Page 116 of From the Wreckage

“Dad, wait,” I say quickly, the panic surging.

But he doesn’t stop.

Everett’s voice is rough and pleading. “Don’t, Bri. Please don’t run from this. From us.”

My heart stutters, torn between the two men I love most in the world—the one who raised me, and the one who broke me.

My gaze drops to Everett, slumped against the wall like this cabin finally brought him to his knees. My teeth sink into my bottom lip, holding back everything warring inside me.

Then I move.

Everett’s head dips, shoulders caving, like he’s bracing for me to walk right past him. To follow my dad out the door and leave him in the wreckage he created.

Instead, I sink down beside him. Not touching. Not forgiving. Just… close.

His head jerks up, brown eyes widening in surprise. They’re rimmed red, tired, and haunted. “I figured you’d leave me.”

I shrug, arms wrapping tight around myself. “I should. But…” My throat burns, the words splintering as they come. “Unlike you, I can’t walk away so easily.”

The flinch that crosses his face is sharp enough to satisfy something bitter inside me.Good. Let it cut.Let him feel a fraction of what I felt when his silence carved me open.

His hands rake over his face, dropping into his lap. “Bri, I—” He breaks off, dragging in a ragged breath. “It wasn’t because I didn’t want you. Christ, you’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted. But I looked at your dad, at everything you mean to him, and I thought if I fought, I’d destroy that bond. Ruin the most important relationship in your life. And I couldn’t be the reason you lost him.”

His voice roughens, cracking at the edges. “So I made myself the villain. I thought I was protecting you. Protecting him. But all I did was hurt you.”

I swallow hard, heat crawling up my throat. My nails dig into my arms, holding myself together as his confession spills into the quiet.

I open my mouth, close it, then open it again. My mind races.... but then my brows knit as I scan the cabin, the pieces clicking together.

“Wait.” My eyes snap back to his, narrowing. “Why didn’t my dad flip out on you for being here?” I don’t give him a chance to answer, my fury rising sharp and hot. “He put you up to this, didn’t he? After everything?—”

“Don’t, Bri.” Everett’s voice cuts through the rage, his tone low and urgent, as his hand closes around my arm. He holds me steady to prevent me from storming outside. “He was worried about you. That’s all.”

I yank my arm free, the tears already burning. “I know. But I can’t... he can’t... know.”

His shoulders soften, the fight draining from him. “It’s your decision. But maybe it would be better if you told him.”

My chest tightens until I can barely breathe. “I-I can’t. What if he goes after him? If Dad did something… if he went to jail, I couldn’t?—”

His hand finds my knee, grounding me, his grip firm but steady. “I wouldn’t let that happen. I’d take care of Joey myself.” His head tilts, his eyes narrowing, his voice dropping to something darker. “What’s the real reason, Bri?”

The air thickens, the weight crushing me.

I sit frozen for several beats, the truth clawing up my throat until it finally spills, a whisper breaking the silence. “What if it changes the way he sees me?”

He doesn’t flinch. He leans in, one rough palm cupping my face with aching tenderness. “It won’t. He loves you too damn much for anything to change the way he sees you.”

My heart trips, my breath stuttering at the conviction in his gaze. It’s more than reassurance—it’s the truth, plain and unshakable, shining in his eyes.

And before I can stop myself, the words tumble out, unguarded and reckless. “Like you. Your opinion of me hasn’t changed either, has it?”

His answer is immediate, sharp as a blade, and just as irrevocable. “Never. Not once. Not for a goddamn second.”

The force of it makes me inhale like I’ve been struck.

His grip on my face tightens, his thumb brushing away the tears that spill over. His voice roughens, but there’s no hesitation, no apology. “You could never make me see you as anything but mine. Not what Joey did. Not what I fucked up. Nothing.”

He swallows hard. “You’re it, Bri. You’ve been it for me since the day I met you.”