your friends?" Before the devastation can take over.
"We're doing cake when he wakes. You have to stay for that," he demanded.
Thing was, I didn't have to do anything he said.
"No. I have other… I have to be somewhere." My chin lifted. He seemed to know when I did that, I wouldn't back down, and there was no way I would.
Not after those words.
"Mena—"
"It's okay. You can say goodbye to them for me." As fast as I could, I walked around them and went to the front door.
"Mena, fuck, wait."
With my hand on the door handle, I looked over my shoulder and informed him in an aloof voice, "I'll be back Monday for work, Mr Brooks."
He flinched.
Good.
It didn't match what I was feeling inside, but it was something at least.
He didn't come after me. I was stupid and stomped on the small amount of hope I had that he would rush out the door for me to stop. So when he didn't and I was halfway walking to my car in the bushland, I cried. Tear after tear fell, and they wouldn't stop.
I'd heard harsh words before. Growing up poor, it was the normal to hear them.
They'd just never stung as much as Mr Brooks's did.
Never would he be Kalen again.
He was my employer and nothing else.
Since Mark's death, I never thought warmth would have touched me again, but it had; Koda and even Kalen were the reason for that. Until that night, it was the coldest, most lonesome night I had felt in so long, and a part of me even felt it was worse than what I had felt before.
Chapter Ten
Dive
My arse was chewed out by just about everyone that afternoon. They didn't make me feel worse, though. I was already feeling like the biggest fuckin' prick. Her face… her sweet face was… crap! Fuck, it hurt to see the pain I'd put there.
I should have chased her. Dodge urged me to, but I couldn't. I didn't know what to say to her. How could I come back from being such a lowlife? It had been all lies. Everything I said was a bunch of bullshit, and Dodge was just about to call me on it when we'd heard the crash in the hallway, and then she was standing there. She'd heard every fucked-up word.
My heart and body begged me to reach out to her, but my mind refused.
Christ.
She'd called me Mr Brooks before she'd left.
Mr fuckin' Brooks.
I'd lost her.
Before I even had a chance to have her.
Have a chance to redeem myself for the cockhead I'd been, because I was just worse than a cockhead, and any redemption seemed completely outta my grasp.
When everyone started to leave, Dodge hung back until the last couple, and I knew I was gonna get another earful. The worst that day was from my mum when she told me how disappointed she was with me. Apparently, Zara had been inside at the time, hidden around the corner. She told the women, and then boom everyone had somethin' to say.
Low was sitting in the car with Tex and Rommy, while Dodge and I stood on the front porch, and Koda was crawling around the front grass enjoying himself.
"What you gonna do?" he asked finally. I shrugged. "Your mum was right. It's time to stop being a dick to her."
Clenching my teeth, I clipped out, "I can't."
He scrubbed a hand over his face. "You fuckin' can, but you're being a stubborn prick. Just because you find the woman attractive doesn't mean anything bad against Simone. Hell, it's been a year."
My hard gaze zeroed in on him. "A year. One goddamn year, and yet it seems like it was just yesterday."
He stood tall, crossed his arms over his chest. "It seems like yesterday because you won't get past anything else."
"Just leave it, brother."
"I worry about you."
Sighing, I said, "Don't."
"I can't not." He shoved me. "You're my brother from another mother, dude." We both chuckled. And then he added, "Stop being a dick to her and apologise. That's all any of us want. We ain't trying to set you up with her. Fuck, you're the one who brought her into your life. You don't have to let her in, but treat her like a normal human being. Not like someone who's shit on
"We're doing cake when he wakes. You have to stay for that," he demanded.
Thing was, I didn't have to do anything he said.
"No. I have other… I have to be somewhere." My chin lifted. He seemed to know when I did that, I wouldn't back down, and there was no way I would.
Not after those words.
"Mena—"
"It's okay. You can say goodbye to them for me." As fast as I could, I walked around them and went to the front door.
"Mena, fuck, wait."
With my hand on the door handle, I looked over my shoulder and informed him in an aloof voice, "I'll be back Monday for work, Mr Brooks."
He flinched.
Good.
It didn't match what I was feeling inside, but it was something at least.
He didn't come after me. I was stupid and stomped on the small amount of hope I had that he would rush out the door for me to stop. So when he didn't and I was halfway walking to my car in the bushland, I cried. Tear after tear fell, and they wouldn't stop.
I'd heard harsh words before. Growing up poor, it was the normal to hear them.
They'd just never stung as much as Mr Brooks's did.
Never would he be Kalen again.
He was my employer and nothing else.
Since Mark's death, I never thought warmth would have touched me again, but it had; Koda and even Kalen were the reason for that. Until that night, it was the coldest, most lonesome night I had felt in so long, and a part of me even felt it was worse than what I had felt before.
Chapter Ten
Dive
My arse was chewed out by just about everyone that afternoon. They didn't make me feel worse, though. I was already feeling like the biggest fuckin' prick. Her face… her sweet face was… crap! Fuck, it hurt to see the pain I'd put there.
I should have chased her. Dodge urged me to, but I couldn't. I didn't know what to say to her. How could I come back from being such a lowlife? It had been all lies. Everything I said was a bunch of bullshit, and Dodge was just about to call me on it when we'd heard the crash in the hallway, and then she was standing there. She'd heard every fucked-up word.
My heart and body begged me to reach out to her, but my mind refused.
Christ.
She'd called me Mr Brooks before she'd left.
Mr fuckin' Brooks.
I'd lost her.
Before I even had a chance to have her.
Have a chance to redeem myself for the cockhead I'd been, because I was just worse than a cockhead, and any redemption seemed completely outta my grasp.
When everyone started to leave, Dodge hung back until the last couple, and I knew I was gonna get another earful. The worst that day was from my mum when she told me how disappointed she was with me. Apparently, Zara had been inside at the time, hidden around the corner. She told the women, and then boom everyone had somethin' to say.
Low was sitting in the car with Tex and Rommy, while Dodge and I stood on the front porch, and Koda was crawling around the front grass enjoying himself.
"What you gonna do?" he asked finally. I shrugged. "Your mum was right. It's time to stop being a dick to her."
Clenching my teeth, I clipped out, "I can't."
He scrubbed a hand over his face. "You fuckin' can, but you're being a stubborn prick. Just because you find the woman attractive doesn't mean anything bad against Simone. Hell, it's been a year."
My hard gaze zeroed in on him. "A year. One goddamn year, and yet it seems like it was just yesterday."
He stood tall, crossed his arms over his chest. "It seems like yesterday because you won't get past anything else."
"Just leave it, brother."
"I worry about you."
Sighing, I said, "Don't."
"I can't not." He shoved me. "You're my brother from another mother, dude." We both chuckled. And then he added, "Stop being a dick to her and apologise. That's all any of us want. We ain't trying to set you up with her. Fuck, you're the one who brought her into your life. You don't have to let her in, but treat her like a normal human being. Not like someone who's shit on
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