Chapter Forty-Five
WORDS TRUER THAN TRUE
Connor
“You prick! I trusted you!”Drew shouts down at me as I clamor back to my feet. My fists clench at my sides as I crank my jaw to relieve some of the ache.
I know I broke the rules, but Gretchen needed me and I won’t apologize for it. The moment she’d been fretting over for months, the strength it took for her to finally say the words out loud—I was so damn proud of her. Then, like a bull in a china shop, Drew wrecked the entire thing, forever tainting what should have been a beautiful moment.
“Dude”—I put my hands back up in surrender—“calm down and let me explain.”
“Like hell I’m gonna calm down.”
“Drew! Stop!” Gretchen’s panicked voice rises above the cluster of onlookers conveniently slowing their strides to watch the two grown ass men throw punches on the sidewalk. The restaurant door crashes into the brick wall behind it from the force of her exit.Shoving strangers aside, she reaches the front of the small crowd and rushes toward me
“I’m fine, Fish,” I lie and she knows it.
“You don’t get to call her that anymore,” Drew spews.
Gretchen whirls around and shoves him with two hard palms to his chest. “Back off, Drew. This is none of your business!”
Undeterred, Drew continues his rampage like he doesn’t even see her. “I asked you to be there for her, not screw her!”
“Andrew!” Paul commands, voice cutting like a knife. “That’s enough, son.”
Drew laughs. “No, Dad. I’m not even close to finished.”
“Fisher,” I beg, “can we just talk?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.” He steps closer as Kelly hauls Gretchen back, out of Drew’s path. “What’s it been, two months? That woman gave you two and a half years and you can’t even keep it in your pants for two months after you dump her?”
“I’ve already told you Lauren and I weren’t right for each other.” I fight every urge to shout, to engage him with the same aggression he’s giving me.
“That’s a load of bullshit! I was there pulling your pathetic, drunken ass off the floor, kicking girls out of your apartment. That girl was the best thing to ever happen to you and you went and fucked it up.”
I pin Drew with a stare, eyes furious. Gretchen, her parents—they’re hearing all of this. I want to reach for Gretchen’s hand, to tell her parents that Drew’s got it all wrong. But I can’t.
“And I’ll be damned,” he continues, “if I let you pull my sister into your mess.”
“Drew, let him explain. Please!” Gretchen’s attempt to mediate goes unacknowledged. He doesn’t look her way. He doesn’t even pretend to hear her. This is between him and me.
“Maybe you’re right, Connor. Maybe I’ve been wrong this whole time. Maybe it was never right with Lauren because you never actually changed. Maybe monogamy just doesn’t suit you,” he spits, lip curled in disgust.
“That is not true and you know it!” I retort, defensive now, my muscles stiff with anger.
“Do I? Where’s the evidence?” He throws his arms out, neck swiveling left and right in dramatic mockery. Gretchen drops her face into her hands.
“Where wasyourevidence before Reagan?” It’s a low blow, especially in front of his parents, but it’s my only defense.
A flicker of surprise crosses his gaze before he lets out another humorless laugh. “I suppose this is the part where you tell me that it’s different with Gretchen.” Drew’s brows shoot up. “That you didn’t mean for it to happen?” His eyes narrow. “That I can trust you?”
Disappointment coats his derision, that afternoon in his kitchen six years ago where I made him that exact promise flashingExhibit A in the Case of Your Best Friend’s Betrayalin big bold letters across his face. A thread tethered to a similar scene three years ago where I not only reiterated that promise, but I had every opportunity to prove I wasn’tthat guyanymore…and I failed. The strand of our friendship now rests under the weight of Drew’s judgment. Every lie, every secret, every half-truth in between, pulling—fifteen years of friendship slowly ripping at the seams.
“What do you want me to say? You’re mad at me. Fine. Be mad. That wasn’t how I wanted you to find out. That’s on me, okay? I’m sorry.”
“I was here with my wife, fighting our way through something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, trusting you to be there for my sister. And I did. I trusted that you were looking out for her.”
“I was! I will always be there for her.”
