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Why the hell were they intent on controlling mine?
If I were truly honest, I was more pissed at myself.
I’d allowed it all to unfold.
When Jenner suddenly announced his career change, I’d forced a grin and gone along with it. Because if he was happy, then I’d find a way to be happy for him. Loving him meant supporting him. Then he’d told me he’d found us a house—and apparently bought it before I could even look inside the damn thing. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t for the neighbors. Although, I wasn’t sure if living beside different residents of West Bridge would have been any better. With the exception of Aspen, Aunt Dallas’s father and stepmother, Luca, and now Shaw since she and Jagger had bought a house near Violet, no one else in town had ever treated me like anything but a freak.
For most of my life, the farm had been the only thing that had held me to West Bridge. After moving in with Jenner, it had taken a back seat from time to time. But I’d been stupid to think it was safe anywhere off the land I’d grown up on. In the end, Jenner wasn’t the safe place I needed.
The farm was my only solace. The one place where I could be myself and not have to worry about anyone whispering and laughing at me behind my back—or to my face. But now, it no longer felt like home. Not when my parents had already proven they couldn’t be trusted—just like I couldn’t trust Jenner.
I had nowhere to go. I was basically homeless and still needed to figure out what I was going to do with the boxes of my stuff back in the apartment above Luca’s garage.
“Doe!”
I stiffened when I heard my name shouted. Hesitantly, I glanced over my shoulder and, through my tears, saw my brothers and Aspen running toward me. I turned slowly, waiting for them to catch up. As they neared, I put up both hands to stop them. “Did you three know about any of this?”
Bryant and LJ bent in half, hands on their knees as they tried to catch their breath. It was only then that I realized how far I’d walked since leaving Jenner in front of the restaurant. Jackson was struggling to catch his breath too, but it was Aspen who, while sweaty and exerted, wrapped his arms around me. “We didn’t know anything, sweet pea. The only thing we were told was that Jenner was proposing to you today, so we made sure we were here for it.”
Squeezing my eyes closed, I nodded, believing him. After I’d donated my bone marrow to Pixie, Jackson had gotten his head out of his ass—for the most part—and had taken the step to ask Aspen to transfer to Arkansas to be with him. Neither of them had actually come out and announced they were together, but I knew they were in a relationship. Now, if they would just tell our parents. As for Aspen’s mom and dad, fuck them. They were homophobic bigots who would rather Aspen be dead than gay.
At this point, I was sure Jackson hadn’t said anything to anyone other than our brothers and me because of Aspen. I was just glad they were finally together and happy. That was all that mattered to me.
With my friend hugging me, I was able to let go. A sob ripped its way out of my throat, and I felt myself go weak. “Wh-what am I going to do?” I whispered brokenly as I pressed my face into his chest, my hands balled into fists around the material of his designer dress shirt. “I-I don’t h-have any…anywhere to go.”
Aspen rubbed his hands up and down my back soothingly. “Shh, don’t cry. We’ll figure everything out. There’s no need to worry.”
Suddenly, I was surrounded on all sides, each of my brothers joining the group hug. I felt all of them kiss the top of my head, their warmth and strength trying to chase away the chill I hadn’t realized had invaded my body until they were there, holding me up.
“Let’s go back to my apartment,” Aspen suggested. “It’s not far from here. We can sit down and talk.”
Unable to speak for the lump in my throat choking me, I nodded.
“Doe, where the fuck are your shoes?” Jackson demanded.
I shrugged, not sure how far back it had been when I’d tossed them into the trash.
Muttering a curse, the eldest of my brothers lifted me into his arms. “LJ, get us a cab.”
Turning my head, I buried my face in Jackson’s neck and just let the tears flow. It was a long while later before I could bring myself to lift my head. We were sitting in the kitchen of Aspen’s apartment. Although he’d transferred to Arkansas for college back in the fall, he’d still kept his apartment. He’d bought it with his own money, so he would always have a place to stay when he was in Tennessee, as if my parents wouldn’t let him stay with them if he ever needed a place to sleep.
A hot mug of herbal tea had been pressed into my hands, but I couldn’t bring myself to take a sip as I sat there staring into the delicate cup.
“You need to tell us what happened, Doe,” Bryant finally urged. “We saw Jenner when we came looking for you, and he looked like he was contemplating swallowing a bullet.”
Flinching, I set the cup in the saucer and pushed it away from me, unsure if the liquid would stay down if I did attempt to swallow it. “We broke up,” I was able to get out in a hoarse voice.
“What?” all four of them exclaimed at the same time.
“Why?” LJ demanded.
“What did he do?” Bryant followed up.
“Did you fall out of love with him?” Aspen murmured.
“No!” I cried, my eyes widening on my best friend. “Why would you think that?”
“It’s the only explanation I could come up with for why you would break up with the man who had been down on his knees, ready to ask you to marry him,” he answered with a shrug.
