Page 15 of If Only In Our Dreams

He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Was sweeter than sweet.

And I was so fucking glad he wasn’t alone anymore that it made me ache. But that also didn’t mean I wasn’t a little, tiny, itty-bitty bit devastated to realize I’d have to wait till we arrived in Belleville to see him. That picking me up hadn’t been a priority. Despite the fact we hadn’t seen each other in almost two years—the longest we’d ever gone without seeing one another.

I’d wanted to come out for his wedding but it’d been in the middle of one of my concerts—and while Miles had offered to reschedule when he found out, I hadn’t wanted to disrupt his big day.

A little part of me hadn’t wanted to go at all, so I’d been grateful for the excuse.

Not for a shitty reason or anything.

But because even though I was Miles’s big brother, that wasn’t what most people saw when they looked at me. I was “Trashmouth”. And I didn’t want to outshine him on the biggest day of his life. Figured he was better off without me, you know?

Wanted to give him his moment, ’cause Lord knew he deserved it.

Which waswhythis was my first time meeting Trent.

And why I had…naively expected Miles to be here for that.

Because he’d been sending me texts telling me just how much he wanted me to come home—and here I was, “home”—his, not mine—and where the fuck was he?

Maybe it had been all talk?

No, no.

Miles wasn’t like that.

He had to have a damn good reason for not being here.

“Where’s Miles at?” I asked, casually interrupting Trent and Ben’s bantering. They’d been biting each other’s heads off since the second they got in the car. Brotherly shit, you know? Nothing weird. So I’d tuned it out until now.

I had my own brotherly shit to worry about.

“Isn’t that the same outfit you wore when I dropped you off?” Trent laughed. He jabbed at Ben’s chest, and Ben slapped his hand away with an unhappy grunt.

“It’scomfortable,” Ben sniffed.

“I hope you washed it,” Trent snorted, reaching for the radio, only for Ben to beat him to it. Immediately country music filled the car and Ben groaned, turning it off. Meanwhile, Trent dramatically sniffed the air, and Ben glared bloody murder his way.

“Of course I fucking washed it.”

“You better watch that mouth of yours or Rosie’s gonna empty out your wallet,” Trent hummed gleefully, eyes dancing. Ben didn’t have a reply to that—and I only had a second to wonder who Rosie was before Trent was finally turning his attention to me and answering my question. “Miles is at home waiting for us,” he said, his smile turning tender.

My stomach churned.

So…hehadn’thad a reason for not coming.

What did that mean?

Maybe he was just…tired?

“You look just like Bubba,” Trent said—staring at me in the rearview mirror for a moment before he turned his attention to the road ahead. It was stop-and-go pulling out of the airport, the cars packed like sardines toward the single exit.

My cheeks heated and I grinned, “I know.”

Ididknow.

It would be hard not to miss it.

---