And we did.
Those first few weeks were brutal, but I look back on them with a quiet kind of pride. Long days. Hard work. No one cutting us any slack.
At night, we’d sit around the table or out on the porch—talking shit, drinking, playing cards, and pretending we weren’t half-dead on our feet.
That’s where the real bonds formed. Not because we had to be there, but because we chose to show up. Day after day.
We’re not coworkers. We’re family.
I pour myself a bourbon. Just one. Then another. Probably should’ve stopped when it started going down like water.
The room buzzes with laughter and card games. I play half-heartedly, just enough to blend in—just enough to mask how miserable I truly feel.
Two hours pass before Lane finally shows up.
His shirt wrinkled.
Hair messy—like someone had been running their hands through it.
But it’s the shit-eating grin that does it. Like he knows he won. That’s what sends me over the edge.
He doesn’t hang around. Just stops in the kitchen, fills a glass of water, and disappears into his room without saying a word.
Someone at the table cracks a joke.Must’ve been good if he’s not talking about it.
That’s when I refill my glass. And then again.
And again.
Until the noise fades. Until I don’t feel anything except the weight in my chest and the dull ache that comes with knowing I let this happen. I let her slip through my fingers.
The guys usually brag all the time—girls from the bar, buckle bunnies, random hookups they don’t even remember the names of.
But when it means something, you keep your mouth shut.
That’s how I know.
That’s when it hits me.
I lost my chance.
Lost her before I even had her.
Fourteenconsecutivedaysofbeing a miserable asshole and making it everyone else’s problem.
A new record.
I’ve made it a personal goal to make Lane’s life harder than necessary. It’s childish, I know. I’m not proud of it. But every time I look at him, all I see is her. And him—withher.
And I see red.
She’s not mine.
But it doesn’t matter.
This is the part where I step back. Where I do the right thing and move on.
So I swallow it. All of it.
