Page 77 of Wish You Would

“I’m looking for Briar Moore,” he says. “Where is she?”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, my jaw muscles instantly tightening. I have no idea who this guy is but there’s no way I’m letting him anywhere near Briar.

“Briar doesn’t live here. Sorry, I can’t help you.”

“Well, do you know where I can find her? It’s important, I need to see her.”

I fold my arms across my chest, shaking my head. “Sorry man, not a clue.”

Anger radiates off him, his eyes bouncing around the room, looking, I assume, formygirlfriend.

Before he can say anything more, I shut the door and lock it, then turn to find Briar stepping out from the hallway. She’s pulled on one of my T-shirts, the hem tucked into a pair of shorts. She looks beautiful—she always does—but the expression on her face stops me in my tracks.

“What was he doing here?” she asks, wrapping her arms around her middle.

“Looking for you.” I swallow hard. “Briar, who was that guy?”

Her chin lowers, and she takes two steps towards me, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the couch. I sit and pull her down into my lap. “Are you alright?”

She nods. “I’m fine.”

She doesn’t seem fine.

“That was Justin… my ex. I had no idea he was even in Reed Point. I’m sorry he showed up at your house.”

“Well, I’m sorry you had to date him. That guy is a total asshole.”

“I know,” she sighs. “He’s terrible. I hate that he knows where I’m staying.”

“How does he know that you’re staying with me? Who would have told him? Does he talk to Daisy or your mom?”

“No, never. I honestly don’t know. I don’t get it. It doesn’t make—” Briar stops mid-sentence, her eyes suddenly going wide. She jumps up from my lap, walking towards her bedroom. When she returns, she has her phone in her hand. “He tracked me. I am so stupid.”

She drops down onto the couch beside me and I can see that she’s shaken.

“He wastrackingyou?”

She nods. “When we were together, he set up a location label for me without telling me so he could track me. I found out he did it when he accused me of cheating on him. He wanted to know why I was out at one of our favorite places for dinner one night, and who I was with. When I asked him how he knew I was there, he didn’t have an answer for me until he finally admitted he had tracked me. The ironic part is I was just out with a girlfriend that night—but I found out later thathewas cheating on me. Stupid ass.”

She places her phone on the coffee table with a sigh. “I can’t believe I didn’t think to delete it and now he knows where to find me.”

“So, he essentially stalked you, then he accused you of cheating, then he slept with someone else?” I seethe. “Asshole is an understatement.”

There’s a pause before she speaks again. “It gets worse. He didn’t just cheat on me. He broke my trust in the worst way, Holden.”

“What did he do?” My jaw clenches.

“He humiliated me,” she says, her voice shaky. “He shared personal photos I sent him with his friends. In a group chat. One of the guys knew it was shitty and sent me a screen shot.”

“I will kill him,” I growl, shooting up off my chair, pacing the floor like a caged animal. I doubt I’ve ever been so angry in my entire life. What kind of a guy betrays a woman’s trust like that?

“Holden, come here. Sit down. Please. Being angry isn’t going to change things. I’ve moved on. I won’t give him that kind of power over me and neither should you.”

I reluctantly sink back into the couch beside her—I’d much rather jump in my truck and go find the guy, but I don’t want to make the situation even more stressful for Briar.

She turns to me, hugging the throw pillow to her chest.

“Justin isn’t a nice guy. I don’t know why I didn’t see it sooner, but eventually it became clear. He made me feel small. He controlled me. He liked feeling powerful. I accepted his shitty behaviour because I wanted to see the good in him, and I know it sounds silly, but I thought hewould change. I always made excuses for him—he was just stressed out, or tired, or he had a hard week at work. I wanted to believe that deep down he was a good guy and that he loved me, but I learnt the hard way that I was wrong. He’s selfish and mean and I’m still mad at myself for accepting the way he treated me. Honestly, I think that’s why he wanted me. He knew I always try to see the good in people and he took advantage of that. He thought I would stay forever, that I would just keep forgiving him. But he was wrong. I left. And when I moved back to Reed Point, I promised myself I would never allow another person to treat me the way he did.”

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