Page 49 of Wild Heart

“No.”

“Then we’re leaving, and you’re coming with us,” Liam said. “Let’s go.”

He turned and walked out of my office. Cooper and Wyatt kept their eyes on me as they made to follow behind him.

I had no choice. They weren’t going to let me out of it.

So, now I was here, sitting at a table at the restaurant with Wyatt, Cooper, and Liam, foolishly hoping they were going to avoid talking about the one thing I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about all day long.

Ava.

Wyatt didn’t need to offer any additional clarification to his question. I already knew what this was about. Even still, I countered, “How bad is what?”

“This is going to be a long night,” Liam muttered.

“Don’t play this game, Tate,” Cooper ordered. “If you were anyone else, I might be able to buy that you have no clue what’s going on. But I’ve known you your whole life. You know exactly why we’re here.”

I did.

I just didn’t want to talk about it.

I hadn’t quite come to grips with everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

More than anything else, I wished I could feel indifference. To not be impacted in the slightest by Ava being back. I would have easily settled for being able to go about my typical workday, being distracted by other things.

I would have much preferred that over the alternative. Because there wasn’t a chance I could feel even a fraction of elation at Ava being back. I was far too disgusted by the whole situation to get anywhere close to that.

What I did feel was something entirely too foreign to me. If my brothers were fired up to deal with my issues, maybe I’d say this one thing, shock them, and we could all go home early.

But before I did that, I figured I’d give them one last chance to bow out of this discussion and shift it to something else. “Fine. But do you think you’re all prepared to hear the truth?”

That question gave them all reason for pause. There was an edge of worry and trepidation in Wyatt’s expression. Cooper looked like he was assessing me, attempting to figure out just how bad things could be. Liam looked bored—bored and irritated.

“Spit it out,” my youngest brother demanded.

Fair enough.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I advised them. “The majority of my night last night and all day today has been spent trying to come up with a plan.”

“A plan?”

I nodded.

“For what?”

“To get Ava to feel what I feel.”

Two sets of brows drew together with concern and curiosity. The third—Liam—sent me a look of defiance, like his thoughts were filled with judgment he didn’t necessarily intend to share.

“Well, what is it that you feel?” Wyatt asked.

My eyes cut to his. “I’m pissed. I’m so angry at her for doing what she did for months.”

“You had time to talk to her last night before dinner,” Cooper noted. “Did she happen to clarify anything for you?”

I shook my head, feeling disgusted. “No.”

“So, what happened?”