Page 80 of Branded

It’s all I’ve thought about for nearly three weeks, since she told me about her brother. I’ve almost told her who I am a couple of times, but part of me is scared to hurt her because that’s the last thing I want, and the other part of me is scared if she knows... she’ll leave.

“Do you think he’s ignoring us?” Finn says from across the table, snapping me out of my own thoughts.

“Or he’s dead,” Caleb adds, waving a hand in front of my face, but I push it away.

“Cut the shit. I’m fine. Sorry. I was just thinking,” I tell them, taking a sip of my beer.

The bar is quiet tonight, thankfully. I’m not in the mood to deal with a crowd of drunks.

“Must have been important since we’ve been saying your name for ten minutes and you’ve just been picking at that beer bottle label,” Caleb says.

“Sawyer finally come to her senses and realize she’s way too fucking hot for you?” Finn asks with a laugh.

“Watch it.” I shove my finger into his chest. “Careful.”

“Jesus Christ. What’s your problem?”

I take a breath then scrub my hand over my mouth. “I told Sawyer I love her.”

I wait for a response but I’m met with blank stares with no reaction whatsoever.

“And she said it back...” I add.

“Hold on. I need to process this,” Caleb says, holding up his hand and Finn nods in response.

All I can do is laugh and shake my head. “If that is the surprising part, you have no idea what’s coming.”

I’ve, of course, told them all about the girl from the LA Wildfire. About how I still thought of her and I harbored so much guilt, even though I know I did everything I could. I still hear her voice in my ear telling me she will never forgive me for letting her brother die, even though she had no idea who I was.

“Okay, you love Sawyer and she loves you back. I’m not sure why that is making you a moody asshole, but hit us with whatever is next.” Caleb waves me on.

I lift my beer to my lips and take three large gulps then place it back on the table with a loud pop.

“Sawyer is the blonde girl from the LA fire.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Finn answers. “That’s literally impossible.”

Caleb replies quickly, “Not literally impossible, but really fucking bizarre. Are you sure? How do you know?”

“She told me with her own mouth.” I pull my ball cap off and toss it onto the table. “She couldn’t sleep and was just sitting up in the middle of the night. I asked her what was wrong and it developed into a conversation about her brother and how he died. Every detail, guys, every single one was there down to the scar in her eyebrow where she was cut.”

“What did she say when you told her who you were?” Finn asks me, but his eyes grow wide when he realizes the truth. “You haven’t said anything to her, have you?”

“No. How can I say anything to her? If you were in her shoes, would you believe it’s a coincidence? Because I wouldn’t. I would immediately think the worst of the other person.”

“It’s a pretty big fucking development, isn’t it? You can’t justnottell her.”

“Yes, but I’m not going to just dump this on her. She struggles with her brother’s death enough as it is. I can’t just lay myself at her feet and let her know she fell in love with the man she blames for leaving him there.”

Caleb, who had been unusually silent, finally pipes in, “You have to tell her, Isaac. You can’t just hold something like that to the vest. That’s not okay, and eventually it will come out. The longer you wait, the worse it’s going to be.”

“If I tell her, it could make everything implode... and... fuck. I don’t want to lose her because I really do love her.” I chuckle to myself and pull my cap back onto my head. “Jesus Christ.”

“Look, no one said you had to tell her today. Take a week, sit with it, figure out what you’re going to say then tell her, but you have to at some point. You know that,” Finn says.

They are right, and I know that. I know I can’t get away with not telling her. I wouldn’t want to because that’s a fucked-up move. I respect her too much for that, but I know how this story ends.

Once she finds out who I am, our time together, how we feel about each other, will be in her rearview mirror.

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