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The twins just shoot me looks of disgust before making their own exit, following the rest of the guys out.
My gaze shifts to Felix who hasn’t said a word this whole time. He just stands there with his jaw clenched and a dead look in his eyes.
On the inside, I say a silent prayer that there’s some way to get through to him. “Hey man, just know that I…”
When he finally steps forward, I’m hopeful that we’ll find a way to work this out. But when he opens his mouth, I quickly know that I’m wrong.
“This is betrayal at its finest, Mason,” he grunts. “My sister? Come on. After I offered you a job. A free place to stay. We’re best friends, for crying out loud—well, for a long time, wewerebest friends.” He keeps his eyes down as he speaks, like he can’t bear to look at me. “Yearsof friendship between us. Yet, you turn around and dothis…”
“You don’t know how hard I fought against my feelings. I tried not to fall for her. And still, it just…happened.”
“Yeah, I bet you triedrealhard, Mason.” Sarcasm drips from his words.
“I’m freaking in love with her, man! I love her. I want to be with her. I want a relationship with her. Hell, I can see myself spending my whole damn life with her.” Granted, if I don’t shut up, my life will probably be over sometime with in the next five minutes. But if Karli were here with me now, I’d make those five minutes count for something.
“Give me a break.” Felix stomps his foot, his fiery glare finally meeting my eyes.
“Felix, come on, man. You know me,” I try to reason with him. “You know what kind of person I am.”
“Save your speech for someone who doesn’t know you as well as I do,” he spits out. “I know that you like projects. You like to fix broken girls for fun. Like a fucking hobby. And that’s what you did with Karli. You treated my sister like a fucking hobby.”
Damn—when he says it like that, it soundsreallyfucked up.
The worst part is, he’s not saying this shit to insult me or just to be an asshole. He’s saying it because he’s genuinely hurt. Betrayed. I betrayed him. This feels like shit.
He pulls in a breath to calm himself. He taps his foot, his eyes settling on the trees in the distance. “A part of me knows you’re a good guy. But the other part of me looks at you and just sees the guy who messed around with my little sister and lied to my face about it the whole time.” He forces his eyes to mine. “That angry part of me is controlling my brain right now. And that part of me is seeing red and telling me to kick your ass. So I’m gonna need to take a step back.”
I force myself to swallow, realizing that I’m standing on the precipice of losing everything. “What does that mean?”
“It means, I’m trying really hard not to lose my temper and do something stupid right now.” Felix looks me square in the face. “So it might be best if you don’t come back to the clinic. In fact, you should leave town. Things aren’t going to work out for you here.”
My heart drops to the ground.
I do my best to keep my face neutral. “Right…” I make a final attempt to salvage the charred remains of our friendship. “I’m really sorry about all this. I hope one day we’ll be able to see past it all.”
He squares his shoulders stubbornly. “Can’t lie—not sure when I’ll get over it.”
So, that’s the end of it. I’m fired. I’m evicted. I’m done in this town.
Felix crosses over the threshold. He steps onto the front porch. I think that’s the end of our conversation, but at the last second, he turns to face me, his eyes brimming with anger.
“When I realized I’d be needing help at the clinic, you were the first person who came to mind. Because to me, our relationship was more than just a friendship over the years. It was a brotherhood.” His head shakes from side to side. “Looking back, all the signs were there. I saw the way you’d look at her. The way you two were always giggling together. And arguing like an old married couple. But I didn’t want to believe you were messing around with my sister. I mean—you told me point blank that you had no intention of going anywhere near Karli. I just…I just never thought you’d betray me like that. Really wasn’t expecting this from you, man. Sucks to realize that the loyalty doesn’t go both ways. But at least I know where we stand now.” Felix glances at his feet. He gestures downward with his chin. “Leave the keys under the mat.”
I watch the guys jump back into their respective vehicles and reverse down the drive. I stand there at the door, feeling like a turd someone accidentally dragged into the house under their shoe. I’m definitely not welcome here. Not anymore.
Shit. Are the guys right? Did I take advantage of Karli when she was in a vulnerable state? It didn’t feel like it at the time, but looking back in retrospect, I can see how our relationship might look questionable.
This is not a good feeling.
With my head hung, I turn back inside and climb the stairs.
In my bedroom, I pack up all my shit, leaving no trace of my sorry existence behind. Then, I drag my bags down the stairs, refusing to look at Karli’s closed bedroom door because it hurts too fucking much.
Moments later, my car is packed to the brim. Like when I showed up here in town. The only difference is that this time, there’s no blow-up doll making her ‘O’ face at me in the rearview mirror. And my broken spirit is so heavy, I don’t know if my car will survive the weight of it.
On the drive out of town, the pressing feeling inside my chest is unbearable. I feel like I’m breaking down behind the wheel. I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold myself together for the forty-five minute drive back to Honey Hill. So instead of merging onto the highway, I swerve into the parking lot of the Full Moon Motel and Bar.
As I slump against the bartop with a pathetic burrito sitting untouched in front of me, I pick up my phone and try to call Karli a few more times. My call gets sent to voicemail with each attempt.
