I wasn’t thinking straight as I barreled out of Sutton’s house. I didn’t have a plan. I had no idea where to go or what to do. On some level, I’d understood when Sutton said that she wanted to work things out with Linda because I had that same feeling right now. Except I wouldn’t back down when she couldn’t even tell me if this was what she really wanted.
I rushed out through the pouring rain, even more pissed that it hadn’t seemed to slow down an inch. In fact, it seemed to be coming down harder. I dashed across the lawn and dropped into the front seat of my Ferrari. Revving the engine, I gunned it out of there.
What I needed was a drink. Or twenty.
I couldn’t even fathom how that had happened.
Here I’d been, the fool, rushing over, excited to finally hang out with Sutton and Jason again.
And bam!
Hit by a two-by-four.
There was only one person in town who I could think to talk to about this. And, in that moment, I hated that my boss and closest friend was Sutton’s older sister. Because I knew that whatever I said would get back to her in some form or another. Morgan cared too much about both of us not to interfere. And it wasn’t like I could call up any of her brothers. They all seemed prime to punch my lights out if I ever hurt Sutton again.
So…par for the course.
With a grunt of frustration, I flicked the windshield wipers higher, shifted gears, and pulled out my cell phone to dial Morgan’s number. She answered on the second ring, and I put it onto the Bluetooth.
“Miss me already?” she joked. “Didn’t you just leave the office?”
“Yes, Sutton had a meltdown because Maverick’s mother threatened to take Jason away from her.”
Morgan started laughing, but when I didn’t join her, she stopped. “Wait, you’re serious.”
“Yes.”
“That’s preposterous.”
“That’s what I told her.”
“Sutton is a great mom, and anyway, no one would ever side with Maverick’s parents over the mother of the child. That accusation is laughable.”
“She took it personally.”
“Well, I suppose she’s in an emotionally vulnerable place. The thought of taking her son away probably made her Hulk out.”
“She told Linda that she never wanted her to see Jason again.”
“That’s my girl!” Morgan cheered.
“Yeah,” I said, swerving around a car with its flashers on.
“Okay, but so…if that happened, why are you in the car? You are in the car, right? I can hear the rain. It’s so fucking loud.”
“I am. And I’m leaving because, apparently, that conversation also had Sutton completely second-guess our relationship. She thinks that she should take other people’s opinions into account about who she should date and whether she should be happy.”
“Oh God, poor Sutton,” Morgan said on a sigh. “I don’t blame you for leaving, David, but I think she’s still pretty messed up about Maverick. And, every time someone gets in her head, it all comes back to the surface.”
“I know. Christ, I understand what she’s going through. I have been there every step of the way,” I said, breezing around someone through the next light. “But, at some level, she has to choose me. We had a great weekend, and then this shit again. What more can I do, Mor?”
“I don’t know,” she said softly. “Wait for her.”
“I’d wait for her to the ends of the earth. I’d be happy to even take things slow. But the whiplash is killing me. When we’re alone, it’s perfect. When we’re apart, it all falls to shit. I love her. I want to make this right, but it doesn’t seem like there’s anything I can do.”
“You can be patient.”
“I’ve been the model of patience.”
“No one said this was going to be easy. You fell in love with someone who’d had her heart shattered in a way that changed who she was as a person. My sister is not the person she was before Maverick’s death. I bet, when you’re alone, you make her feel like herself again, and when you’re apart, she remembers that she isn’t just that person anymore. She is split in two, and only time is going to heal that divide.”
I banged my hand on the steering wheel. I knew she was right. I’d known before I walked out of that house. But there was a point where I couldn’t take it anymore. And, as much as I wanted to turn this car around and make it right, my pride wouldn’t let me.
“Can we go get a beer?”
Morgan slowly breathed out. “Yes. Flips?”
“I’m already on my way.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you there. And, hey, David?”
“Yeah?”
But I never heard what she was about to say to me.
I was speeding through the next intersection. My mind completely trapped by my problems with Sutton. My phone call with Morgan barely a secondary concern.
Someone laid on their horn.
A flash of bright lights.
I gasped.
Crunch.
A car collided with my Ferrari.
My head whipped to the side.
The airbag deployed.
My world spun.
I heard screaming. “David!”
Then, everything stopped, and I lay still.