I scoffed and clenched my teeth. “Would you expect Dallin to look for you after he admitted you ruined his entire life by falling in love with him?” Parker’s eyebrows fell over his eyes in a scowl and I looked away, hating the way the pain burned anew from even saying the words out loud. “He told me that my falling in love with him trapped him. He was stuck with no way out and he lost everything important to him because of it.”
“Damn.” He looked front again. “Fucking bastard.”
I smirked lightly, “See.”
“I’m sorry, man.” He whispered, and I shook it off, unable to let the sympathy in.
“I just needed some space. No big deal.”
“I need you to be honest with me, Knox,” He turned to face me and stared right at me, “Did you come out here to commit suicide?”
I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to brush him off and assure him of the answer he wanted to hear, but stopped short. “Not to begin with.”
“But you were going to just lay here in the grass and let it happen?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know. The longer it went on, the less it sounded like a bad idea.”
“I believe that.” He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it as I hung my head in shame. “Brody reminds me of Trey.” I nodded, but didn’t look up, “And Trey says a lot of shit he doesn’t mean when he’s in his feelings. He was emotionally stunted at a young age, which prevented him from learning how to communicate in a healthy manner.”
“Healthy or not, the words still mean the same thing.”
“Yeah,” He nodded, and let his hand slide off my shoulder. “Maybe.”
The silence stretched through the darkness and my eyelids drooped as fatigue and emotional turmoil took their toll on me.
After a while, he cleared his throat, “So now what?”
“I don’t really know.”
A coyote howled off in the distance and the hair stood up on my arms. He stood up and wiped his hands off on his jeans before holding one out to me. “I can’t let you stay here.”
I stared at it for far longer than I should have, considering I was pretty sure he could throw me over his shoulder and carry my weak ass to his truck if he wanted to. I gave him my hand, and he dragged me to my feet, holding my elbow when the world once again tilted sideways, but at least that time I stopped from hitting the deck. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.” He grabbed my jacket off the ground and walked by my side to his truck.
“What about my bike?” I eyed my old trusted hog longingly.
“I’ll get Tito to come grab it in the morning.” He shook his head, “I doubt anyone is going to be stupid enough to come back in here tonight.”
“You did.” I tried to joke, but it fell flat. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.” He repeated, watching me get up into his truck before walking around to the driver's side and turning us back toward civilization.
“Is Hannah okay?”
“No.” He admitted and gripped the steering wheel, “Lex says she won’t eat anything.” The shame burned in my gut. “But she’s not mad at you.”
I nodded, unable to affirm that because we both knew she may not be right now, but she would be when the relief wore off.
We drove for a while, and I dozed on and off in the passenger seat until I heard his phone connecting to a call through Bluetooth. I cracked one eye when Reyna’s voice filtered through the cab.
"Hey, baby." She sounded tired and more guilt swam in my gut.
“Baby Girl,” Parker sighed, looking over at me as I gripped the handle tight. “I’ve got him. He’s alive. No thanks to circumstance.”
“You found him!” She cried, “Where? Is he okay? Did you call Dallin or Trey?”
“He’ll be okay with a shower and a meal and some rest,” He turned toward the highway that led to the city. “We’ll be there in about an hour. But do me a favor.”
“Anything.” She dropped her voice.
“Don’t tell Brody yet.” He replied, “It’s worse than he let on when he asked for our help, and Knox deserves some peace before Brody gets wind that he’s home.”
“Parker.” She warned gently, and I wanted to speak up and tell them to stay out of it, to keep their own sanity.
“No, Baby Girl. What Brody said was over-the-top cruel, and he deserves more than just some time to sweat it out.” He said between clenched teeth. “I’m going to bring Knox home and then I’ll go find Brody.”
She sighed, and I knew she wanted to tell him not to do what we both knew he was planning, but I didn’t have the energy to save Brody’s ass.
Not that time.
I was too fucking tired.
“Okay.” She finally said, “I’m telling Hannah though. She’s not going to last much longer without news.”
“That’s fine. Just let her know that what Knox needs isn’t going to be found at the end of a Brody tornado.”
“You make him sound like Trey,” She replied and I could hear the smile in her voice. Apparently, they were more similar than I’d ever realized. Though it made sense now that I was looking at it.