“It makes sense.” Holley leaned forward and rested her chin in her hands. “I don’t think you’re both doing anything wrong by pursuing a relationship,” she mused. “In fact, if I had a brother, I’d be thrilled if he ended up with any one of you forever. I think Colt is probably just really pissed he had to find out from Agatha and Mabel of all people.”
“Freakin’ Grams,” Tori said. “I told her off, by the way. She wasn’t happy about it, but I wasn’t happy either.”
“Go and talk to him.” Ivy met my eyes, kindness shining in hers, and she smiled. “Go now. Go and see if you can find him and talk to him. You won’t rest until you’ve tried.”
“You don’t think it’s too soon?” I chewed on my lower lip.
“To explain to your brother the truth behind what you did?” She raised an eyebrow. “No, Kins. It’s never too soon.”
“Are you sure? You don’t mind me leaving?”
“If you leave, I stand half a chance at leaving myself. Kai has been sitting in the car down the street for the last twenty minutes, but Mom won’t let me go.” She shrugged. “I just want a nap. Seriously, go. And text me later.”
Nodding, I said goodbye to Tori and Holley, stopping to give Ivy a hug around the shoulders as my farewell. It took me at least ten minutes to get through the house. After thanking her parents for having me at a lovely baby shower, I was accosted by almost everyone whose conversations ranged from asking about my relationship with Josh, to saying how sorry they were about yesterday, to asking me how Colton was.
I excused myself as politely as possible every single time, and when I finally extricated myself from the house, I all but ran into my car and locked myself in before anyone else could accost me.
I started the engine and pulled away. Kai was parked at the end of the street, and I pulled up alongside him with a grin and rolled down my window. “She needs rescuing.”
Smirking, he touched two fingers to his temples and saluted me. “On it. I’ll cite an emergency… Like the freezer broke and all the ice cream has melted.”
“Nailed it.”
“You left early. Going to find your brother?”
I nodded. “Have you spoken to him?”
“I headed over to his place last night. He was furious,” he warned me with a meaningful yet sympathetic look. “I told him I had no idea and was just as shocked as he was and he bought it, so don’t throw me under your betrayal bus.”
I flipped him the bird. “I appreciate you leaving him one friend.”
He nodded righteously, but his grin gave him away. “I know. Go easy on him.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to punch him as hard as he punched Josh.”
“He doesn’t regret that, by the way.”
“Yeah, well, Josh thinks he deserves it. They’re both weirdos.”
Kai laughed right as his phone rang. “It’s Ivy. Wanna go so I can get her?”
“Sure. I’ll text her later and let her know how it went.” With a wave, I pulled away from where I was parked against his truck and rejoined the right side of the road.
Whoops.
I hit the button to wind my window back up and turned onto the road that would take me in the direction of Colton’s place. My phone rang as I rolled up to an intersection, and Josh’s name flashed on the screen on my dash. I hit the green button to accept.
“Hey,” I answered. “What’s up?”
“I swear I just saw your car. Aren’t you supposed to be at the baby shower?”
I paused. He saw my car? “You saw my car?”
“Yeah, Grandma wanted some things from the store, and I took a detour to the liquor store because she asked for gin. Apparently, it was the least I could do as my relationship is the reason for her current entertainment.”
I groaned. “Yeah, I just left. I didn’t even notice you.”
“Are you going home?”
“No.” Another pause. “I’m going to Colt’s place.”
“Ah. Okay.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing. Are you sure you want to go so soon?”
“Yeah.” I briefly relayed my conversation with Kai. “He’s my brother, Josh. I can’t eat, I can barely sleep—I need to say my piece whether he wants to hear it or not. He has to hear it and know it wasn’t meant maliciously.”
“I get that. Want to come over when you’re done?”
“I’ll text you. I don’t know how this is going to go.”
“All right, just make sure you do. We’re in this together, babe.”
“I know. I’m nearly there. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Talk to you later.” He hung up before I had a chance to, and I made the final turn onto Colt’s street.
I honestly had no idea if he was at home or not. Even if I’d called, I knew he wouldn’t pick up, so I had no choice but to just show up and hope for the best.
I pulled into the parking lot outside his building. His truck wasn’t there, and my heart sank.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t here, but I wasn’t going to keep coming back every hour to check.
I got out of my car and headed into the building. The stairs were a therapeutic hike up, and I turned off at his floor and stopped outside his door. No sounds came from within, and even though I was aware of the futility of the action, I knocked.
And knocked again.
And again.
Nothing.
I exhaled through my nostrils and leaned against the wall next to his door. Slowly, I slid down it until my butt hit the awful carpet floor of the hallway and I was staring at the plain, magnolia wall opposite.
I guess I was waiting.
***
“I should have fucking known you’d be here.”
I looked up at the sound of Colton’s voice and locked my phone. “I just want to talk to you.”
He grunted
