‘I have to see who it is,’ Gracie says with a shudder, as she struggles to make it to the door. She grasps the door handle and barely pulls it open an inch. “Adam! Thank God! Where’s my brother?”
I’ve never been happier to see Adam than I am right now. Relief floods through me and I relax a bit.
‘He’s too preoccupied with his new fiance to be paying attention to your little disappearing act,’ Adam gripes, disappointment radiating from every inch of him. His tone rubs me the wrong way as he rips into Gracie. My feet finally move, and it’s only a couple of seconds until I’m right behind her, pulling the door wide open to narrow my eyes at Adam. ‘Oh, you don’t even have a shirt on. Even better. What a fantastic time to get laid.’ He’s scolding me as if I’m a child. ‘Did you forget your brain in Europe or something? I thought you were smarter than this.’
My face flames as my dormant anger makes an ugly return. Tearing my eyes away from him before I blow a gasket, I turn in search of my shirt once again.
‘You both need to get your shit together before Oakley finds out about this. We’re all fucked if he does, and nobody told him. You know that, right?’
Sitting down on the bed, I watch Gracie drop her head, her shoulders sagging with shame. My hands wind themselves in my now very messy hair, and I can’t help but let the guilt devour me whole.
Oakley has been nothing but a great friend to me, even when we both knew I didn’t deserve it. Bringing me to family dinners, always calling to check in on me regardless of his crazy schedule, and what do I do in return? Fuck his sister. In a giant fucked up way of saying thank you.
‘Oakley won’t find out. Not until we tell him,’ I mutter. I want nothing more than for this conversation to be done with. I need to get out of here and have a smoke.
‘What even is this anyway? Is this a fuck-buddy situation, or is this actually something worth him knowing about? Because if I’m about to get dragged into this shit storm, I need to know what I’m going to be dealing with.’ Adam crosses his arms against his chest, letting out an exasperated sigh.
‘Who has a fuck buddy?’
My head snaps up, and my blood runs cold as I stare wide-eyed at the other two. Gracie’s mouth falls open, and her hands shake at her sides. Our worst nightmare is about to become an even nastier reality.
Gracie turns to me, motioning towards the walk-in closet beside the bed as Adam tries to cover for us. ‘Oh, uh, just some buddy of mine.’
‘Fuck no!’ I whisper, shaking my head fervently.
‘Please, Tyler,” she pleads “He’s getting closer. Go!’ She grabs my arms and shoves me in the direction of the closet door.
Holding back a growl, I angrily pull open the door and walk inside. Empty clothes hangers stab me in the back as Gracie pushes me even further into the closet, not stopping until I hit the wall. She smiles apologetically before shutting the door, locking me in the dark space.
Laughter carries in through the closet soon after, and for a second, I think we might just get away with this. That is, until Oakley’s booming voice shakes the room. ‘Is that Tyler’s shirt?’
‘How would I know?’ Gracie asks, her voice is so steady and unshaking. I envy her.
‘That’s definitely his shirt. What is it doing here? Where is he?’ Oakley demands.
‘Man, just take a step back for a min-‘ Adam tries to reason with Oakley. I take the nerves in his voice as my cue and walk out of the closet. I throw my hands up in surrender when Oakley spins around to face me. Oakley throws my shirt at Adam the second his eyes narrow in on me. And if looks could kill, I would be ten feet under already.
‘You better start talking before I throw my fist clean through your skull,’ Oakley hisses through clenched teeth. He clenches his fists tight at his sides, and I notice the vein in his forehead throbbing painfully. I would be lying if I said that fighting a guy Oakley’s size doesn’t scare me.
‘Oakley, let’s not do this today. Come on.’ Adam tries once again to reason with Oakley as he takes a cautious step towards him. But, it’s a move he quickly learns was a mistake because Oakley turns to him, a face full of rage-driven disappointment.
‘You knew about this, didn’t you? You’re just as much a shitty friend as this fucker.’ His hand flies in my direction, stopping just a few inches from my chest.
‘At least let me explain,’ I plead as I try to bring his attention back to me and not to Adam. ‘Adam has nothing to do with this.’
‘I don’t want you to explain anything to me. I want my sister to do the honours.’ Oakley snaps at me, bringing his narrowed gaze to rest on his guilt-stricken sister.
Gracie snorts. ‘This isn’t any of your business to begin with. I’m not a little girl anymore.’
‘Are you sure? Because you’re sure as hell acting like one.’ Oakley stiffens. ‘You’re not sixteen anymore. This obsession has to end before you get hurt.’
‘Obsession? Nice.’ She shakes her head furiously. ‘You always know just what to say.’
‘Don’t flip this on me. I’ve spent years trying to ignore the way you look at him but I’m done. You two would only end badly,’ Oakley states smugly.
‘And that’s your decision to make?’ she questions.
‘It is when I’m the only one with common sense! I know Tyler better than anyone, and any relationship you could have with him wouldn’t last outside of the bedroom.’
This sibling argument quickly becomes a free-for-all. The insult makes me grind my jaw. I take a warning step in Oakley’s direction.
‘Let’s not pretend like you’re some saint,’ I scoff, finally stepping in between the heated siblings.
‘I am compared to you!’ Oakley snaps back, cocking his head. ‘I wouldn’t have taken advantage of my best friend’s sister, that’s for sure.’
‘You seem so sure that I took advantage of her but you don’t even know what happened before you came bounding in here acting like a damn bodyguard with an axe to grind.’
‘Don’t, Ty,’ Gracie pleads, her posture rigid. It’s clear that she doesn’t want her brother to know about us, but I can’t act like I wouldn’t like for it to just be over and done with already.
‘Unless you can look me in the eye and tell me you weren’t in here trying to sleep with my sister, then I don’t want to hear what was happening. I can figure out enough of it on my own.’
‘What the hell is going on in here?’ Ava shrieks, storming into the room, confused. Gracie stares at her intently, her eyes pleading. Ava picks up on the tense energy quickly, and looks at Oakley with narrowed eyes. ‘What did you do?’
‘Me? Why don’t you ask the little girl silently begging for your help?’ Oakley speaks to Ava but his words are directed at Gracie.
‘Somebody better talk.’
Nobody speaks. I know I should be the one to say something, anything, to make this better, but my mind is blank. I am too focused on the guilt and hopelessness this entire situation has brought. I should not have slept with Gracie in Mexico and I sure as hell should not have done it again here. Or anywhere. I’ve gone and fucked this up way worse than I ever thought I could.
‘Tyler didn’t take advantage of me, Oakley. Quite the opposite actually. And this isn’t the first time we’ve been together like this. This is just the first time you have caught us,’ Gracie says softly, her cheeks flushed. ‘And you can be upset if you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that we’re not going to stop. You don’t control my life anymore.’
My jaw goes slack. I am surprised that she had the nerve to not only tell the truth about what we have done but to make a bold statement that could end up not being true. A sharp pain radiates through my face as Oakley’s fist connects with my jaw. I lose my footing at the sudden force, flying back on my ass as he launches himself at me. I’m pinned to the ground before I can react, the back of my head throbbing from hitting the floor.
Oakley’s fist winds back again, but Adam moves to pull him off me before he can hit me again. His weight is lifted from my chest and my lungs fill up like empty balloons.
‘You can have him then, Gracie.’ Oakley turns to me. His lips are twitching but remain in a tight line. ‘Because I want nothing to do with him anymore.’
My gut twists and pulls as Oakley shakes free of Adam and storms out of the room. Gracie kneels down in front of me and I throw an arm over my eyes as she asks where it hurts. I can’t find it in me to reply so I just continue to lay here, dead to the world.
The pain shooting through my cheek is nothing compared to how I feel after hurting Oakley and destroying one of the most important friendships that I have ever had.
