Page 106 of Fight For Us
She nodded and rubbed circles on my hand. “He seemed like a great guy.”
“He was. The night of the accident, I had been fighting with Savannah all day, so I left the house and went to Dylan’s place. He had a small apartment not too far from here. He wasn’t home yet, so I let myself in and drank myself stupid.Probably drank almost a bottle of whiskey by the time he got home from work. He was taking classes part-time and interning at this law office. He wanted to be a lawyer, to help people in need. Anyway, I was wasted when he came in. Sav had a babysitter come over to our place and was sending me pics of herself dressed up to go out, saying she was gonna find someone else. Egging me on. She did that kind of thing a lot. I begged Dylan to take me to find her and even though he was tired, he got changed and drove me to the bar nearby.”
I shifted in my seat and took a sip of water. Images from that night flashed through my mind. Me stumbling out of the car. Dylan laughing at my drunk ass, taking pictures of me with his phone for some friendly blackmail. Us hitting a few different bars and still not finding Sav.
“We ended up going to a few different bars and Sav was nowhere to be found. She stopped texting me for a while so I gave up and we grabbed some drinks since we were out anyway. Dylan was always careful. He nursed a beer while I slammed down another few whiskeys. Then Savannah started texting me again.”
“What did she say?” Olivia asked, her eyes wide.
“That she was out and she’d met someone. That she was dancing up on guys and they were buying her drinks. She told me all kinds of shit she knew would piss me off. It worked, too. I tried to get behind the wheel, but Dylan got me to relent and get in the passenger seat. He started to drive back to his house, but I didn’t want that. I needed to find Sav. She kept texting meand I was shoving my phone at Dylan so he could see what she was saying. I wouldn’t let it go. He tried to tell me to relax, that he’d read them at home, but I kept fucking pushing the phone into his face.”
Olivia went as white as a sheet. She must have known what I was about to say.
“He didn’t see the red light. There was a car coming fast. It slammed into the driver’s side, killing Dylan almost instantly. The other driver suffered serious injuries too. My leg was crushed from the impact. The doctors tried to save it, but I would have had less than twenty percent mobility.”
“Oh, Wes, I’m so sorry.” She covered her mouth with her hand and leaned in closer.
“I’m sorry, too. I caused the accident and I’ll never stop blaming myself. My brother should be alive today, kicking ass in a courtroom, maybe married with a couple kids. He had a girlfriend. It was casual… They met in law school. Every year on the anniversary of the accident she comes by Sunshine and we tell stories about him. I wouldn’t see her the first year. I was too full of guilt, but eventually she wore me down.”
Olivia’s eyes widened and she sat up straight. “Dylan’s girlfriend,” she whispered.
“Yeah, her name is Emily. There’s something else I need to get off my chest,” I said. My hands shook but I took hold of Olivia’s palm. “You’ve asked me about money and I haven’t been very forthcoming but I want to tell you everything. Dylan’s family was wealthy. I’d guess even wealthier than your family, but Idon’t know the exact numbers. When Dylan turned eighteen, his trust was made available to him and I didn’t know this… but he’d listed me as his sole beneficiary on all of his assets. He was worth a lot, Tiger. I tried to deny it all. I was too guilt ridden to accept anything but thankfully my parents were smart enough to take care of the paperwork while I was in the hospital and the money’s been sitting in various accounts all these years. Once a year I give Emily some money, even though I barely knew her… but I figure maybe she would have been Dylan’s wife. Either way, it’s helped my guilty conscience.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Olivia stared out the window, eyes glassy and unfocused. “That was so kind of him. He didn’t have family?”
“He had his parents but they weren’t close. Honestly, they were cruel people, treated him like more of an asset than their own kid. He spent most of his time at my house. My parents thought of him as a second son.”
Tears welled in Olivia’s eyes. “I understand so much now. The phones… It makes sense.”
I let out a dry laugh. “I’m a stubborn ass. It wasn’t a phone that caused the accident, it was me and my drunken self. But it was easier to blame an inanimate object, you know?”
“I get it, trust me. If I could blame a random object for what happened to me, I would, too. It’s easier than accepting that we don’t have control over everything, that bad things happen to good people.”
I blew out a long breath. “That’s the fucking truth. Speaking of, I have so much to tell you about Regina, but first, do you have questions about that night? Or anything at all?”
She picked up her sandwich and brought it to her lips. “Not right now, but if I do I’ll ask you. Tell me about Regina. What’s going on? I’ve been a mess thinking about Lilly and how she must be feeling.”
We dug into our lunch and I filled her in on my conversation with Savannah and the plans for the following day. As we talked my body relaxed, like a physical weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I was so fucking lucky to have this woman by my side and I intended to do whatever it took to be the best damn husband I could be.
The next morning Olivia and I made our way to Regina and Gerald’s house. They lived in the next town over, Haven Harbor. We went over the plan again on the ride while she kept a gentle hold on my thigh. Having her with me helped settle my nerves.
“You’re sure she’ll be there?” Oliva asked.
“We rarely agree on much, but we agreed on this.” She nodded and turned her head to stare out the window at all the mansions.
“You know, I was raised in a house like these and I have to say, they’re overrated.”
“I’m all for a smaller house, too. They’re cozier. All these places seem cold and empty. That’s how Dylan’s home was. Did I tell you he’s the one who introduced me to Savannah?”
“No,” she said. “They were friends?”
I laughed. “I wouldn’t call them friends, but their parents were acquaintances. They met at some dinner party and Savannah snuck Dylan out through the back door. We all got together at one of her friend’s houses and that’s when I met her.”
“And it was love at first sight?” she teased.
“We were kids—eighteen with raging hormones and terrible impulse control. I thought she was hot, and we hit it off that night, so we started sneaking around. Her parents never liked me. They wanted her with someone like Dylan, rich and headed to law school.”
Olivia huffed. “It’s actually freaky how much these people sound like my parents.”
