Page 66 of Savored Sins
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Will growls.
He plucks my phone off the ground, and I watch helplessly as he shoves it down the front of his pants. Like, in next to his junk in front. No way am I going afterthat. Nasty.
“What the hell, Will?” I howl, my head still locked in his elbow.
This time, Will chuckles. Now that my phone’s down his pants, he lets go of his grip on me and I shake myself loose. He turns to me. “You’re being an idiot.”
“Wow, you found me out. Now give me my phone.”
“No,” Will says. He shakes his head, his blue eyes boring holes in mine. It freaks me out how much he looks like Dad right now—but kinder. Always kinder. “You know good and well there’s a reason you’re rolling around on the floor like a toddler right now—and Tinder is not the way to fix it.”
“Fuckingduhthere’s a reason. I screwed everything up. I’m a failure.”
“You’re not a failure, Zeke.”
My eyes jerk to his. “What do you mean?”
Will shrugs his huge shoulders. “Exactly what I said. You’re not a failure. You’re just… taking your time. But you’re getting there. I see it.”
“Ha,” I scoff, rubbing the back of my neck. Will’s every bit as strong as he looks. “You see it, huh? What, in how I’m back in your fucking house? In how I let Lydia’s friend down? Or maybe you see the nonexistent money I’m raking in with my nonexistent TV show.”
“No, what Iseeis that you care deeply for someone. You care about how Autumnfeels. And that’s something I’ve never seen from you before.”
I’m silent a beat. It’s true… but I hadn’t put it into words.
I had no idea Will saw that.
“Okay,” I say. “But I’m still a failure. I let her down. Ihurther.”
“Yeah,” Will agrees. “You did hurt her. But I can tell from the way you’re lying there on the floor that you also want to fix it. Failures don’t fix stuff.”
“I can’t fix it.”
Will sighs, rubbing his chin. “I didn’t think I could fix it with Lydia, either.”
I sniff. “Yeah, well. That’s you. You’re not a screw-up.”
“Neither are you. Everyone screws up sometimes.”
God damn it. My throat’s suddenly tight, and I’m not sure what’s going to come out if I try to speak, so I just stare at the floor.
But Will doesn’t wait for an answer. He gives me a friendly slap on the back that jostles my bones, then gets to his feet. I swear the floorboards fucking shift.
“I know it sucks,” he says, his voice calm above me. “But my advice…? Find those balls you’re always bragging about and figure out how to fix this—for Autumn’s sakeandyours. Becauseyou found a kick-ass woman who likes your weirdo self and you better not let that go. That shit doesn’t come around every day.”
I can’t respond. My throat’s too tight, and the fucking tears are back, threatening to start spilling out again if I do anything more than blink.
Because Will’s right. A woman like Autumn doesn’t come around every day. I knew the minute she stripped down and jumped into that lake naked with me that I was dealing with a woman I wouldn’t have to hide from.
But there’s one thing Will’s wrong about. I don’t think I can fix this. There’s no way Autumn will ever trust me again.
Will reaches down a hand and helps me wordlessly to my feet. He doesn’t ask what I’m thinking, what I’m going to do, and I don’t offer to tell him. We’re brothers. He’s got my back, and it’s enough.
He claps me between the shoulder blades as I trudge toward the hallway, ready to fall into bed and call it a damn night. Autumn’s fashion show was this morning, but it feels an absolute lifetime ago that I stumbled into her shop and puked outside the door. This day’s been too goddamn long.
Will gives a sharp whistle, and I jerk my head around. Tossing me my phone, he gives me a pointed look that tells me he’s going to be on my ass if I make any missteps—which, honestly, I kind of appreciate for once in my life.
“Better go edit that footage,” he says, jutting his chin toward the hall. “I’m pretty sure I heard you say submissions are due Monday night. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”
