Page 24 of Easton
“If you guys need anything, let me know.”
He nods, looks at me, then cocks his head. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just…ah, hell.” I run a hand through my hair. “Is Easton here? Has he been okay?”
“He’s inside and, well, he’s been East, but a little heavier on the fuck-the-world mentality.”
I nod. I had a feeling. But I also don’t want to get into this with Dusty. I trust him, but East is like a brother to him. Dusty iswithEast’s brother. That makes things complicated.
Before we can say anything else, Easton comes through a door and into the main part of the shop. He’s dirty from work, and all tattoos and a scowl and sexy as hell. His eyes immediately run the length of me. I shift, my uniform suddenly feeling scratchy against my skin.
“How’s Casanova?” I ask, unsure what else to say.
“Who’s Casanova?” Dusty wants to know, and Easton glares at me. How the fuck was I supposed to know his new dog was a secret? And why would it be?
“Listen, Dust. Can you give us a second?” I’m hoping he’s not going to ask any more questions.
“No, we don’t need that.” Easton walks toward the car.
“East.” I follow him, hearing Dusty say something about running to the corner store for a drink.
As soon as he’s gone, East spins around to face me. “Fuck you, Archer. I’m at work. You shouldn’t have come here.”
Guilt attacks my insides. I drop my head back, eyes closed, and sigh. “You’re right, but you didn’t reply to my texts.”
“That should tell you that I don’t want to talk to you.”
“But I think we should. I have a feeling you misread what happened the other night.”
“It was a mistake. I don’t know why in the fuck I did that, but I don’t want to talk about it, and especially not here.”
“Can I swing by your house later? I just—”
“Why?” he cuts me off. “Why are you doing this? It’s not like we’re really friends. We both know that eventually you’re going to get tired of my shit, so why keep this going? Walk away now and save us both the trouble. You can’t fix me.”
I look at him, at the heavy rise and fall of his chest. At the pain in his eyes, the truth right there for me to see. He really believes that, really thinks I’ll walk away. I don’t understand why. He has his dad, though clearly, there’s some drama going on with him. He’s got Dusty, Morgan, and Rhett, who have never left him, but then, our brains aren’t always honest with us. Sometimes we feel things that aren’t true, and there’s no changing it. Not everything in this world makes perfect sense, and hell, I don’t doubt there’s a whole lot more that Easton has been through than I can imagine. He believes everyone will walk away because he doesn’t feel he’s worthy of any other outcome, and I damn sure plan to prove him wrong. “That’s not what I’m trying to do—fix you. And I’m not going anywhere. We’re friends.”
He turns away. “Stop saying that.”
“East—”
“Just go, Archer. I’m asking you to fucking go. And don’t come by tonight. I can’t…I can’t do this with you.”
As much as I want to stay and fix this, I have to respect his wishes. At least here, right now, but… “Okay, I’ll go, but this isn’t over. We’re gonna talk. I’m not going anywhere, no matter how much you try and push me away.”
And then I turn and walk away, though I hate doing it. I want him to know I’m a man of my word. That he can depend on me to do as I say I will. It’s the only way to get him to trust me.
When I get back into my car, I call Cass. When he answers, I say, “Hey, you free?”
“I’m always free for you. Actually, I just dropped Meadow off with my folks. Want me to come over?”
“Fuck yes.” It’s so damn nice to have someone I can always depend on. Does East have that? Again, I think he does with his brothers and Dusty, but I don’t know that he realizes he does.
Cass arrives at my place a few minutes after me. It doesn’t take long to get anywhere in Birchbark, and while I know that’s not for some people, I love it.
“You want a beer?” I ask.
“Sure, I’ll take one.”