Page 30 of You Found Me in the Dark
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
“Listen, she just stopped throwing up and is finally lying down on her couch. I don’t want her to feel obligated to move, to thank you, or anything. We love you and appreciate you, but you can’t stay.” She shot me an apologetic smile and walked back into the apartment.
Wren watched Harper walk away and quickly said, “I’ll text you,” before closing the door gently.
I huffed in annoyance, realizing I said nothing to either of them. Nothing I can do now but go home and wait for a text.
I pulled into my driveway and rested my head on the steering wheel, not quite ready to head inside.
When I finally got the willpower, I walked through the door of my house, and the first thing I heard was the opening riff of a punk song blasting from the kitchen. It was too late for this shit. Dax was standing over a skillet, flipping something in a pan like he was auditioning for a cooking show.
“Look who’s alive,” he called over his shoulder. “Where have you been?”
“Work took longer than expected.Reallygot to stop taking clients after a certain time.” I said, dropping my keys in the bowl by the door. “Then errands.”
He turned around, still holding the spatula, and narrowed his eyes. “You took that long to buy ramen and energy drinks?”
I gave him a look. “Not every errand has to do with ramen or Red Bull.”
“True, but they should be.” He tossed the spatula into the sink and leaned against the counter. “So where’d you go? You’ve got that ‘I saw someone important and now I’m spiraling in my man-feelings’ look.”
I didn’t respond right away. I just grabbed water from the fridge and leaned on the island.
“Dude, I swear to fuck, the closer you get to forty, the more you can read minds,” he laughed, and I continued talking. “I dropped off a hangover pack for a friend.”
“Ohhh, a friend,” he said, all too delighted. “Same friend as before?”
I gave him a pointed stare. “Friends’ cousin.”
“Dude. Come on. You’re like half in love with someone you won’t even name. You can’t expect me not to be curious.”
“I don’t know what it is yet,” I muttered. “It’s complicated.”
Dax sobered slightly. “Complicated how? Is she married?”
I almost spat my water out. I swallowed and explained, “She’s been through a lot, more than most. And I think I might be the first person she’s let see that in a long time.”
That finally quieted him.
He nodded, then bumped his shoulder into mine on his way to the couch. “Look, man. I know you think you have to fix it. That’s your thing, right? You see someone breaking, and you start looking for the cracks so you can patch them up before they fall apart completely. But she’s not some busted piece of machinery. She’s not yours to fix. You care about her? Then don’t make it about making her better. Just sit in it with her. Be the guy who stays when it gets heavy. Let her be messy, let her be angry, let her be quiet. She’s not broken, Reed, but she’s probably tired of pretending she’s okay. You don’t have to fix the storm. Just be the place where she doesn’t have to weather it alone.”
I stared at him.
“That was… surprisingly wise.”
“I am an old man, Reed. Been through some shit in my time. And to be fair, I went through it many years ago when I was back on the reservation,” he deadpanned, grabbing the remote.
I gave him an understanding nod as my thoughts drifted back to Wren. When I was at Lena and Harp’s place, she said she would text me. Ireallyhoped she would.
21
WREN
The house was quiet. It was past eleven, so it made sense. God, I cannot believe we stayed all day, but I am so glad we went to help our girl out. Cam was in his room by the time I got home from our cousin’s house. I stared at the ceiling of my bedroom. Then at my phone. Then at the ceiling again. My thumb hovered over his name in my texts like it had twenty other times today.
There wasn’t a good reason to text him this late. But that hadn’t stopped me before. I chewed the inside of my cheek, then typed.
Me
