Page 147 of Sticks and Stones
NOW.
“We’ll check-in,” Greyson said to Ethan. “See what else you can find in the files. It’s slim pickings, but anything is better than nothing.”
Ethan nodded, and watched the two men walk out the door. It was probably a damn good thing he was the one sitting in the condo with Corbin.
Because Gene was ready to break something.
When the door slammed, Ethan stared over at Corbin. The man was chewing and saying nothing. He was also not making eye contact.
Yeah, this wasn’t like him, so it was clear that he was hurting in so many ways, but someone had to be the voice of reason between the two of them.
That someone was him.
Because of what he did for a living, he could be objective, and they needed that now. Corbin had the right to be pissed, but so did Gene.
They all did.
Plus, on top of that, Ethan knew that Gene considered himself the hero, and he didn’t like to drop the ball. He was taking this on as his fault, but Corbin didn’t see that.
Not.
At.
All.
Gene was sick over this, and while Corbin didn’t realize it, that didn’t make it untrue. Someone needed to be made aware of that.
Gene was going to do anything in his power to help Corbin, even if he did it while being pissed off.
“Yes?” Corbin asked, sensing that man staring at him. “Let me have it. I’m ready.”
Yeah, no.
Ethan wasn’t going to rub his face in it either, and if Corbin thought they would…
He didn’t know them well, at all.
Behavior like that was shitty and unkind. He was simply going to point out the truth of the matter, and that was that Corbin had family who loved him.
But this had been way too close.
Taking these kinds of risks, while alone were dangerous. While he was pissed at himself for making this mistake, he shouldn’t take it out on them either.
When he didn’t speak right away, Corbin went there.
“I get it. He thinks I’m an idiot, and he’s right. I fucked up.”
Oh, well, in this case, he was, but everyone made mistakes, and Ethan had learned that second chances were important.
Humans made mistakes, and they learned from them. This was a hard lesson to learn, but Corbin didn’t die, so that was the main point.
“How about you cut him a break?” he asked. “Gene feels shitty and guilty that you got hurt,” Ethan admitted. “He’s trying to come to grips with it, as he blames himself for all of this.”
Corbin said nothing.
Already, he felt horrible about what he’d just done. He knew he was better than that to swipe at a man who hadn’t done a thing to deserve it.
Gene wasn’t the enemy.
