Page 61 of What are the Chances

“I came here to talk to you, Charlotte. I came here because I’m your fucking boyfriend.” Kyle glares over my shoulder at Mason.

I bring my hand to my forehead and rub away the confusion as if it was that simple. I was so close to patching things with Mason. I’m furious with Kyle and his terrible timing, but I’m also curious.

“Kyle, we broke up. I left you several messages, and there’s the little issue of you cheating on me… again.”

Kyle’s expression softens, and his eyes flick from Mason to me. He steps forward and tugs my hand into his.

“Baby, it’s all a big misunderstanding. I can explain it all if you give me a chance. But you can’t just end us… not after everything we’ve been through.” Kyle’s voice wobbles, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I can feel Mason moving closer to us, and I see him clenching his fists from the corner of my eye.

I pull my hand free and take a step back, ready to tear into Kyle, but Mason steps impossibly closer and pulls me to his side, and I can feel the tension radiating from his body as though he’s barely holding it together.

“Fuck off, Kyle. You interrupted a very important conversation.” Mason’s tone is lethal. I don’t want this to escalate. I want to finish my last night in Ireland wrapped in Mason’s arms, and if he gets into it with Kyle, that isn’t going to happen. So, I wrap my arm around Mason’s waist, confirming the message I’ve moved on—with Mason.

Kyle’s eyes move from my face to where my hand is wrapped, a sheen of red coloring overwhelming his face and neck as he steps closer.

“Get the fuck out of here, Mason, before I smash your fucking face in. This is between Charlotte and me,” Kyle says, deadly calm, then wraps his fingers around my upper arm and pulls hard until I’m out of Mason’s grasp.

Oh hell, no.

“What the hell?”

My words fall on deaf ears as Mason steps forward and punches Kyle in the face. Kyle releases me as he brings his thumb up to his bleeding lip. He isn’t concerned with me anymore, his focus solely on Mason, and he looks furious.

Kyle lunges at Mason, shoving him to the ground. Mason throws another punch, wrestling against Kyle’s weight. Kyle leans back and throws down a heavy fist against Mason’s face in return. I cringe at how hard it hits.

“Kyle stop it. Get off him!” I yell, now panicked he might have broken Mason’s nose. He ignores me, just as I knew he would and always had.

“Mason, please stop. Come on, you’re better than this. He isn’t worth it,” I beg, but Mason ignores me too as he throws another punch at Kyles face.

“What the?” Sam yells from just inside the door. He runs over and tries to intervene between the two, pulling Kyle back.

“Knock this shit off, the two of ya,” Sam screams, pulling on Kyle. Breathing heavy, they’re separated for a few seconds before Mason glances at me, then Kyle.

“Mason…” I hold out my hand, but Kyle says something I can’t hear, and Mason launches at him again.

I feel like Mason landed that punch to my gut. He made a choice to keep the picture a secret from me, allowing me to hate myself for having feelings for him. He’s making a choice to stay in this fight with Kyle and outside of this circumstance, I could understand. But right now, it just feels like I’m second choice, and everyone around me keeps deciding on what gets to happen in my life.

I wrap my arms around myself and slowly walk back inside. The pieces land hard in my heart. It’s honestly not even that Mason and Kyle are fighting, regardless it should have been me having a conversation with Kyle right now. Or one with Mason. It’s not they both ignored me. I’m finally realizing I’m tired of not being the first pick—the number one choice. What’s worse is I finally realize, at almost thirty, I can’t rely on anyone else to make that choice when I haven’t done it myself yet.

I slowly pack my things, still nestled in our attic bedroom. Silent tears stream down my face as the sounds of shouts and yells still echo from the back yard. I call another Uber and prepare my heart for what’s coming next.

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