Dylan’s Place was packed for Trace’s bachelor party.
It had started out as just us but then word had spread and everyone wanted to celebrate Trace finally getting to marry the love of his life. We’d taken over the back section with the pool tables. Someone had brought a Bluetooth speaker, and classic rock played at a volume that was just loud enough to talk over but not so loud that we’d get kicked out.
Trace was on his third beer and currently destroying Gage at pool. Booker sat at a high-top table, nursing a whiskey and watching everything with his usual quiet presence. Xander was at the bar ordering another round, chatting with Dylan himself.
I leaned against the wall, beer in hand, and tried to enjoy the moment. One of my best friends, my brothers, was getting married tomorrow. This should be a celebration. And it was.
But my mind kept drifting to Leigh.
To our date last night. To the way she’d fit perfectly under my arm as we walked through town. To how right it felt to introduce her as my girlfriend. To the future racing toward us that neither of us knew how to navigate.
“You’re thinking too loud,” Xander said, appearing at my elbow with a fresh beers and a ginger ale for him. He handed me the beer. “Stop it.”
“I’m not thinking about anything.”
“You’re absolutely thinking about Leigh. You get this look. Like you’re trying to solve an equation that doesn’t have a solution.”
“That’s pretty accurate actually.”
He clinked his bottle against mine. “Want to talk about it?”
“Not particularly.”
“Tough shit. We’re talking about it.” He steered me toward a quieter corner, away from the pool tables. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
I took a long drink. “It’s nothing.”
“Dex. Come on. We’ve been friends for over twenty years. I know when you’re spiraling.”
“I’m not spiraling.”
“You are absolutely spiraling.” He waited, patient. “Talk to me.”
I sighed, setting my beer down. “Three weeks. That’s all we have left. And we’re just... ignoring it. Pretending like August 16th isn’t coming. Like she’s not going back to Blue Point Bay and I’m not staying here and this whole thing isn’t about to blow up in our faces.”
“So don’t let it.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It literally is that simple.” Xander’s voice was firm. “One of you moves. Problem solved.”
“I can’t just leave Willowbrook. The garage, you guys, everything…”
“The garage is a building. We’re your brothers whether you’re two miles away or two hundred. None of that changes just because you change your address.”
“But my grandfather…”
“Is dead,” Xander said bluntly. “I’m sorry to be harsh about it, but he is. And I promise you, he wouldn’t want you to spend your whole life trapped by something he left you. He’d want you to be happy the same way that he got to be happy with your grandmother. He wouldn’t want to give us on something like that,”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do, actually. Because that’s what people who love you want. They want you to be happy. They want you to live your life.” He paused. “Dex, you’ve spent your entire adult life taking care of everyone else. Your grandparents. Your business. Us. When are you going to take care of yourself?”
“I am taking care of myself.”
“You’re maintaining. There’s a difference.” He leaned against the wall beside me. “You’re keeping the garage running because that’s what’s expected. You’re staying in Willowbrook because that’s what you’ve always done. You’re living the life your grandfather laid out for you instead of building your own.”
“That’s not fair.”
