Page 87 of From the Wreckage
I set the last mug on the counter, and when I turn, he’s already watching me. His eyes catch on the loose strand of hair that’s fallen across my cheek. A slow song comes on, and he pulls me into his arms. Slowly, almost reverently, he reaches out and tucks my hair behind my ear.
My breath stutters. His knuckles graze my skin, soft and warm, and I lean into his touch before I can stop myself.
“Everett…” My whisper trembles.
His gaze drops to my mouth, and when his lips graze mine, it’s feather-light, like a promise and a confession.
My breath stutters in my lungs before a whimper breaks free. My arms tighten around him, and I kiss him deeper, losing myself in the moment. In him.
The front door opens, and my dad’s voice booms through the cabin, his heavy work boots thudding across the floor. “Bri? I’m home.”
My stomach plunges as we jerk apart.
I turn my head, my eyes wide. My dad stands there, frozen to the floor. The look on his face guts me. Confusion wrinkles his brows before realization sets in. The hurt and betrayal that follow are so deep they steal the air from the room.
“No…” His face turns red as the rage sets in. His eyes flash like lightning as he looks from me to Everett, his voice thundering through the cabin.“What the hell is going on?”
“Dad—” My voice cracks, but the word dies in my throat from the look on his face.
Everett goes still, arms falling at his sides, his guilt a living thing between us.
And in his eyes, I watch our whole world splinter apart.
CHAPTER 62
Everett
Every momentI’ve spent with Bri flashes through my mind as Grayson’s voice thunders through the cabin, a storm flashing in his eyes. What I see there guts me.
I betrayed him... Now I’ve lost them both.
Bri’s sobs claw through the air, shredding me from the inside out. She moves, clinging to her father’s sleeve, her voice shaking. “Dad, please. Give us a chance to explain.”
Grayson rips his arm free. His chest heaves, his face carved into stone. “Don’t tell me I don’t understand, Brielle. I see it plain as day. He’s been circling you all summer, waiting for me to leave, sliding into places he doesn’t belong.” His eyes cut to me like knives. “Christ, I trusted you with my daughter.”
The wordtrustedtwists like a blade.
Bri’s voice is pleading. “He’s not like that. You don’t understand?—”
“I’m not—” The words scrape my throat, raw and desperate, clawing for escape.I love her. I’d die for her.They burn the back of my tongue, but I swallow them like poison. Because if I say them, if I admit it, I’ll only ruin things more.
My silence damns me.
“Get out,” Grayson snarls, pointing toward the door. His voice shakes with fury, grief, and betrayal. “Get the hell out of my house before I do something I regret.”
Bri gasps, stumbling between us. “No! Don’t do this, Dad, please?—”
“Bri, move!”
She doesn’t. Her small frame plants like a shield between us, trembling but fierce. “You don’t get it. He—he makes me happy. He makes me feel safe.”
Grayson’s face crumples, anguish cutting through the rage. His voice breaks, splintered and raw. “Safe? Withhim? He’s too old and broken. Too—” He cuts himself off, shoving a hand through his hair, the motion ragged. “He’ll ruin you, Brielle. Just like he’s ruined everything else in his goddamn life.”
He turns to me, betrayal etched in the lines of his face. I thought—” His voice fractures, a hollow sound. “I thought you were better than this, Everett.”
The words knock the air out of me, mainly because they’re true. Every failure, scar, and mistake I carried like anchors, and now they’re tied to her, weighing her down.
Bri turns to me, desperation on her face, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Tell him, Everett. Tell him he’s wrong. Tell him we?—”
