Page 103 of Mr. Brightside

“There’s more to the Ian McDowell story than you know.” I keep my gaze set on the field. He shifts beside me; I can feel his eyes boring into the side of my face.

“Everything you know is accurate,” I clarify. “I never lied about how it all went down. But the version of the story you know… that’s not all that happened that night.”

When I glance over to gauge his reaction, he’s got that Rhett-Wheeler jaw-ticking thing going on.

“Care to fill in the blanks?”

I do. But I won’t. Not yet, at least. I want to tell Rhett what happened—I think I need to, in a way, to finally come to terms with what happened and how it affected me. But I can’t tell him yet.

I shift to face him head-on, to ensure he can see the sincerity in my promise. After another few seconds, I swallow past the hesitation and just say it. “I will. I swear. But I need to tell Cory first.”

His questioning expression transforms into a full-blown smile. He wraps one arm around my shoulders and shakes me. “There it is,” he says smugly.

“Therewhatis?”

“What you just said about Cory. That’s it. That’s literally all I needed to know about your marriage.”

I cock one eyebrow in question, trying to make sense of how my refusal to tell him something has anything to do with my relationship.

“Bro, you just explained that you can’t share something with me—something that I literally went through with you years ago—because you need to tell your husband first.Thatis a big fucking deal. Whether you realize it or not, he’s become your number one. As he should be. That’s what a relationship is, Jake. It’s putting someone first time and time again; putting their needs on par and sometimes even above your own.”

“Fuck.” I shake my head in frustration. “I suck at this.”

“Watch it,” Rhett scolds. “That’s my best friend you’re talking about.”

I smirk and nudge his shoulder, gripping the edges of the metal bleachers and blowing out a long breath now that I’ve stopped panting from his cardio torture.

“But I really do.”

“But you don’t want to,” he counters. “The fact that youknowyou’ve got a long way to go, and you want to do it anyway? That’s more than half the battle, bro. You want this to work. You want to be better for him. I honestly had no clue what I was coming back to when I showed up here unannounced, but you’ve shown me all I need to know.”

“I have no idea how to fix it,” I lament. I squeeze the edge of the bleachers tighter, vulnerability gripping my insides with the reminder of how badly I fucked up and just how hard this is going to be.

“You fight. Figure out one small step forward, and start there. Fight for your marriage. Fight for your man. Don’t stop until he forgives you and you figure it out, together. Even when it’s hard—even when it hurts—you can’t stop fighting.”

I nod resolutely, letting his words galvanize me and pulling strength from his belief in my ability to do this. I may not have a clue where to start, but I do know one thing for sure: I’m not giving up. Not now, not ever.

Chapter 43

Cory

He’severywhere.

We’ve never been in this airport together, and yet reminders of him follow me from the security checkpoint, through the terminal, and to my gate.

The TSA agent cracked a joke, and whereas Jake would have been all over the witty banter, all I could do was stammer through a halfhearted response.

Two little girls who looked like brunette versions of Fiona and Amelia were behind me in line for coffee, begging their mom to buy them cake pops.

Even the weird middle-of-the-airport jewelry counter mocked me with its overhead lights flickering ominously over the glass displays.

It’s like everywhere I look, he’s there. Even when I’m trying to forget—willing my heart to be reasonable and move on—I can’t shake him. This is going to be so much harder than I thought.

I only stayed in Virginia for two nights. Tori had to get back to work, and I refuse to get further behind in my classes.

I still don’t know what I was looking for by coming here. If anything, I’m more conflicted than when I first arrived.

Or maybe conflicted isn’t an accurate description, because there’s no question about what I have to do.