Page 14 of Axe-identally Married
“Explain yourself,” he demanded, shaking his phone at me. “Why are you pulling stunts?”
Lila appeared behind him, stepping into the room quietly, her face grave.
At the sight, I was hit with another wave of embarrassment. I’d married my ex’s best friend. During said ex’s engagement celebration weekend. I studied my hands, unable to even open my mouth, let alone come up with an explanation.
“You couldn’t let Lila and me be happy, could you? You’re jealous, so instead of standing back and doing the mature thing, you went and ruined it. And the worst part is that you dragged Willa along with you.”
I gritted my teeth. Why the fuck did he have to bring Willa into this? She had enough to deal with.
My gut churned. Of all my fuck-ups, this came close to topping them all. And for all the shitty days I’d suffered through, this one might have been the worst. Not only had I screwed things up for Willa—a genuinely kind person who’d made me feel as if I wasn’t such an embarrassment—but now my brother and ex-girlfriend hated my guts too. Excellent.
“I told you to stay away from her,” he gritted out, his nostrils flaring as he got in my face. “How on earth did you convince her to marry you?”
Just like that, the progress that we’d made these last few months evaporated. It was clear in this moment that Owen would always hate me. Not because he was marrying my ex-girlfriend, but because we were too different, and the past had imprinted too deeply on us.
I shouldn’t have even come. I should have stayed home and said no thank you. I was destined to fuck everything up and cause problems from the get-go.
“I can’t believe you.” Sneering, he shook his head.
“Owen, stop,” Lila pleaded, grasping his arm. “There has to be an explanation.”
She looked at me. Those big brown eyes pleading for me to make this make sense. Lila was too kind and trusting for her own good. Her whole life, she’d looked for the best in everyone. Especially me.
As much as Owen’s anger hurt me, her disappointment hurt so much worse.
My tongue was heavy, as if it had swollen in my mouth, making it impossible to speak. And shame, red hot and powerful, flooded my nervous system. I’d love to say I was a stranger to this sensation, but it had become all too familiar lately.
Owen paced from one side of the room to the other, his hands on his hips. “I can’t believe you. Though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Of course you’d pull a stunt like this.”
As my throat swelled and my gut burned, I lowered my head and let him fume. There was no reasonable explanation for last night. Even if it had nothing to do with Owen or Lila, I’d still gotten swept away, stupidity winning out.
I wasn’t trying to cause embarrassment or hurt. I’d only wanted to cheer up a pretty girl.
Owen stopped in front of me, his chest puffing out, and crossed his arms. “You’re a fucking disgrace,” he spat, shaking his head.
“Excuse me,” a distant voice said. The sound was so soft I could barely hear it over the string of self-loathing comments running through my mind.
I was still enshrouded in the thoughts when Willa stepped between Owen and me and poked a finger into his chest.
“You need to apologize.” Her voice was calm, but her body was tense.
Owen grunted. “This has nothing to do with you.”
I stepped to Willa’s side, ready to push Owen back if he said another shitty thing to her.
Beside me, she narrowed her eyes and pulled her shoulders back. Willa was usually kind and pleasant, but furious Willa was terrifying. Those plump pink lips pressed into a hard line, and those dark eyes were practically black with anger. “Okay,” she said, her tone eerily tranquil, “I guess I’ll have to repeat myself. Please calm down and apologize to your brother. Then we can have an adult conversation.”
Owen’s jaw went rigid, his focus locking on me. “This is between me and my brother. I told him to stay away from you. I told him to behave.”
“Behave?” Finally, irritation bled into her voice. “Do you hear yourself right now?”
Lila stepped up next to my brother. “Guys, let’s sit down.”
It was as if Owen hadn’t heard her. He was gaining momentum, already tugging at his hair, his face turning redder by the minute. “Of all the dumb shit for you to do, you had to drag poor Willa into it with you.”
I’d heard far worse, especially after my drunken vandalism spree, from my family, as well as the county judge. This kind of disappointment wasn’t new. Owen would run out of steam eventually and leave. Then I could wallow alone. It was a fairly predictable pattern, and one that I only had myself to blame for.
But before he could go on a full dad rant, Willa planted her hands on her hips and said, “It was my idea.”
