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Guilt burned in my chest but hope too. Hope because he’d already forgiven me. Forgiven before I’d asked for it. My heart clenched. “I know. I’m a shit brother.”
I sighed, feigning a lopsided grin.
But Ty didn’t return my smile. His jaw tightened as his face grew serious. “Don’t do that,” he snapped, surprising me. “Don’t act like you’re less than you are.”
“I was joking, Ty.” I put up my hands in surrender.
Ty shook his head. “No, you weren’t.” His hazel eyes bore into mine as he stood from the couch, stepping up to me. “Atlas, you are the best brother I could’ve ever asked for. Yeah, you have your flaws because we all do, but you never give yourself enough credit. There’s only one person I look up to in this world, and that’s you. If I didn’t have you, Atty, I would’ve been long dead. People don’t survive the things we have survived alone. You were always my strength and I want you to know that no matter what, no matter how many fights we have or where we go in life, I will always be yours.”
I’d never heard him talk like that before, and I tucked those words close to my heart. I let them absorb into my skin like fresh ink on a page and tattooed them on my bones.
I slowly got to my feet and wrapped my arms around my brother, holding him like I hadn’t done since we were kids. We were all the family we had left in this world, and I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed him in the last few years. We’d been growing apart and it was time that we stop. It was time to come together again.
“Thank you, Ty,” I said, my voice gruff as we broke apart, and I patted his shoulder. “That means…a lot.”
He nodded. “And I’m sorry I’ve been such a pain in your ass.”
I laughed softly, shaking my head. “I’m sure that’s not going to change anytime soon.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I have to grow up some time.” He clenched his jaw and looked away.
His expression slipped again; something stirred behind his eyes, and I almost asked whether he was okay. But why was he even expected to be? He’d watched our father die. Pressing my lips together, I decided the best thing to do was give him some time. I stepped away, and my phone vibrated. I grabbed it from my pocket, checking the screen only to see that it was a junk email. I groaned inwardly as I dropped it back in my pocket.
“No word from Wren?” Ty asked.
I shook my head. “She was pretty upset.”
“Have you called her?”
I shrugged. “She doesn’t want me to call her.”
He looked at me doubtfully. “They always want you to call them,” he said. “How hard did you beg her to stay?”
I glanced down at my feet. “I’m not going to beg someone to stay when they don’t want to.”
Ty let out an exasperated sigh. “You just let her go without a fight, didn’t you?” He shoved my shoulder. “You need to call her, Atty. You need to beg, plead, get on your knees and do whatever it is she wants you to do, because I am pretty sure that you love her, man. And she sure seems to love you.”
I blinked at him. “She doesn’t love me.” We hadn’t exchanged those three little words to each other. I’d wanted to, on more than one occasion. I’d loved Wren for a while, but only recently let myself believe it. Yet, how did you say it to someone you had only been dating for such a short time? It felt like too much and not enough all at once and now, what if I never got the chance to let her know?
Ty shoved my shoulder again. “You’re an idiot, bro. I mean, I love you, but you need to grab life by the balls and go get your girl back before it’s too late.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. I had been so distracted by everything with Ty and my father that I let Wren go without much of a fight. It’d been too much but now, not having her here, was crushing me.
I took out my phone again, looking at the time. “It’s late.”
Ty narrowed his eyes. “Call her. If she doesn’t answer, you wake up at the butt crack of dawn to go find her and bring her back home.”
I smiled. “Damn, you’re pushy,” I mused, but I unlocked my phone and dialed Wren’s number.
Wren hadn’t answered the phone and I’d gone to bed with crushing disappointment. But the second I opened my eyes in the morning, I chugged a glass of water and was about to grab my keys to go and see Wren when there was a knock on the front door.
I shot a confused look at the door. I’d convinced Ty to stay the night and he wasn’t even awake yet, so I had no idea who it would be. We didn’t get many visitors here unless they came in with Ty. I walked over cautiously and opened the door.
Ellie blinked up at me from the doorstep, shifting on her feet. She wore her Riverfront Grill T-shirt and shorts, obviously on her way into work.
“Hey.” She sounded nervous as she glanced into the house behind me.
“Ty’s still in bed, but I can go get him if you want,” I said.
