Page 98 of I Saw Her First

I clear my throat and call his name. He looks my way, his eyebrows springing up in surprise.

“Mr. Abbott?” He turns in my direction, threading through the crowd to appear at my side. “What are you…”

“Do you have a moment?”

Confusion passes over his fair features. “Uh, sure. What’s up?”

“I thought we could grab a beer, if that’s okay? There’s something I want to discuss.”

His expression morphs into something that suggests he might know what I’m referring to. He motions for me to lead the way, and we head into the fading evening light. We cross Broadway and find a bar with standing outdoor tables. They’re crammed full of people, but one clears as we arrive, and Rex snags it. I head to the bar to grab us a couple of beers and return to find him playing with a cocktail straw, looking pensive.

When I hand him his beer, he clinks it to mine with a grim smile.

“So… what’s up?” he asks, shifting uncomfortably. I guess it must be odd that the father of his best friend—who has only ever glared at him—is now inviting him out for a beer.

“Have you heard from Jess lately?”

Rex swallows, averting his gaze. “Not since… the weekend.”

There’s something about his answer that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“What do you mean?” I ask carefully.

He grimaces, flicking his gaze up to mine, then back to his beer. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to cause problems, I just—”

“Rex.” I’m trying to keep my voice calm, but it comes out as an irritated growl. “What are you talking about?”

He puffs up his cheeks, then exhales slowly. “I saw you and Daisy in Mattituck. I didn’t know you were together!” he adds hastily. “I just thought it was odd that you were both there at the same time, and when I mentioned it to Jess—”

“Jesus Christ.” I slap a hand to my forehead in disbelief. So hedidsee me. “Did it ever occur to you,” I begin menacingly, “that it might not be the best idea to—”

“It wasn’t intentional.” He lifts his hands to placate me. “I swear. I had no idea you and Daisy were…”

I slam a fist on the table, rattling our beer bottles. I’ve had about enough of this kid and his shit.

“It’s none of your business what Daisy and I were doing there!”

His face pales. “I know, I know,” he babbles urgently. “And I never meant to cause problems with Jess. You’d finally gotten to a good place and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin that.”

I stare at him, surprised. “What?”

“Well…” His fingers flex nervously on the beer bottle. “I know how difficult things have been between you two. He wouldn’t admit to himself that he needed you, and when he finally did, I wasn’t going to fuck that up.” Rex cringes, as if I’m going to tell him off for cursing like he’s ten years old, and I wave it away with an irritated roll of my eyes.

“So youwantedhim to move back home,” I say, trying to make sense of this.

“Of course.” Rex looks confused. “He’s been struggling for ages.”

There’s a concerned note in his voice that makes the irritation slowly seep out of me.

“He has?”

Rex nods, twisting his lips to the side as if he’s not sure how much to share. “Ever since… I mean, the past few years have been hard.”

Ah. It’s not that Rex doesn’t want to share—it’s that he doesn’t know how to phrase it. To say that Jess has been struggling since his mom died.

“All he’s wanted to do is party, or smoke weed and play video games,” Rex adds. “He’s found it hard to hold down a job.”

My chest tightens. I’d always known Jess didn’t want anything to do with me, but I hadn’t known how much he’dbeen struggling outside of that. And as I sit in the middle of bustling Midtown with a warm beer in my hand, absorbing that knowledge, it suddenly occurs to me… how could henotbe?

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