowed. “What do you mean, ‘huh’?”

He shook his head and leaned back against his hands. “Nothing. I just didn’t know you guys were that close. He never really tells anyone about that. I mean, I only know because I saw him curled in the dugout, mid-panic attack hours after our game two years ago, and forced it out of him. That’s how I first met him.” He side-eyed me then and winced. “Pretend I didn’t tell you that.”

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