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“Ares?” The kid was patting my arm, supporting me when I was supposed to be supporting him. “Ares, you should talk to her. Go after her.”
My eyes shut tighter.
Fawn.
I had talked to her, and he saw what that got me. And anyway, it was divine intervention. The universe knew the scenario of her leaving was the only way. It was the only thing to keep her out of my life and preserve things the way they were for her. She’d have a happy life away from me. She’d have no more hurt. No more pain.
“Ares?” The kid was facing me now, but he didn’t let go. “Ares, you love her.”
There was no question there, and I did let go. I eased away, staring at the ground and closing off.
Bru sighed. “I don’t know why you hid that, but you should go to her.”
He didn’t know what he was saying, and Red was definitely worse off if I did. “I don’t want to hurt her anymore, kid.”
“Can’t do any more damage than what I just did when it came to her.” He shook his head. “I should have put two and two together about the storms. And the cars?” He sighed again. “I feel terrible. I should have known about all that.”
It was amazing that I did.
She trusted you.
And I’d stomped all over that trust. I did, and that would only continue if I made myself a permanent fixture in her life. It was inevitable.
Destiny.
There was no world in which Fawn and I had a future. Too much had happened. I’d done too many things when it came to her.
“But you did know that, Ares.” Bru cocked his head. “You know, Fawn and I were pretty good friends before she switched schools, and never once did she tell me any of what she told you. She loves you. I’ve seen it.”
I gripped my legs, but something he said gave me pause. I looked at him. “You said she switched schools?”
“Yeah, there was this fight,” he said, and my mouth parted. He frowned. “Some girl was bullying her pretty bad. Fawn got in a fight with her and left after that. She left town and went to a different school.”
She left.
So Bru… my brother was the guy from the story she told me. The one where she said she had a connection with a guy, but this bitchy girl got in the way of it. The girl locked Fawn in a car because the girl herself liked the guy.
That guy was my brother.
I didn’t know how to feel about that, and before I could voice thoughts about it, Bru spoke.
“I thought once upon a time, Fawn and I were cheated out of something because of that. That there may have been something between us before she switched schools,” Bru continued, and my heart raced. Again, I didn’t know how to feel. He smiled. “That turned out to not be the case, and in a weird way, I’m glad she left. Not the circumstances, of course, but I am glad she left, and that chapter between us was closed.”
I didn’t know what to say but decided to listen. Listening felt best right now. “Why?”
My brother put a hand on my shoulder, and there was so much in his eyes. I couldn’t read any of it. There was just so much. “Because I’m not the one, Ares. For her, I’m not it. I don’t think I ever was, and I wasn’t supposed to be.”
He squeezed my shoulder, and my throat thickened.
“Recently, she and I had a conversation, and I told her I wanted her to be happy,” he said, letting go. “And I know, despite everything you’ve done, what’s inside you. I know what you’re capable of and loving her is unquestionable. There’s few who can match that kind of love.”
My nostrils flared, my throat thicker, tighter.
“You can make her happy, Ares.” My brother’s smile lifted. “Now, you just have to believe it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Fawn
