Page 26 of Always Mine

Ugh, I hate that she can read me like that. Why can’t I read anyone? Is this a magic skill I wasn’t born with? “I missed him. I can’t deny that.”

“Well, that’s a good start.”

We fall into silence again, and I try to come up with what to say next. Well, that’s not true, I know what I want to say, I’m just not sure how to say it. I just need to rip the Band-Aid off, I guess.

“Is he with Cooper?” I blurt out before I can talk myself out of it.

“Pax…” She sighs, and my stomach flips as I prepare for her to ruin my night worse than it already is. “That’s a complicated question that I don’t have the answer to. After you left, Wyatt wasn’t good, and for a long time, Cooper was there... He’s really helped pick him up. I don’t know the full story, but I’ve gotten bits and pieces from Jacey.”

Resting my head back, I stare up at the sky, not sure what to say to that. Cooper and Wyatt have always been friends, but tonight… What I saw wasn’t simple friendship. They were close, looking at each other with such fondness and a deeper connection than what they used to have. It was obvious in the way they touched, how they laughed… If I didn’t know them, I’d have assumed they were lovers.

They were intimate.

Ugh, I feel sick. The little sip of warm milk I had is souring in my stomach, making me want to hightail it to the bathroom. I don’t want to think about him with anyone other than me. It was one thing when he was states away and hidden from me, but I can’t handle it in my face.

“You okay?” Her tone is filled with concern, and I release the breath I was holding, giving her a tight smile.

“Not really. But I will be. I just need to figure out how to go about this.”

“Want my advice?”

I shift from my slumped position, trying to get comfortable. Thankfully, the nausea is starting to subside. “Shoot.”

“Don’t let the first conversation you have with him after all this time be about Cooper. You don’t want to come off like it’s the only thing you care about.” She's not wrong.

“I wouldn’t have the guts to ask,” I say just as a yawn tears past my lips. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that reality.” I stand, setting my half-drunk mug on the porch rail. Reaching up, I do my best to stretch my back out with one arm. I’m so ready to have full mobility again.

“You okay?” she asks, standing too.

“I’m good. Sorry, too. I shouldn’t have made you stay up with me. It’s late.”

“It’s my job, kid.” She chuckles, and I smack a kiss to her cheek. Everything that’s happened today has left me emotionally and physically exhausted, and the only thing I want is to crawl into bed and never leave. “Hey, Pax, give it time. He’ll come around, and it’ll all work out the way it’s meant to. You have to trust the process.”

And as I drag myself back inside and up the stairs to my room, I can only hope that she’s right.

TEN

Wyatt

The pounding on my door rouses me from sleep and I groan, tugging the blanket over my head, trying to tune it out.

Why can’t everyone just leave me alone to suffer in silence?

“Wyatt! Open the damn door!” Ember calls through the wood.

I knew this was coming, and have been dreading it all week. Has it really been that long?

Seeing Paxton was a shock and something I was in no way prepared for. All the effort I’d put into healing myself was rendered pointless in two seconds flat.

Thank God for Cooper. If he hadn’t been there, I don’t know what I’d have done. He held me while I cried, made me eat when I didn’t want to, and tucked me into bed because I was too drunk to get off the couch. He was my saving grace.

It was impossible to function with Paxton being that close to me and that pisses me off. I hate that I showed him even a smidge of vulnerability. He shouldn’t get the satisfaction of knowing he affects me after all this time.

My phone buzzes from beside me on the couch just as the knocking stops, and I hit the sidebar, forwarding my sister to voicemail. She and Cooper have called and texted constantly over the last several days. I’ve responded minimally via text but don’t have it in me to answer their calls yet. Especially Cooper. He’s away for work now, and shouldn’t be worrying over me.

“I’m not kidding! Open this door or I’ll knock out your window!”

“Go away!” I call back, my voice hoarse. I push the blanket down and sit up on my couch. “Just let me wallow in peace!”

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