“Why?”
“I don’t know,” he says, his gaze focused on the floor. “She hasn’t talked to anyone.”
“I know this doesn’t make things any better, but I didn’t know.”
He finally looks at me, a line cutting through his forehead as a confused scowl shifts his features. “She didn’t tell you?”
I shake my head. “She mentioned she thought she might be back then, and I—I got mad. I shouldn’t have, but I got some news about my dad, and I was in a bad place.” I pause before adding, “It’s not an excuse. I ended up pushing her away, and that’s why she didn’t tell me. It’s my fault. I should’ve been there, but I was too in my head about my own shit.”
He offers a small nod and a lingering silence that isn’t tense or angry. It’s just there, sitting between us while we figure out how to move on from this. “You still love her, don’t you?”
I nod. “I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving her. These past twenty years have been…nothing. It felt empty and pointless, and when I came back…” I inhale a deep breath. It’s difficult to find the right words to describe what it felt like to have Teeny back in my life. But I try. “Things just seem to make sense now. Even without my job, I feel at ease, and?—”
“What happened with InnoDex?” Josh asks, concern etched on his face.
“I resigned.”
“Why?”
“I needed to be here.”
“For Teeny?”
I nod.
He exhales a heavy sigh, and I’m not sure if it’s relief or frustration. “Everett, you have to understand why I’m mad.”
“I know.”
“If it were anyone else, I would tell you to stay far away.” He chuckles morosely before adding, “Actually, I’d probably beat the shit out of you.”
“And I’d deserve it.”
“Yeah,” he scoffs. “You know you don’t deserve her.”
“I know.”
“And I will actually beat the shit out of you if you break her heart again.”
“I know that too.”
He looks at me, a smile cracking through his older brother façade ready to do anything to protect his baby sister. “So, what’s your plan?”
“I don’t know,” I tell him glumly, realizing I’m all out. There’s nothing else I can do to convince her she can trust me again. As much as I don’t deserve another chance, I’d crawl to her on my hands and knees to earn it, but I don’t know if that’ll be enough. “She told me…me loving her isn’t enough. She doesn’t trust me to not hurt her again. And as much as I’ll do whatever it takes, I don’t think it’s enough to convince her to trust me.”
“You’re going to have to make it enough.”
A small smile teases my lips, a little surprised at his change in attitude. “What happened to kicking my ass?”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’ll still kick your ass if I need to,” he clarifies with a mocking chuckle. “But…I can’t imagine you doing what her idiot husband did to her. Or anything even remotely close.”
“Yeah,” I answer with a scoff.
“And she might not trust you. At least not yet, but a part of me does, and if you give it all you have, you might be able to convince her to start trusting you again. Once she does, once she realizes what you’re willing to do for her, then maybe you can earn the rest of it back.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
Teeny
