Page 74 of Claiming Ours
“I hate that she was hurting and I wasn’t here to help her. He was my friend too.” I eyed him, scanning his face and fit frame. “Some of the shit you say is really deep. How old are you?”
The corner of his lips quirked in an almost smile. “How old do youthinkI am?”
I shrugged and turned to hide my grin. “Young enough to not be my grandfather, but old enough to maybe be my dad.”
Liam snorted and rubbed his scruff-covered jaw. “Fair assessment. Let’s just say I’m older and wiser than you andBaylee. I’ve done and seen enough shit that when I give advice, I suggest you listen.”
“So, closer to Gramps’s age, got it. I get why you’re avoiding giving me a number. Don’t want to let everyone know how bad you’re robbing the cradle with her and me.”
He arched a brow in my direction. “I’m not doing shit with your cradle.” A slow smile pulled at his lips, making wrinkles spread from the corners of his eyes. “Now hers—hell yeah, I am, and I’m too much of a selfish bastard to deny what I want, even if she is too young and innocent for someone like me.”
“Seriously, though, I need a number.”
He sighed like I wore on his very thin patience. “Forty-three.”
“That’s cool, Gramps. At least you don’t look it.” This time, I didn’t hide my wide grin.
“You’re a shithead. Back to what really matters.” Clearly the man was not a fan of me pointing out that he was around fifteen years older than Baylee and me. “You never explained what the fight was about between you and Dean that ended the friendship.” He settled the hat back on his head and shot me a questioning glance out of the corner of his eye. “I’m ready when you are. We have nothing else to do.”
I huffed, knowing he was right. It was time he knew. “Yeah.” I swallowed hard, fingers curling over my leg, wishing like hell they were burying into Elvis’s fur. He became my therapy-slash-emotional support dog the last couple of years, and I seriously missed him on this trip. “The tension, what I held in, had built for years. That anger finally erupted one night when he was home for a temporary leave. You have to remember, I was there from the beginning, when he first saw her in class and told me he wanted to marry that pretty blonde.” I smirked at the memory. “He was great to her when they dated, did everything he could to show her how much he cared about her. We were together a lot.She didn’t want to come between him and me, so when they did something, I was invited too.
“It wasn’t until after they were engaged that things changed. Maybe it was the long distance, but he lost that….” I paused, searching for the word. “Desperation for her, that fire, I guess. He never treated her bad, but he sure as hell didn’t treat her well. She never came first, and I fucking hated it. Every time he brushed her off so he could hang out with his buddies instead of her, it added another layer to my anger. Baylee is fucking amazing and deserved to be treated like it.”
“Still does,” Liam muttered.
“The last straw was when we were hanging out one night, and she called him. I saw her face on the screen, since he was on the barstool next to me. She was in Texas. It was finals, I think, so she’d been studying her ass off and was super busy. I watched the fucker check his phone, roll his eyes at the screen as he silenced the call, and then put it into his pocket. I asked him who it was, even though I knew, fucking knew who he’d just ignored, and he just shrugged and kept drinking his beer. We were at a bar, some girl was sitting next to him who he was chatting up, and he went back to talking to her.” I held up my hand to show Liam the scars on the inside of my palm. “I squeezed my beer bottle so tight, it shattered in my hand. That was when I lost it. I knocked him off his stool, sent him toppling to the ground. Knowing I was seconds from killing my best friend, I stormed outside, leaving a bloody trail behind me.”
“Hurts like hell getting all that glass out.” Liam held up his large palm, displaying the streaks of scars. “Done it a few times myself.”
I snorted and shook my head. “Dean followed me outside. That was when I let it all out.” Grabbing a cigarette from the front pocket of the ugly-ass scratchy shirt, I lit the end, blowing out a billow of smoke before continuing. “I told him he didn’tdeserve her, that he needed to treat her like the gift she was. He didn’t take that well. The first swing came from him, but the last was from me. Even though he had training in hand-to-hand shit, I had so much anger and resentment built up, it helped me kick his ass.”
I’d never forget seeing him lying on the sidewalk glaring up at me with absolute hate in his eyes, the police sirens in the background growing closer. His words and sneer would forever be imprinted in my memory, the one I used drugs and alcohol to forget for years after that night.
“I lost my best friend for good that night. He told me if I had a problem with how he treated his fiancée, then I needed to fuck off. I said fine, that I couldn’t stand by and watch it anymore, see him treat someone like her the way he did. Like she was a fucking burden.” The cigarette between my fingers cracked from the pressure. Cursing, I extinguished the burning ember on the heel of my boot and pocketed the trash—I’d already learned my lesson to not toss it on the trail or I’d get a death glare from both Liam and Baylee.
“Did you ever tell her?” Liam asked. I shook my head. “Why not?”
“I had already put some distance between me and her, more for my sanity than anything. It was hard after they were engaged to be there, wanting her and knowing I’d never have her. Which was okay. I missed her like hell. She was my friend, but I didn’t want to come between them.”
“Except when you realized she deserved better than Dean.”
“Exactly. I tried calling Dean a few weeks later, hoping we’d be able to talk through it, but every time he picked up, he told me to fuck off. He told everyone who would listen, especially his parents, that he ended the friendship because I wanted to take Baylee from him.” I gritted my teeth, remembering how friends I’d had for years turned their backs on me and said all kinds ofshit, assuming what Dean spewed was the truth. “So I found a new group of friends, and, well, you know about all that already.”
For several minutes, only the sound of the horses’ hooves stamping against the soggy earth filled the silence between us. I was so lost in the memories, debating if I’d done the right thing that night, that when he finally spoke up, I jerked in the saddle.
“You tried to protect her. She should know.”
“But I also don’t want to taint his memory. Despite how it all ended, he was still my best friend and her fiancé, who is dead. None of it matters now.”
The sound of chainsaws cut through the air along with shouts, signaling we were close to our destination.
“For what it’s worth,” Liam said, turning to look over his shoulder. “I’m proud of you for trying to get that fucker to see what he had. You had my approval before, seeing how you are with her and knowing she wanted you, but after hearing that, you have my respect, kid.”
My back straightened at his approving nod.
Though when he turned with a smirk, I knew I would hate whatever he said next.
“Such a good boy.”
