“Is Wesley okay? He had quite a fall in the middle of the night,” she says and peeks over her shoulder at me with a soft but concerned smile.
Wesley is my best friend. I love him more than I thought possible. But I can’t keep my word. Not on this. He’s hurting, and I can do something about it. I can stop it.
I glance down the hall and don’t see Wesley, and my door is shut. “Mom, listen.” I stop talking, a lump lodging in my throat. “I…”
Mom turns around with her eyebrows furrowed, a curious expression on her face. “Is everything okay?” Tears well in my eyes as I shake my head no. “Jesus, Jaxon.” Shehurries over to me and puts her arm around my shoulder. She’s a few inches shorter than me, but I feel like a little kid again as she comforts me. “What is it, baby? Let’s sit.”
I nod and she leads me over to the table, where she pulls out a chair for me to all but collapse in. “It’s…”
She sits beside me and takes my hand, wrapping both of hers around it. “You can talk to me about anything. You know that.”
I do. Mom is the only person that knows I’m gay. I told her three years ago, and she hasn’t betrayed my trust by telling even my dad. Dad won’t be a dick about it, but I haven’t found a way to tell him. So I know what I tell her won’t go past here unless I ask her to do something about it.
And I plan to ask her to do something about it.
“Mom…he’s hitting him,” I grit out through a tight throat. The large, purple bruises that dot Wesley’s body flash through my mind, and I wince as if I’m the one that was struck.
More tears trickle down my face as I think about all the bruises I’ve seen on him over the past few months, beating myself up for not telling my mom sooner, for not protecting him more. I could have done something—he wouldn’t be hurting as badly now if I had informed her earlier.
He asked me to keep his confidence, and I would, about anything else, but this is his life. What if Perry kills him the next time? I can’t live with myself if he dies and I held on to a secret that could have saved him.
Shock crosses my mom’s expression, and she grips my hands tighter. “Wesley?” I lower my head and nod. She looks as if she’s going to pass out, putting her hand over her heart. “What? Who? Who’s hitting him?”
I wipe the tears from my face and tell her everything—when I noticed the change in him, when he told me Perrywas abusing him, the bruises, his black eye last week. It feels good to tell someone—someone responsible—but I feel like shit that I’m doing the one thing Wesley asked me not to do. But I can’t keep it in, not after seeing the state he was in when he climbed through my window.
“Mom, please. He needs help.” I plead with her, hoping she can do something,anything.
But before she can respond, I hear an incredulous scoff. My eyes flick up to Wesley, who’s staring at me with such a look of betrayal that it’s almost palpable. “How could you?”
I’m frozen in place, not knowing what to do or say. I couldn’t keep my word to him when he needed me to the most.
I open and close my mouth, trying to formulate an answer, but no words come out. The hurt flashing in his eyes is enough to keep my ass planted in the chair.
Mom doesn’t have the same issue. She stands and presses her hands to her chest. “Wesley. Please, let me help you.”
He shakes his head, gaze still boring into me as he says, “No one can help me. Not even my mom. I can’t trust anyone. Not anymore.”
I wince and look away from him, losing my battle to hold back tears. My nose stings, and that lump lodges further in my throat, making it hard to breathe.
She doesn’t give up. “That’s not true. You can always trust me. I can help you.We,” she turns and gestures to me, “can help. If you?—”
Mom steps closer as if to take Wesley into her arms, but he steps out of reach, bumping into the counter. He cries out when his back hits the hard edge of the counter, and he drops down to one knee.
“Wes,” I say, rushing over to him. “Please, I’m sorry.”
He gazes at me, his shoulders hunched and his body almost curling in on himself. Fuck, he looks wrecked. And it’s all my fault.
I should have kept my mouth shut. I should have waited until he was safe to confide in my mother. I should have kept his secret. I should have been a better friend.
“Jaxon. You…you told. It’s the one thing I asked you not to do.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I couldn’t?—”
“Yeah, you couldn’t keep your fucking mouth shut,” he shoots at me, and I wince away from him, falling onto my butt. “All I asked you to do…the one thing…you couldn’t…” He stands up and backs away from me and Mom. “I’m out of here. Jaxon, we’re done. I can’t be friends with someone I can’t fucking trust.”
“Wesley, wait,” Mom says, but Wes jogs to my room and slams the door. Mom follows, knocking and speaking softly, trying to get him to come out and talk.
I sit on the floor for a few seconds, my breathing shallow and uneven. I knew he would be upset and wouldn’t like that I told, but I didn’t think he’d stop being my friend.
