Page 48 of The Path To Us

Chapter Twelve

Beau

I’m waiting in line at the drive-through for a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich when the car behind me starts honking. I don’t know what he or she wants, it’s not like I can make the cars in front of me move faster.

I lift a hand, wanting to flip the person off, but instead I just wave and then point in front of me to remind him or her that there’s nothing I can do.

When it’s my turn to pay, the person honks again.

When I get my bag of greasy food and large Coke, he honks again.

Irritated by whoever this person is, I decide to park and wait for them.

Luckily, the morning drive-through is quick moving and I don’t have to wait for long. The high-end Mercedes SUV with tinted windows pulls up next to me and rolls down the window.

“Holy shit.”

“Hey, Beau.”

“Tyson.” Wow, what a difference over a dozen years makes. He looks so much the same, but different, too. Grown. A full beard covers his face now, whereas when we were kids our facial hair was splotchy at best. Even from where he’s seated in his car, I can tell he’s bulked up, too. I’ve watched some of his games on TV, but it’s hard to tell from a screen what he really looks like.

He seems to be doing the same to me, taking in my differences between then and now. “Been a long time, man.”

I scoff. “I’ll say. Think the last time I saw you, you were screwing my ex-girlfriend,” I remind him with my eyebrows raised.

He lifts a hand and scratches the black hair covering his chin. “Yeah. Not my best moment. I was a shitty friend and there was no excuse.”

I shrug and shake my head. “Forgotten, Tyson. Long ago and I don’t care anymore. So, what are you doing here?”

“Visiting my parents. Trying to decide where I’m going to land. Done in the majors so I need to figure out my next steps.”

“I heard about your injury, sorry,” I tell him truthfully, taking a long drink out of my Coke.

“Appreciate it. I’m good with it, though.” Somehow I doubt that’s entirely true, but I’m not about to call him out on it. “And I heard about Chris. I can’t tell you—” He stops talking for a beat and collects himself. “I’m sorry. I was shocked when I heard.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Unexpected?”

“Very. He just, died. No warning. Boom, he was gone.”

“That’s what Dad told me but I wasn’t sure if that was just the way he’d heard it or what. Should have been here for you,” he adds, regrettably.

“Nothing you could have done.”

“I know that. I meant… fuck, man. Should’ve come home earlier. Should’ve done a lot of things, I guess. I just left. I have regrets for so many things, but the fact that I never reached out to you again only reminds me of what a jerk I was. You were my best friend and I slept with your girlfriend because I let my dick control me. Then I left and even when I heard about Chris, I still didn’t reach out. I knew I should have and I was too much of a wuss. I’m a piece of shit.”

This little heart-to-heart in the middle of the McDonald’s parking lot isn’t how I expected to spend my morning. Neither is the way Tyson’s opening up to me so boldly. It’s like he had all this bottled up and just blurted everything out all at once.

After clearing my throat, I reply, “I don’t know what to say.”

“I kind of just word vomited, huh? Sorry, I’ve had all this on my mind for years now and only wanted to tell you face-to-face. The second I saw you, I knew I needed to get it off my chest. I thought you deserved to know how truly sorry I am that I betrayed you. I can’t excuse it. I was young and dumb.”

“That you were,” I say, smirking. I dig into my bag and pull out my sandwich, unwrap a corner, and take a bite, chewing. It might be a weird conversation we’re in the middle of, but I’m hungry and I’m not about to let this little reunion get in my way of my breakfast. Especially since I didn’t get to sit and enjoy a relaxing morning with Addy and Zoey like I’d hoped. Everything between Addy and me is so awkward now that as soon as Zoey saw that I kept my word and I was there when she woke up, I left the house. I need time away to clear my head. Hell, I bought a house practically because I had hoped that one day Addy and Zoey would live there with me. I finish the bite of sandwich and ask, “How’d you know it was me in front of you?”

“I had my window down when you ordered and heard your voice then saw your face in your mirror. Knew it was meant to be.”

I swallow another bite then, “Big believer in fate, are you?”

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