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But how?

What if this was unfixable?

I’d been too afraid to step up and be honest with Abigail, with Gabe, withmyself, and now everything had turned to shit. And from this jail cell, there was nothing I could do to clean it up.

Except one thing. I turned to my childhood best friend, who had been brutally quiet in the corner.

“I didn’t kiss Blair,” I told him, for what felt like the millionth time. “Because I’m in love with Abigail.”

Saying the words out loud was like a weight lifting from my chest. I let out a sigh and lifted my gaze to meet Gabe’s, ready for whatever he had to give me. A punch. A string of insults. A chest-thumping display of protectiveness, because I wasn’t supposed to go anywhere near his sister.

Instead, Gabe just scoffed. “I know, Rex,” he snapped. “I believe you.”

“You do?”

“I’ve seen the way you look at her every time she walks into Sullivan’s for lunch. Even the fact that you happen to be there around the same time almost every weekday. I’m not an idiot. I know you like her. I just didn’t think you were crazy enough to do something about it.”

“You mean because of you?” I asked.

“No, you idiot, because of her. She’s not like you, Rex. She’simpulsive and irresponsible. She’d be too much trouble for you. And in the end, you’d realize that and leave her heartbroken. Just like that piece of shit, over there.” Gabe pointed up to Travis, who was still hanging around near the cells.

“I heard that!” Travis yelled back.

“I meant you to!” Gabe barked.

In his own weird, screwed-up way, Gabe was just looking out for all of us. That’s how he was—protective to his core.

My throat was full of rocks. My head spun. I felt like the best thing in my life had just slipped through my fingers, and I didn’t know what to do about it. I had to fix it. That’s what I did. If Abigail was the one who tore through life like a tornado, the one who ruined everything she touched, I was the one who fixed things and kept people together.

I couldn’t do that now.

Feeling helpless, I looked at Gabe and said, “Maybe she’s not too much trouble for me. Maybe she’s the perfect kind of trouble. Have you ever wondered how she manages to dominate this town’s real estate if she’s so impulsive and irresponsible?”

Gabe swallowed, eyes shifting away from me. “So she can sell houses. It doesn’t make up for everything else.”

“Listen to yourself, Gabe,” I snapped. “Everything that makes AbigailAbigailis the reason she’s good at her job. Because she’s bright and funny and she makes people dream. She walks people through these houses and paints a picture of a life they could have, if only they were able to reach out and grab it. If only they were a little bit more impulsive. A bit more like her.”

Gabe met my gaze, but I didn’t let him speak because I was on a roll. “And maybe you need to back off and let her be, evenif that means she has to clean up her own mess sometimes. I get the whole protective brother thing. I’ve been doing it my whole life too. But Abigail and Donny are grown-ups. We need to let them live their lives.”

“What life am I supposed to live now?” Donny lamented.

I gave my brother a long look. “That’s for you to figure out.”

He scowled and stared through the jail cell bars.

I turned back to Gabe. “I should’ve been up front with you and with Abigail. I should’ve been a little braver. A little more like her. I love her, man. I’m in love with her. And until this afternoon, I was pretty sure she loved me too. I’m not going to break her heart.”

Gabe finally relented, the tension in his shoulders melting as he sighed. His head fell backward and hit the concrete wall behind him. Then he pinched his lips and said, “I hear you, buddy, I do. But I think you already broke it.”

THIRTY-TWO

ABIGAIL

The drive home was quiet.I was exhausted from the chaos—not just of that day but of the whole week. When I walked through the front door, Winston pranced over to my feet. I scooped him up in my arms, and he pressed his little forehead to my cheek. At least there was one man in my life I could count on.

After a second, Winston wriggled out of my arms and jumped to the floor. I sighed. Alone again.

Sophie placed her hand on my shoulder. “So what do you want to do now?”