25. Give Her the World

Whoever said misery loves company is fucking wrong. I don’t want to look at Lincoln James, I don’t want to talk to him.

I’m fucking pissed and it’s all I can do not to throw shit on the ground and toss Lincoln out the window of the nearly-finished build in San Esteban.

As we do a walk-through with Sims and a team of inspectors, I glance over at my friend. He’s haggard. He looks like he hasn’t slept, either.

Some of this shitshow is my fault. I could’ve told Evelyn I loved her enough for the both of us. I could’ve spoken up in that moment. Before Mark came home, instead of saying that when they told him was their business, I could’ve been a true partner in the throuple and talked out how and when to break the news to him. Instead, I shoved the responsibility into their laps.

Any problem that someone in a relationship faces is a problem for everybody in the relationship. It should’ve been all three of us against the problem, not me just waving my hands and telling them to work it out.

So I’m mad at myself, just as much as I am at Lincoln.

The inspection ends. Everything is looking good.

“I don’t know why we don’t leave this in Sims’s hands and fuck off to the next job,” I say as Lincoln and I take the construction elevator down to the ground. “It’s not like we have anything to keep us around.”

“Don’t fucking say that. Evie’s coming back.”

“She isn’t responding to our texts,” I say. “She’s moving on. In her mind, there’s nothing to come back to.”

He whirls around and looks as if he’ll throw a punch. His hardhat is crooked and his nostrils flare.

“Go ahead, hit me,” I say. “I know you’re pissed. Let it out. Doesn’t fucking change the fact that you fucked up.”

“Fuck you, you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

“Don’t I?” I stand taller, squaring off against him. “When it came time for you to actually admit your feelings, you fucking flinched.”

It’s as if all the energy leaves him, and he deflates.

“I didn’t hear you volunteering your undying love, either,” he mutters.

“You’re right.” The elevator brings us down and we step out into the bright sunlight. I blink against it, shielding my eyes from the truth. “We both fucked up.”

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