Page 24 of How to Prevent a Fumble

“You don’t have to do this,” I start, but she hushes me with a wave of her opposite hand before pushing the bathroom door open.

Closing it behind me, she heads over to the paper towels just as I completely lose it.

The weight of all of it crashes down around me.

Years of therapy, working on myself, and trying to block Tony out seems to be washed away in a second. I know enough to understand it’s still there, and this is just simply a moment of weakness, but I wonder how many moments like these I’ll have throughout my life, simply because I fell in love with the wrong person. Someone who never had my best interest in mind.

Someone who’s so okay with breaking me down, he makes a sick hobby of it.

Wrapping me in a hug, Amara holds the back of my head as I cry into her shoulder. She doesn’t speak. Doesn’t tell me everything is going to be okay. Doesn’t push me to tell her what I’m crying about. She just holds me, letting me get it all out.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I ask quietly when my tears have slowed down.

She pulls away slightly, her beautiful eyes sparkling with theirown tears.

“Isla is our family, and you’re her family, Briar. You’re family to us; it doesn’t matter how often we see you.”

I stare into her eyes, trying to find an ounce of malicious intent in them. But I can’t.

And I have to remind myself that not everyone is out to get me.

When the divorce got messy, I almost lost Zara. Despite everything she did for me, I was convinced that she was going to screw me over. That she intentionally got me a bad lawyer to mess with me. The guy wasn’t even bad, he was actually really good. But at the time nothing was ever good enough for me.

Because I saw everyone through the lens of what Tony would do. Tony would screw me over, so surely my friends would too. Everyone, including my parents and Owen.

The only person I knew I had in my corner was Elara.

But that’s exactly what Tony wanted.

And after months of therapy, things got better. That doesn’t mean I don’t lash out every once in a while.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Amara asks, her hand dropping to my arm.

I shake my head, taking a deep breath. “My ex-husband. He’s been making everything difficult for years, but lately I, I don’t know. I don’t know what changed, but he’s become insufferable. Threatening to take Elara away.” My voice breaks saying the words, and I squeeze my eyes shut, attempting to stop the sob from escaping. “and I think he broke into my house. I don’t know. He said something about getting better locks.”

“Oh my God,” Amara whispers, wiping my tears away. “Listen. No one is taking that little girl away from you, you got it? I don’t know much about this asshole, but I can tell you right now that you’re better for that girl than that little bitch will ever be, got it?”

I nod.

“You think he did it just now while you’re away?”

I wince.

“I’ve been staying elsewhere actually,” I tell her, not sure if I want to go into details.

She doesn’t pry.

“We’re going to figure this out, okay?”

“Can you do me a favor?” I ask quietly.

“Anything you need, Bry.”

“Please don’t tell Isla right now. She’s going to tell my brother and he’s going to kill someone. Training camp is coming up and I don’t need him worrying about me on top of everything else.”

I can tell she doesn’t really like this idea, but after a couple silent moments, she nods, pulling me into another hug.

“Whatever you think is best for you, hon. But at some point you should tell him.”

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