Chapter 23

Brendon

My mom was an excellent cook, so when my appetite failed even her delicious food, I knew I was truly fucked. Getting so worked up over Aurora was pointless, since it wouldn't fix the problem nor would it make me feel better, but I couldn't shake it. The longer I went without talking to her, the worse I felt. People were starting to notice.

"You've barely eaten," Mom noted as she rose to clear the plates.

Like I always did, I sprung up ahead of her and started piling up the dishes before she even reached the first one. Keilan followed suit, and we carried the plates into the kitchen together. I thought that would be the end of it, but Mom followed me.

"You know, we think Aurora's just wonderful," she said. "Are you going to have her over again soon?"

I turned on the tap and started rinsing. Keilan snuck out, presumably uninterested in the mother-son chat we were about to have.

"Brendon..." Mother said in a warning tone. "I know you better than you know yourself, so I know when you're avoiding a question."

"I'm not avoiding the question," I muttered, aiming the tap at a particularly sticky piece of rice. "I'm avoiding the answer."

She let out an exasperated sigh and reached over my arm to turn the faucet off. When I glanced down at her, she had her arms folded over her chest and was decidedly unimpressed with my answer.

"I don't know if I'm going to have her over again, Mom," I replied. "I don't know what's going on with that girl."

"Have you tried asking?"

She was only trying to help, but suggesting the most obvious answer was more annoying than anything else.

"Yes, I've tried talking to her. We haven't had a good time outside of work to talk though, and it wouldn't be right for me to corner her while she's on my dime. I've been trying to give her the space she needs. She's obviously going through something."

Mom crooked a brow. "Is she? And she doesn't think this thing she's obviously going through is worth discussing with you?"

"I guess not." I turned and rested my back against the edge of the counter, trying not to grind my teeth. "It's probably about me. I must've done something without realizing."

"Maybe, maybe not." Mom reached a hand to my shirt and absently smoothed the sleeve. "It could be something you didn't do. You clearly care a great deal for her, but have you told her that?"

I thought back to the night I told her I loved her, and how she didn't say it back. I hated that memory. It had felt so good to let it out, to tell her how I felt, but the sting of her rejection had stuck with me. I knew that it wasn't a full rejection, that even if she didn't love me yet there was no saying she wouldn't with time, but now I was beginning to think I wasn't going to get that time.

"I'm worried she might be cheating on me."

I said it so quietly that Mom wouldn't have even heard it if the tap was still running. It was still too loud. I wanted to pull back those words and the accusation that went with them but it was too late. Peter had planted the seed, and the more time went on and her behavior continued I couldn't help but notice things.

Mom wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. She was much smaller than I, but even one of her little hugs was more powerful than any other person's. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged back, sucking in that positive energy while I could.

"I'm guessing that since you could barely admit your suspicion to me, you haven't told Aurora yet either," Mom posed.

"Yeah." I worked my jaw back and forth. “I hate myself for even thinking such a thing but Peter mentioned something and now I can’t stop wondering. She wouldn’t do that. I know she wouldn’t do that. But then why is she acting like this?”

"And it's driving you crazy?"

I sighed. "Yeah."

"Then go over there and figure it out, Brendon." She backed away from the hug, her face now stern. “Wondering what she's thinking won't help you. The solution is very simple. Just go over there, tell her how you feel and what you want, then leave the rest in her court. If she feels the same, great. If something has her worried, then at least you can finally get it all out in the open."

I nodded. She was right.

Mom put her hand on my arm and smiled gently. "You're strong. You've always been the strongest one. Where Keilan has your father and Avery has his family, you've always relied on yourself. Don't think that nobody else in this family has never noticed that."

I thanked my mom, shelving those words to think on later. For now I had one objective and one objective alone. I was going to figure out what was up with Aurora.

It always surprised me how lax apartment security could be in the lower price brackets. As convenient as it was to be able to get up to her front door without having to go through the process of being properly buzzed in, I shuddered to think of all the awful things that could happen to Aurora in a place like this. I decided right then that I was going to get her out of this crappy apartment building. Maybe I could even insist that she move in with me, the thought sending a shiver down my spine. I could have Aurora anytime and anyway I wanted her. Day and night. In the kitchen, on the couch, in the shower. The possibilities were as delectable as they were plentiful.

My pants were tight by the time I knocked on Aurora's front door. How could she have this affect on me even when I was coming over to confront her? I could only hope that whatever was about to happen would lead into some sort of makeup sex. I was an addict who’d been languishing without my fix, and only she would satisfy me.

This thought process made an abrupt, screeching halt when a man I didn't recognize opened the door. He had short, pale brown hair and steely blue eyes that narrowed on me with barely disguised malice.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

I stood up straighter. Try all he might, this stranger wouldn't intimidate me. I was bigger, stronger, and altogether more motivated where Aurora was concerned.

"I could ask the same question of you," I snapped back. "What are you doing in my girlfriend's apartment?"

The man's expression fell flat, then his lips curved and he let out a mad, barking laugh. I suppressed the urge to clock him in the jaw and instead waited, rather patiently, for him to answer my question. It would have been easier and more desirable for me to barge past him to find the person I really wanted to speak to, but I respected Aurora's right for privacy. If she wanted this guy in her place right now and not me, that was her business. She would need to explain that to me directly though, and soon. My blood pressure was on the rise.

"You must be Brendon," the man sneered. He turned his head over his shoulder and called out, "This is the guy? Really, Aurora?" like there was something inherently shameful about me.

A million thoughts raced through my head. I wanted to hit this guy. I wanted to roar with anger and charge into Aurora's apartment. I wanted to crawl into the corner and pretend my world hadn't just fallen around me.

I took secret option D, which involved me turning on my heel and making an abrupt departure out of the building. I was just at the elevator when Aurora's voice called down after me.

"Wait! Brendon, wait!"

I jammed my finger on the button, watching the chrome doors slide closed just before she made it to the elevator. I saw her distressed expression deepen through the final inch of clearance and the elevator began to descend.