Page 45 of Wasted Memories
Thattechnicallywasn’t lying.
“What do you meansavedher?” Wesley asked Easton, then turned his attention to me, pinning me with his emerald eyes.
I sighed, inwardly admitting defeat. It would be better coming from me. “Luke saw me in the store that night I made you dinner, and wanted to talk about Jett. I told him it wasn’t any of his business, which probably wasn’t the best route to go with that. He doesn’t take highly to being rejected so-”
Easton interrupted me, clearly seeing my struggle with getting the story out. “So I stepped in and he backed off.”
Wesley grunted. “And when were you planning to tell me?”
“I didn’t think I had to. Like he said, Luke backed off. He basically shit his pants when he saw Easton was a cop.”
Wesley snapped his focus to Easton. “You’re a goddamn cop?”
He shrugged. “I was getting to that part.”
“Anything else I don’t fucking know?”
Easton and I glanced at each other. I pressed my lips together in a tight line, figuring silence was the safest route right now.
Wesley looked between the two of us, then turned to the fridge and pulled out a beer. He popped the cap off and took a long sip while Easton and I stayed quiet.
“You and I will talk about this later.” He gestured to me. “And you.” He pointed the mouth of his beer at Easton. “Don’t you have more important shit to do than stand in my house?”
“I’ve been on the clock since before your ass got out of bed this morning. I'm off.”
“Well, consider this over, too. Get out of my house.” Wesley set his beer down, not breaking eye contact with his brother.
I hadn’t seen him act like this before. He was mad, annoyed, and concerned all at once. If I had to admit, it was pretty cute seeing him so frustrated. Regardless, I was not looking forward to our conversation after his brother left.
Easton nodded once before turning to me. He grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it, acting oblivious to Wesley fuming on the other side of the kitchen. “It was lovely formally meeting you, Emerson. Hope we can do this again.”
“It was nice meeting you under different circumstances, Easton. Have a nice rest of your day. Don’t be a stranger,” I said, mostly to spite Wesley.
“Oh, he can stay a fucking stranger.” Wesley stayed rooted where he was, watching Easton stall on his way out.
“Get the stick out of your ass, Wes,” Easton called over his shoulder as he walked to the front door.
Once he was gone, Wesley caught me eyeing the beer in his hand. He set it down, then made his way over to me. He put his hands on my arms, stroking up and down as he leaned back against the counter. “I don’t want you worrying, okay? But I would like for you to be open and honest with me, Em. You don’t have to keep things from me.”
It was like his bad mood instantly vanished the moment Easton walked out the door.
“I know.” I sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about what happened with Luke.”
“While I don’t like hearing about it from my brother,” he paused, searching my face with a worried look. “I’m not mad at you, Em.”
“Just mad at your brother?” I fought the urge to lean into his chest as his calloused hands ran along my arms, giving me goosebumps.
“My brother is the least of my worries right now when it comes to you.”
I knew what he meant without having to say it. His concerns lied in the situation with Jett. Even though Jett told me not to come back, I knew him well enough to know he didn’t mean “move on." He probably figured I would have come crying back to him, and it’s irritating the hell out of him that I haven’t done so yet.
That’s what toxic men did. They treated women like shit, then once she’d gathered enough strength to leave, they’d paint her out to be the shitty one. In what world does that make sense?
That’s most likely why Luke was so mad about the whole thing, inserting himself into a situation that didn’t concern him. His friend lost control of his girlfriend and he felt he had to help pick up the pieces.
“I don’t know why you’re trying so hard to protect me when we both know what’s coming.”
His forehead creased in confusion, his eyebrows drawing together. “What’s coming?”
