“Do you think that could be part of his deal?” Hayes asked me. “It’s not easy moving to a new town, especially a small one?—”
“Look, can we drop this, please?” I begged. “I came out tonight specifically so I wouldn’t have to think about him—I mean, this situation. Because I’ve been trying to avoid him—it—and it’s not working.”
“Disengagement.” Hayes pulled a face. “Classic Brewer move.”
I frowned. “Huh?”
“Someone or something hurts you or even just gets under your skin, and instead of talking it through, you push them away to protect yourself. Like with your dad.” Hayes’s blue eyes met mine.
The words stung like a slap. “These two situations aren’t the same at all. One is my client, who I’m trying to maintain a professional relationship with, to the point where I came out tonight just so he wouldn’t say something to set me off and I wouldn’t say something I’d regret. The other is my father, who Ihadto cut off for my own sanity because he repeatedly refused to listen and made choices that affected me without giving a shit what I wanted…”
I trailed off. That actually sounded a whole lot like my issues with Delaney.
Fuck.
“Uh-huh.” Hayes nodded seriously. “You know I love you and I’m on your side, always. But this thing with your dad?—”
“Hayes,” I ground out.
“Yeah, it’s ’cause he’s been blowing up my phone. Look, I know he hurt you. He destroyed Grandpa’s legacy.I get it. But you literally changed your name, changed your phone number. You won’t listen to his explanations?—”
“I won’t listen to his excuses,” I shot back. “You don’t know him the way I do, Hayes. It wasn’t only about the house. That was just the final straw.”
Hayes blew out a breath. “You’re right. I don’t. Because you don’t talk about it withmeeither. You’ve set up a protective wall around this whole subject, and you try to pretend like it never happened.”
Kel’s jaw tightened, but he kept his mouth closed as he stared down at his beer. I ground my own teeth together, trying to keep from snapping at my cousin. Hadn’t we already discussed this two too many times tonight? “I don’t want to talk about it,” I gritted out.
Hayes barked out a humorless laugh. “That’s just it, though. You never want to talk about it. I’m not fucking fourteen anymore, Brewer. This is my family, and I’m caught in the middle. You avoid, avoid, avoid, and it’s not cool. How would you feel if I refused to talk to you about important stuff?”
I blew out a breath. He was right. He wasn’t a kid anymore. But still. It had been a damned day, and talking about my father wasn’t going to make it any better.
I met Hayes’s eyes. “Yeah, okay. I see your point. But can we not talk about it here and now?”
Hayes’s shoulders dropped, and the edges of his lip quirked up. “Yeah, fair. But this time, I’m holding you to it. Disconnecting isn’t a healthy way of dealing with issues. And the reasons why people do things matter. Everyone deserves to have their story told.”
I froze. That was exactly what Delaney had said the other day.
And while Hayes was totally misguided when it came to my father, he was right that I hadn’t listened to Delaney’s story either. In fact, I hadn’t really stopped to consider that he had one.
Delaney was so capable and put together I’d never stopped to considerwhyhe was so stubborn or mistrustful,whyhe needed to be in control,whyhe needed to prove he knew better than I did when he clearly didn’t.
I took a long sip of my beer, letting the realization wash over me. I’d been treating Delaney the same way I thought he was treating me—dismissing him without giving him the benefit of the doubt. And I really fucking hated what that said about me.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
A group of people pushed open the door of the bar, laughing and stomping snow off their boots. “You guys, it’s really coming down out there!” one of them shouted.
Hayes laughed. “Score one for Hen’s leg. Snow day tomorrow?” he asked Kel. “You, me, Dragon’s Blood?”
Kel gave him a stern look. “Bro. We’re members of THWAC now. We got responsibilities.”
Hayes groaned, but I barely paid attention.
A strange urgency gripped me. Delaney was home alone. What if the power went out? The house had come with a generator, but did he have any idea how to start it?
“I should go,” I said, standing suddenly.
“But you only sat down an hour ago,” Hayes protested.
