She nodded and turned toward the porch. “Mom, will you—”

Sophia waved her off. “I’ve got them. Go.”

“I’m not riding in a car with him,” Zach argued as Kacie walked up to him and held her hand out for the keys.

“Please.” She sniffed. “If you want to make things better, please make this easy on me.”

Zach looked from her to me and back again. “Fine,” he grunted, dropping the keys in her hand. “I live in the Meadowbrook Apartments on Maple. Do you know where that is?”

She nodded and sat down in his truck, turning to watch as he walked back to my truck. I hopped up into my driver’s seat and rested my wrists on the steering wheel, watching her. She pulled her eyebrows in tight and looked at me with sad eyes. More than anything, I wanted to go over, pull her into my arms, and take away her misery, but she caused mine and I was pissed the fuck off.

“In the back, D.” I watched as Diesel woke up and gingerly crawled into the backseat, still half-asleep.

Zach opened the truck door while I looked out my window, worried that if I met his deadbeat eyes, I’d pull him out of the truck and beat the shit out of him again. My hand throbbed as I wrapped it around the steering wheel, and the thought crossed my mind that it might be broken. I couldn’t get it checked out and I couldn’t complain. Not this season.

He climbed up and sat down. Before I even put the truck in reverse, he tried talking.

“Listen—”

“No. You listen,” I interrupted, finally looking straight at him. “I’m going to explain how this ride is going to go. You’re not going to talk to me and I’m not going to talk to you. Regardless of why you’re back or what the fuck has been going on, we’re not friends and we’ll never be friends. And talking about Kacie is so fucking far off-limits that if I feel you even thinking about her, I’ll put your head through my goddamn windshield.”

He stared straight ahead and didn’t say another word while we followed Kacie the whole way to his apartment. I put my truck in park and he opened the door immediately. Once his feet were on the ground, he turned to me. “Kacie didn’t invite me over tonight. She didn’t even know I was coming. I got in my truck and drove there, so if you want to be mad at someone for that, be mad at me. Also, I didn’t fight you back because, aside from being blindsided, I probably deserve a broken jaw for all the pain I’ve caused her over the years. Even so, I’m not going to apologize because I do want back in Lucy and Piper’s life in some capacity.”

“You don’t deserve to be in their lives,” I seethed.

He tilted his head to the side slightly and nodded. “You’re probably right about that, but when I watched them play at the park, it hit me how much I’d truly missed. I’m not going to let them slip through my fingers again.”

“They didn’t slip through your fingers, asshole. You threw them away. I picked them up, cleaned them off, and have been there for them since the day I met them. Don’t be dumb enough to think this is going to be an easy road for you,” I warned as he backed up and shut the door.

I watched as he walked over and took his keys from Kacie. He stopped and said something to her, but she just shook her head and walked back to my truck. She slid into the passenger seat and dropped her face into her hands, crying quietly. Peeking at her out of the corner of my eye as I pulled out of the parking space, my heart wrenched. It physically hurt me to resist touching her.

My fingers tingled. I wanted to run them through her hair and pull her into my lap. I wanted to tell her it would all be okay and we’d get through this, but I didn’t even know what the hell we were getting through yet. Then, Zach’s words from before he walked away replayed in my head.

When the fuck did he watch them play at a park?

I didn’t speak one word to Kacie on the way home. She just cried. We pulled up the long driveway to the inn and I saw Sophia sitting on the front porch swing with Fred next to her. Kacie jumped out of the truck and came around to my side, waiting for me to follow her.

I rolled my window down. “I’m leaving.”

Her mouth flew open and she took a step back as new tears started falling from her eyes. “You’re not coming in?”

“No.” I looked straight out the front window, my fingers tapping on my dashboard. “I’m too angry. I can’t talk to you right now.”

“Brody,” she sobbed, “please. I need you.”

My eyes shot toward her. “You know what? I needed you tonight. I just came from my parents house, found out they’re divorcing. I’m crushed.”

Her eyes grew wide as her hands clutched her throat.

I continued, “You know where I wanted to go when I was crushed? Here. To you. Only to be completely fucking gutted when I find out that you’ve been lying to me for God knows how long. So, yes, I’m leaving. I need to think—about my parents, about you, about all of this. I’ll be in touch.”

I rolled up my window and started to pull out of the driveway. Against my better judgment, I checked my rearview just in time to see Sophia running off the porch toward Kacie, who had dropped to her knees and was sobbing right there in the grass.

Fucking gutted.

Part of me felt like an ass for leaving her like that, and part of me knew it was for the best. I had so many questions for her about Zach and what the hell had been going on the last couple weeks, but it wouldn’t have done either of us any good if I’d asked those questions now. Most likely I would have said something I’d regret, or punched something else, and I couldn’t afford for my hand to get any more swollen.

A couple miles from her house, I pulled over and took out my phone to text Andy.

HEY BRO, YOU HOME?

A: YEP. FOLDING LAUNDRY, LIVING THE DREAM. WHAT’S UP?

CAN I COME BY?

A: SURE. IT’S LATE. EVERYTHING OKAY?

NOT EVEN CLOSE.

“You broke his jaw?” Andy leaned forward on his couch, propping his elbows on his knees, and rubbed his temples.

I shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, but something cracked. Very well could have been my hand. I’m gonna grab some ice.”

A minute later, I walked back to his living room and he was still sitting in the same position. “I couldn’t help it,” I defended. “First, I saw him holding her hand—that was bad enough. Then, when he introduced himself as Lucy and Piper’s dad, I lost it. I don’t even know how many times I hit him. He went over the railing.”

Andy’s head sprang up. “You punched him over a railing?”

I nodded and groaned, gently putting the baggie of ice on the top of my hand.

“Fuck.” He stood up and started pacing the living room. “You know if he presses charges, you’re screwed. It’s a contract year, Brody. How could you do this?” He walked back and forth with his hands on his hips.

“I told you. I snapped.” I crossed my ankles on his coffee table.

“Yeah. Tell that to Collins.”

Fuck.

It was days like this when I wished I had a normal nine-to-five desk job. My boss wouldn’t give a shit what I did outside of working hours, and I could just fucking call in sick tomorrow.

“I’ll talk to Collins. Don’t worry.”