Page 39 of Bring Me To My Knees

“We’ll make sure she’s okay,” I reassure him, even though there’s no way I can know that she’ll be okay.

I sure the fuck wouldn’t be if I were in her situation.

“How did I not fucking know this shit was happening?” he yells, punching the dashboard in anger.

“People hide things when they're hurt, Mitch. That’s not your fault.”

I don’t know if I’m talking about me or Mallory at the moment. Maybe both of us, if I’m being honest.

“I've got to be a better brother for Marley,” he says.

“You already are. She knows that you love her and that you’d do anything for her.”

We see the real estate agent pull up, and I watch Mitch pull himself together, as if he’s not going through something traumatic.

My heart hurts for my best friend. I’m fucking pissed there’s nothing I can do to help him.

The two of us get out of the car, walking over to meet Vanessa, his real estate agent.

“Hey guys,” she says, smiling, completely unaware of the shit storm of emotions Mitch just lashed out in the car.

“Hey, Vanessa. It’s good to see you,” he says, putting his hand out to shake hers.

“I think this might be the one,” she says, handing us both a paper with the listing on it.

It’s a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house. It’s got two acres of land and a two-car garage. It checks off all the boxes Mitch was looking for.

“It’s a bit of a fixer upper,” Vanessa says, looking at Mitch.

“That’s perfect,” he says, following her inside.

She gives us a tour of the house and it really is everything Mitch wants. There will be very few jobs for me on this one, and it’s almost ten thousand less than he was expecting to spend.

“Will this be one you’re planning to flip?” Vanessa asks, as she gathers all the information she needs from Mitch to put in an offer.

“No. I’m planning to move into this one as soon as it’s completed. From here on out, we’ll be looking for houses to flip,” Mitch tells her.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asks.

“Actually, yes. Point me in the right direction for everything I’ll need for a real estate license. I want you to help us find the houses to flip, Clark will remodel them, and then I’d like to be the agent that resells them,” he says.

“You want to include me in this partnership?” she asks, gesturing between the two of us.

This is something Clark and I already had a discussion about. Originally, we planned for it to just be the two of us, but we quickly realized it would be beneficial to have an inside with someone else. Vanessa is the perfect match. We’ve already established a relationship with her, and we know we can trust her.

“I think the three of us will make a great team,” she says, smiling.

* * *

Three hours later, we’re riding high on our way home. Turns out, the sellers were very motivated and immediately accepted Mitch’s offer. The three of us went to dinner and celebrated a new partnership and a new house with three bottles of wine.

My car is still at the restaurant and we’re in the backseat of an Uber, laughing hysterically.

“I think Vanessa has a thing for you,” I say, punching him in the arm.

“Fuck off,” he says, laughing.

“Would you go there?” I ask.

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