Page 134 of Say I Do

I bristled. “Don’t say his name.”

“You have to say it eventually,” Enzo pushed. “Brycen was a part of our past, but he’s just that, the past. Even Tex had to bring it up to me that I still held onto shit involving him. Especially when it comes to you getting hurt.”

“I wasn’t hurt.”

“That’s a lie,” Enzo said as he reached over and petted Pen. “You were more hurt than I ever was. You broke. I’ve never seen you fall apart like that, Benito. And then you shoved it all down and pretended it didn’t happen. I dealt with it, but you never did. No wonder you keep pushing Harlow away.”

I stared at him. “I’m not pushing him away.”

“That’s not what Tex says.”

I narrowed my eyes at my brother. Since when had he gotten so... wise? Everything he said made sense in a way that I hated to admit. I stood up abruptly. Pen hopped down as I did and scurried away.

“Tex!” I called.

“What are you doing?”

“I want to ask your boyfriend some questions.”

Enzo stood. “Don’t bother him, or we’ll have a problem,” he said shortly. “I know you’re upset, but this isn’t the way to do things.”

“I just need to know what you’re talking about.”

“No.”

I stared at Enzo before I turned toward the kitchen. “Tex!”

“I’m right here," he called as he stepped into the living room with a white apron wrapped around his waist. He licked chocolate frosting from a whisk. “Hey, Benito. What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t hear me until now?”

He shook his head. “Headphones,” he said as he pointed to the small, black circle in his ear. “I like to listen to music while I bake. I’ve been trying some different recipes for fun.”

I stared at Tex. The man made zero sense to me. Huge, intimidating, even rough was how I would have described him once upon a time. Now? I recognized him as a giant teddy bear with a big grin and a softer demeanor than I ever would have expected. Tex was a conundrum.

“Did Harlow say I was pushing him away?” I asked.

Tex glanced around toward Enzo before his gaze moved back to me. I turned to stare at my brother. He was still in the same spot, but if I knew him and Tex, they said more with their eyes than I would ever be able to understand. The two were inseparable.

“Hey,” I called. Tex sighed as he met my gaze. “Yeah, come on. Don’t look at him, look at me. What did Harlow say?”

Tex shifted from one foot to the other. “Nothing.”

“I know you two were together,” I said.

“That’s enough,” Enzo came to stand between Tex and me as if his huge ass boyfriend needed protecting when he could probably go toe to toe with me. “He clearly doesn’t want to answer this stuff.”

I looked between Enzo and Tex. My shoulders dropped. I saw the look on their faces, the concern, worry, and agitation.I’m just making shit worse.

“You’re right,” I muttered. “I’m sorry, Tex. I didn’t mean to be so aggressive.” I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “I guess I’m just freaking out. There’s no way to get in contact with Harlow, and after what I learned today, I need to know where his head is at. I hate this.”

“Shit.”

I opened my eyes to glance at a frowning Tex.

“It’s fine,” Enzo said.

“Harlow was upset the other night,” Tex spilled as if the words had waited on his lips for way too long, and he couldn’t hold them back anymore.

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