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I hated troubling him after he’d made it clear he wanted nothing to do with me.
The door swung open, revealing a sweaty Jay dressed in a tank top and running shorts. An orange headband kept his shaggy hair away from his face, and he was breathing heavily. Frowning, he pulled an earbud out.
“Griff, what are you doing here?”
Would he ever call me “dad”? A civil conversation between us was better than nothing, though.
“I know my face is the last thing you want to see—”
“Got that right.”
“And I wouldn’t be here, but I’m worried about Scottie. Can we talk?”
A look of concern chased away the scowl on his face. “What happened?” he asked, his tone clipped and direct. “What did you accuse him of this time?”
“I see you two talked.”
“Yes, Scottie usually tells me everything. You’re the big fucking secret he’s kept all these years.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that, but this isn’t about how he betrayed you. Can I come in?”
He grabbed the door so hard his knuckles turned white. “We can talk right here.”
At least he wasn’t running me off his property. I would take it. Besides, I wasn’t here this time to be forgiven.
“Do you know if something happened to Scottie recently?” I asked.
“Shouldn’t you be asking him this?”
“I have, but he won’t say anything.”
“Then what makes you think I’ll go behind his back and tell you?”
So there was something.
“Because I think you care about Scottie more than anyone else, and you want him to be happy. He’s not happy, Jay. What happened to him?”
Jay’s defiant gaze softened. “You really need to ask Scottie.”
“But I’m asking you. As his friend. I love him, and he’s unhappy. Of course I need to fix whatever the problem is.”
“That’s the problem. He doesn’t want you to fix it. Not your usual way.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Jay cocked his head. “Do you really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Scottie’s afraid to tell you the truth because you have a violent past. He thinks if you know what happened to him, you’ll do something stupid, like confronting the person who hurt him, and then you might wind up back in prison.”
I staggered back and leaned against the railing on the porch for support, my mind reeling. I had a past, yes. A violent one, but for Scottie to think I’d resort back to that…
You pulled a knife on his date.
Fuck. Of course Scottie would think that, but I’d been defending him. His date had been sexually harassing him. I would never have reacted so strongly had…
David, please don’t. Please don’t hit me again. I won’t fight back.
