Page 43 of More Than I Can Bear

Kaine

“Did you get them back to the apartment?” I asked River the second I answered his call. “Are they alright?”

“They’re drunk as fucking skunks,” he replied, his expression on the screen speaking more eloquently than he was. “They got absolutely wasted at some dive bar on Hindley Street.”

Where dickheads prowled, looking for an easy mark. Where some men spiked girls’ drinks, in an attempt to make them pliable enough to take them home and…

“Are they OK? Were their drinks spiked? What happened?”

“I can’t exactly ask them, can I?” he shot back, shutting me up. “But it’s not hard to put two and two together. We’ve hit Freya like a ton of bricks and something had to give. Well, she’s the one that did the giving. That shit has to stop.”

It felt like this was the most amount of words I’d had from River, but it wasn’t. They were probably the most serious though.

“We’re supposed to be courting her,” he insisted.

“I tried.” My teeth were locked tight so the words came out in a strangled mess. “I was being honest with her.”

“But was she ready for that?” he asked. “Right after she got hit with the news about Adam, you dumped what we are on her?”

“I didn’t want any more lies by omission,” I said. “I wanted her to go into things with open eyes.”

“Well, she’s closed them now.” He rubbed a hand over his face and then shook his head. “I’m staying here tonight and I’m calling in sick tomorrow. I’ll need to watch them, make sure they’re still fucking breathing.”

That hit me like a gut punch. When Adam looked across at me, I knew he felt the same. I wanted to blame him, tear strips off him for this fuck up, but River was right. We’d all played a role in this.

And now we needed to work a way through it together.

“I’ll sleep tomorrow,” River finished and I nodded.

“I’ll see you…”

I didn’t get to finish that, River tapping on the screen to end the video call, leaving my brother and I in the car. One long breath in, then out, another deep breath in and out again.

“So what do we do?” Adam asked me and I smiled, a vicious sharp thing.

“Now you want my advice?” I asked.

“Yeah, I do.” He twisted in his car seat to face me as best he could. “I fucked up. I did from the start, and I’ve compounded that each day. I fucked up, Kaine, and I can admit that.”

“Very big of you,” I ground out.

“And while I don’t think there’s a chance for me and Freya getting together…” I froze, staring at the dash with a frown before staring at my brother. “I’m willing to do what it takes to make sure you guys do.”

I didn’t reply, throwing the car into gear and then driving home, forcing myself to stick to the speed limit. I didn’t say anything when we got inside our house. We’d had to walk past a media crew and I’d a fucking microphone shoved in my face, but I’d brushed past people, leaving my brother to deal with them alone for once. I threw myself down on the couch and turned on the TV, needing something, anything, to distract me from what I was feeling.

She was in my apartment. Freya was lying in the bed I slept in sometimes. I wanted to be the one to watch her sleep, noting the slow rise and fall of her ribcage, catching the way the soft light caressed her face. I wanted to be there in the morning, ready to cook her whatever greasy hangover food she’d need to recover, then bundle her in a blanket and—

“I got rid of them.” Adam was uncharacteristically quiet as he sat down on the edge of the couch. He leaned forward, hands clasped. “I’m due in the morning for a meeting with the team manager and Jack. They want—”

“What?”

“Jack suggested it,” he said. “She wants to develop a plan. Acting not reacting to the mess I’ve made.” He shook his head slowly. “The team manager is tossing up whether or not to keep me on.” Adam winced at that. “I have to have a ‘please explain’ meeting. Make clear there’s been no sexual misconduct or anything else that would bring the game into disrepute. After that, it’s probably time to get back to work on site.”

“I’m coming with you,” I said, my mind starting to race, right as a news bulletin came on the screen.

“I assumed you would,” he replied with a wry smile, “seeing as you’re the site manager and everything.”

“No, the meeting with Jack,” I said, reaching for the volume remote.

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