Glancing down at Marisa, she smiles and reaches her hand out to her in a greeting. “Look, I just want to apologise for the other night at Frank’s. I don’t know what I was thinking.” She looks back up at me and pushes a hand through her long dark hair. “I guess I just still feel protective of you. I’m having a harder time than I thought letting you go.”
I frown and shift Marisa into my other arm. “There’s no need for you to worry about me anymore, Rey. I’m doing fine. I have a very solid support network around me.”
“I know,” she says with a sigh. “I see that and I guess I’m just maybe a little jealous.”
My brows lift. “Jealous?”
“You and I were codependent on each other, Hayden. For a long time…you were my crutch and I was yours. Just because I started going to therapy and you went to rehab doesn’t erase all of our history.”
“I know, Rey. But things are different now. I’m working on my own kind of happy.”
“Liam says you’re not seeing Vi anymore,” she states brazenly.
My jaw clenches. Reyna never was one to mince words. “Liam doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“Don’t get defensive, Hayden,” she retorts. “Tell me what happened.”
“It’s complicated, Rey.” I pull Marisa up to my neck and tuck my head on top of her.
“Well, Hayden, I have a feeling you and I are cut from the same cloth when it comes to relationships and letting people in. And if you’re going through what I did last year, I don’t envy you.”
“Thanks for the pep talk, coach,” I reply dryly.
She giggles. “You’ll figure it out. If she’s worth it, you’ll figure it out.”
She turns and begins walking away, but before she gets too far, I call out, “Got any advice?”
She turns her head and purses her lips to the side for a moment. Finally, she replies, “Don’t waste another moment. Wasted moments are hard to overcome.” She smiles knowingly as she retreats, leaving me there holding the only woman in the world who has never doubted for a second my level of devotion to her.
After the dance, dinner is served. I can barely stand watching Vi from across the room like this. Ethan slithers over at one point while Gareth is at the bar and I nearly crawled out of my skin with rage in that brief moment. Thankfully, he got distracted by a properly pissed Julie who, out of nowhere, leapt on his back, and I haven’t seen the two of them since.
Seeing Gareth up at the bar nursing a beer, inspiration strikes. Maybe if I can get through to him, I can get through to Vi. I stride over to him, wishing like fuck I wasn’t wearing braces right now. Hip or not, waltzing up to a professional footballer in a three piece suit while I’m dressed like Stephan Fry isn’t exactly a confidence booster.
“What the hell do you want?” Gareth drawls and slides his phone back into his pocket.
“I want to talk to you,” I state seriously.
“You’re barking up the wrong tree.”
He moves to walk away, so I place a firm hand on his shoulder to stop him. “The way I see it, you’re the one obstacle between me and Vi right now, so you’re exactly the tree I need to pee on.”
He roars with laughter and lifts his brows at my hand on his shoulder. It’s a silent warning. I move my hand. “Hayden. You’re underestimating my sister. I’m not the one you should be troubling over. She’s got it in her head that you don’t care for her and that shite is an issue for her. A big one. You’re lucky I’m not wringing your fucking neck for causing her this much pain.”
“Well, why aren’t you then?” I ask in a weak moment of flippant defensiveness. I’m tired of the empty threats. The drive-bys. The brooding glowers. Fuck! I’ve had enough.
He closes his eyes for a moment before opening them and glaring at me. “Look, Hayden. I don’t have a mum anymore. All I have…is her.” He points back at the table where Vi is laughing at something Benji just said. “That’s the single most important woman in my life right now. So you’ll forgive me and my brothers for being a bit protective. We liked you mate. You were in…and that’s not a fucking easy feat with Harris brothers. In fact, it’s unprecedented. But you trashed it. You spit on it…on us…on her. You’re not getting through to her again.”
I slice my hands through my hair in frustration. “Don’t you get that is exactly why I’m fucking staying away from her?” I growl angrily. “Caring for people is what got me into trouble in the first place. So protect her all you want, mate. That’s all I was trying to do too. And last week, I thought protecting her involved me leaving her. But that was before.”
“Before what?”
“Before I got a clue. Before I had the wakeup call of my life.” I clench my jaw and eye him seriously adding, “Before I realised I didn’t just like your sister.”
His eyes flash knowingly, but he’s still not convinced. “You should have known that long before now, mate.” He moves to walk away again and I jerk him back…again.