AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Don’t be so quick to judge,” he said. “Those people have looked out for me a lot more than my own family has.”
I had no comeback for that. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and drove the distance back to the cabin. There was so much I wanted to say to Nick, but I didn’t have the heart to after his comment. It made me feel low; like I really had abandoned him. Brayden must have sensed the heaviness in my heart because out of nowhere, he rested his hand on mine and squeezed a little.
Chapter Nineteen ~ Brayden
I was silently excited to have Nick over at the cabin with Mia and me. It felt good to have another piece of her so close. The kid also reminded me a lot of Trent when we were younger; stubborn, hard headed, young, wild, and free.
While she showered, because she said the stench of the house wouldn't leave her nose, Nick and I sat on the deck and waited for her. I made small talk with him and for a while, he wouldn’t say much. But as time went on, he started to open up more.
He even sounded like Trent. The way he spoke, the things he said. It all reminded me so much of my younger days with his brother. Honestly, having Nick over gave me a bit of nostalgia that I missed having in my life.
“Your brother and I used to sit out here almost every day,” I said. “We’d have our beers and smoke our pot sometimes, even though we weren’t supposed to. Fun times.”
“I bet Mia was a buzz kill then too, huh?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “She had her days. Most days she was cool, as long as we weren’t out running the streets, getting in trouble.”
I was no mentor back then, but I tried to steer Nick in the right direction, subtly. I didn’t want to come off too strong and make him feel like I was overstepping any boundaries because I was in love with his sister. Although Mia wanted me to get in his ear for her, there was only so much I could say to him.
“You know your sister cares about you a lot, don't you? She can be a bit overbearing at times, but she means well. She just doesn't want to see you go up the same hill Trent did. No one does.”
Nick let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair like he could care less what I had to say. He was eighteen years old; hormones raging, and he was figuring himself out as a young man. If anybody understood that it was me. Trent too. Hell, any eighteen-year-old boy who ever lived should have.
“My sister thinks she’s my mom,” Nick said. “Sometimes I just want her to be a friend and not try to tell me what to do. She thinks I'll get in trouble like Trent, but I'm a lot smarter than him. Trent was reckless and obnoxious with the things he did. I'm not like that.”
In his own way, Nick told me that if he wanted to do something that could get him in trouble, he knew how to do it without getting caught. I didn’t like the sound of it, but I gave him credit for at least being smart about what he did. If he did anything at all.
“And what’s up with you two anyway?” he asked. “Are you guys a couple or something?”
“We used to be,” I said. “We lost touch when Trent went to prison. Now, I guess we’re taking things slow.”
“I see,” he nodded. “She must really like you, because Mia never lets any man get close to her. She's never even brought anyone home the few times she did visit.”
His revelation made me feel like a winner. I already believed Mia when she said she hadn’t dated anyone since me, but hearing someone else confirm made me sweet for her even more. I wanted to leave him sitting there and go join her in the shower, but that would have been rude. Plus, my legs.
“How long were you and my brother friends before he got arrested?”
His question offended me, but I tried not to show it.
“Trent and I are still friends,” I said. “We’ve been friends since grade school and just because he’s not home right now, doesn’t mean that we aren’t still. He's my best friend.”
“Then why’d you let him do something so stupid to get him taken away from his family?” Nick shot. “You see, you and Mia are trying to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do, but you didn’t stop Trent from ruining his life. What's the difference?”
I didn’t have a quick answer for that because he was right. Instead of asserting my dominance with Trent like I tried to do him, I went along with Trent that night. I shouldn’t have, but I was young and stupid just like he was.
“My mom always said she didn’t believe Trent was the one driving the car,” he said. “I didn’t really think much about it when I was younger, but the more I heard her talk about it and the more people who corroborated her theory, the more I started thinking.”
My heart started to pound in my chest. I had never heard any of Naomi's theories about that night. I got the butt of her anger for a long time, but she never once told me she didn’t think Trent was driving. She may have hinted at it, and I just never paid any attention, but she never said anything directly.
“I was young, but when Trent left that night, he wasn’t too drunk to drive,” Nick said. “He didn’t even like driving. He said he was going up to the cabin to pick you up and you guys were going to a party. Mom read the police report and saw a few discrepancies and every time she went to the precinct to get answers, your uncle always showed up. I think that’s what drove her to the point she is now.”
Nick gave me a chilling look after his statement. Almost like he was daring me to contest what he said. I knew Uncle Joe was involved with the case, but I never knew he intervened with Naomi getting the answers she sought after.
“You two playing nice?”
Mia came out onto the deck, and I was relieved to hear her voice. She saved me from Nick’s investigative dare, and from spilling my secrets all over the deck. Had she waited a minute longer, he might have gotten me to confess.
“Yeah,” I said, “we were just talking about life. You know, guy stuff.”
