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She pushed her blonde wavy hair off her shoulders, lifted her nose, and went straight out the doors. A few guys let out a low whistle as she passed, which she ignored. She got that often. And she hated it. She couldn’t help that she’d been born beautiful.
Defeated and feeling like there was no more need for me to be here, I turned toward Austin. “Let’s go. I’ll drive you home.”
* * *
We were silent on the way to his house in Barrington. Sure, I’d been in breakups before. I’d dated the same guy in high school and part of college. But we had never been engaged or about to pledge our lives and futures to each other.
“He’ll be okay,” Austin tried to reassure me.
I nodded slowly. “Yep, because I’ll make sure he’s okay.” It’d take time, but I was certain, with his family helping him through it, he’d fall in love again one day.
“She’ll regret it,” Austin said bitterly. “James is not the settling-down type. And we both know she’ll never find someone like Alec. He has the patience of a saint. I’m surprised he lasted this long. I was sure he was going to leave her high-maintenance ass by week two.”
A small laugh escaped my lips as I gazed at him briefly before returning my eyes to the road.
“I raised her, like you raised Alec. I know how she is—spoiled because I gave her everything she wanted. Sometimes …”
I waited for him to finish his sentence, but he didn’t. “Sometimes … what?”
“Sometimes, I blame myself.” He let out a low sigh, his stare vacant as he focused on the road in front of us. “Is this my fault? For spoiling her too much, where she thinks she can get everything she wants and get away with it? Or maybe she did it because she was subconsciously filling a void, which was there because my parents were never around. I feel guilt for that too. But I had to leave. I was drafted.” His last words were uttered so softly that I barely heard them. “I came back as soon as I could.”
When I was stopped at a light, I placed a hand on his forearm. “It’s not your fault. But I’ve been there. Am there. In a way, we’re a lot alike. Where we can’t help but feel all this responsibility.”
My sisters had never forced me into the motherly role. I took it upon myself. I made the decision to leave college, go to a local community college so I could be home to help with the twins. Serena had decided to take over the business, so it’d only made sense that I step up with the twins.
I understood where he was coming from. A lot of times when Alec had struggled with school, I’d blamed myself for that. Maybe I should have tutored him more, gotten him a tutor when I didn’t have the time.
Silence spanned the air between us as we drove to his house, and I knew we were thinking the same things.
When I finally pulled into his gated community and up his long driveway, I stilled.
Brandy’s car was in the driveway.
“All I know is that if I see her right now, it’s going to be bad.” Austin’s tone could have cut glass.
I placed the car in park. I needed to call one of my sisters to pick me up. And I didn’t want to wait here with the cheater. “Can I get this car back to you tonight? Is that okay? I don’t really feel like waiting for a ride.”
He nodded in understanding. “That’s fine. What’s your number?”
He eyed his front pocket with a look in his eyes like he wasn’t sure how he was going to get his phone out. And there was no way in hell I was digging it out.
I plucked my cell out of my purse. “Give me your number. I’ll call you, so you have my number.”
After I called him, a flash of blonde rushed out the door. And I knew she had been waiting for Austin.
“Great. Just great,” I huffed under my breath.
He reached for the door with his left hand and winced.
“Do you need help?” I really didn’t want to get out of the car, but there was no avoiding it if he needed help.
“It’s fine. But I need you to stay here. I’m grabbing some clothes, and I need you to drive me to the city.”
I was about to protest when Brandy, in only a T-shirt and sweatpants, ran to his side, opening the door before he got a chance to. The brisk air from the winter frost hit me in the face, and I shivered. Brandy must have been freezing. She didn’t have any shoes on and was simply wearing socks.
As soon as Austin’s feet hit the driveway and he stood, Brandy lunged toward him, wrapping her hands around him, her head on his chest. He winced at the contact. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so, so, so sorry. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
He extracted himself from her, unable to meet her eyes, and headed toward the front door. I could hear the wretchedness in her voice as she placed her hands on her chest, begging Austin to hear her out. I couldn’t exactly drive away because they were directly in front of me. And Austin had told me not to leave, so all I could do was watch.
