Page 96 of Ever With Me

Maybe they were right anyway. She could catch and lose feelings fast. She was already over Josh.

But she didn’t want to forget Brooks so easily.

This was different in a way she couldn’t say.

And that terrified her.

26

BROOKS

“You’re not seriously goingto that thing, are you?” Brooks asked from the couch as Kayla finished helping Audrey put on her pink cowboy boots.

Kayla gave him a sharp look. “Why? It’s a fun fall festival. That below you or something?”

Cormac shifted in his armchair and shoved his cell phone in his pocket. “Hey, Audrey, you want to go see if we can spot some turtles from the dock?”

“You don’t have to do that, Cormac. Logan’s going to be here in a few minutes.” Kayla straightened and pulled on a light jacket.

“But I wanna see tuttles,” Audrey protested, tugging on her mother’s jacket.

“No time like the present,” Cormac said with a wink. He held out a hand for her, and she bounded over to him with a grin.

“Cormac . . .” Kayla gave him an exasperated look.

He grinned, then headed out the back door with Audrey.

“All right, but when Mr. Logan comes, we have to go. I don’t want to hold him up,” Kayla called as the door closed.

Brooks raised a brow at her as he took his feet off the cushion and sat straight. No wonder she’d stuck around even though she’d been mad and barely talking to him.She has a date.

“So you seeing that guy now?”

“Why, is there a problem? I thought you said it was none of your business,” Kayla snapped.

Yikes.He tried to remind himself that her anger was justified and that he needed to stay humble. “It is none of my business. I was just wondering. He’s not exactly local to where you live.”

“It’s an outing to a fall festival, Brooks, not a marriage proposal.” Kayla checked her phone, barely looking at him.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

Kayla arched a brow at him, exaggeratedly. “A little late for that, wouldn’t you say? Besides, I’ve survived a lot worse. I can handle myself.”

He stared at her quietly.How do I fix this?Peter’s and Brian’s words from the day before came to mind. “You’re right,” he admitted. His fingers curled into the palms of his hands. Funny how when his hands held a guitar, he’d always been able to come up with words that people liked so much they’d play them repeatedly.

And now, when heneededto speak, he could think of nothing worth saying.

“For the record, I’m sorrier about what happened the other night than I’ve ever been about anything, Kayla. I don’t know how to make it up to you. I’ve always wanted to keep you from getting hurt, and I failed so massively and hurt you myself.”

She was silent, then blinked rapidly. Swiping her eyes, she sat across from him. “Damn Cormac. I didn’t want to do this right now. Logan’s going to show up, and I’m going to have mascara running down my face.”

Brooks looked around for a box of tissues, found one, then brought it over to her and sat beside her. “I don’t know how to make it better. I just want you and Audrey to be happy. If I could give you every good thing in the world, I would.”

“You alreadyhave, you idiot.” Kayla sniffled. “But I don’t need a better house, or clothes, or more money, and Audrey sure as shit doesn’t need more toys. You don’t get it, Brooks. You don’t get why I’m so mad, do you?”

He furrowed his brow. “Because I was drunk?”

“No. It’s that you’re in such an awful state you felt theneedto drown your sorrows in alcohol rather than just talk to the people who love you. Ineeda brother. Audreyneedsan uncle. And you’re struggling, Brooks. You think I can’t see that? But my whole life, you have refused to ever tell me about anything that you’re going through. Cormac says you haven’t talked to him about it, either, so who the hell are you talking about it with? No one. Until it breaks you and you pull out a bottle to kill it, right? Why do you think I asked you to give up drinking years ago? You use it as your therapy.”

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