DEX
Sunday morning found me in the garage, staring at an oil change that should have taken twenty minutes. I’d been looking at the same car for an hour. Seeing nothing but an inescapable existence of sitting on the sidelines.
All I could see was her face when I walked through that door yesterday.
The shock. The horror. The absolute fury.
And underneath it all, the hurt.
I deserved the anger. Deserved worse. But the hurt gutted me. Because I’d treated her exactly the way she was afraid of being treated. I’d proved her worst fear to be true.
My phone buzzed. The group chat. I almost ignored it, but that would make things worse. They already knew there was something going on with me, withdrawing further would only make them force the truth out of me.
Trace: Family dinner Friday night. Our place. 6pm. Leigh will be there.
Booker: I’ll bring the steaks
Xander: Blake’s making dessert. Her words: “experimental”
Gage: Billie and I will be there. Maybe we’ll bring a second dessert. I remember Blake’s last culinary experiment.
The messages kept coming, but I couldn’t look away from Trace’s message.
Leigh will be there.
Of course she would be. She was part of the family now. Part of every gathering, every dinner, every celebration.
And so was I.
Which meant there was no escape.
Trace: Dex. You coming?
I stared at my phone. Three little dots appeared and disappeared as Trace typed, deleted, typed again.
Trace: This isn’t optional. You’ve been avoiding us for months.
Xander: If you’re not there, I’m coming to get you. And I’m bringing Booker.
Gage: We all are. You’re not getting out of this one.
Booker: Just show up.
I could see them doing it. All four of them showing up at my garage or my house, refusing to leave until I talked to them. I would have done it for them. We’d always been there for each other, they’d just needed me more than I’d needed them. But that didn’t mean they didn’t care. It didn’t mean they wouldn’t show up.
Dex: Fine. I’ll be there.
Trace: Good. It’ll be good to have everyone together. Dad seems different with her around. More relaxed. I think this is going to be good for all of us.
Everyone. Including her.
I set the phone down and tried to focus on the oil change. Failed spectacularly.
The sound of a car pulling up made me look up. Xander’s SUV.
Of course. If there was anyone who wouldn’t be convinced I’d do as I said, it was Xander. He knew what it was like to retreat from everyone you loved, to fall down in a well of loneliness you couldn’t escape.
He got out, hands in his pockets, and walked into the garage with that easy confidence he’d only found in the last couple of years. Sobriety looked good on him. Made him steadier, more centered.
