said while focusing on her embroidery, like she didn’t think I was worth her full attention.
There was a good chance I wasn’t. After pouting for a few days, she’d called me out. Grandma told me to stop being an asshole, asked where Aiden had been, put two and two together, and now she was letting me have it.
Remember when I said I was grateful for her?
Kind of questioning that at the moment. My chest was so tight it felt like my ribs would snap. Each breath was a challenge. Every time I replayed the fight with Aiden in the shop, my stomach soured, and my face got so hot you could cook eggs on it. I’d been a giant dumbass.
Telling Grandma about it had only solidified it.
“Now he’s not answering my texts,” I admitted, defeat knocking at my walls. “I was such an asshole to him because I was upset and overwhelmed and got stuck in my pettiness. It was completely uncool. And the thing that upset him the most? I hadn’t even meant it that way.”
“That’s one way to put it,” she mumbled while stabbing the muslin with a needle. “What are you going to do about it?”
I rubbed my hands over my face, scrubbing at the warm skin. “If he isn’t talking to me, what can I do?”
“Find a way to apologize, Bryce! For Chrissakes, get your head out of your ass. You screwed up. Own your mistake and do what needs to be done to make it up to Aiden.”
“Do you think like...I dunno...a gift would help pad the apology?”
This made her pause her stitches. She looked at me as if I’d turned blue and sprouted horns. “A gift.” It was supposed to be a question but sounded more like passing judgment. It was the kind of response Aiden would have given me and fuck, I missed him so much.
It was a dumb, knee-jerk response, too. The truth of it was Aiden had been on the sugar daddy scene and left it. If gifts had been the way to his heart, he’d be sitting by someone’s pool in tight swim trunks by now, a kept man.
“Bryce, baby, I say this with love. Follow your heart. Apologize. Otherwise you’re going to be filled with regret, and regret is toxic.”
“Yeah, sure.” It was a half-hearted agreement. A part of me wanted toxic, wanted a punishment.
“Go to work, numbskull,” she said. “Think of what to do while you’re there.”
“You’re so thoughtful and supportive,” I replied in a monotone, wry voice.
She snorted and that, I guessed, was the end of familial advice. I left with my mouth tasting bitter, and it had little to do with the coffee I’d brought with me to work.
At the front desk, Bryan wasn't hiding the stink eye. His angry glare followed me wherever I went. It wasn’t a surprise. Of course, Aiden had told him what had happened. Hell, Bryan had witnessed most of it. The improv play we’d put on in which I’d decided to be the villain.
When I stepped out from using the pisser, Bryan was still staring daggers at me. Followed by flipping me the bird, which felt like overkill.
I huffed and walked down the hall to step out to the back. I needed a breather.
The back door opened soon after I’d come out, Mateo stepping into the cold night air. “Don’t let Bryan bother you,” he said, his breath puffing like smoke in the chill. “At least, not the dramatics. But you could ask him why he’s so pissed at you. He might have some insights you could use.”
Bryan had been making me so uncomfortable it hadn’t crossed my mind to consult with him. “It’s that bad?”
Mateo shrugged. “Bryan’s Aiden’s friend. His best friend. And he’s been worried sick about Aiden. Whatever your fight was about, it hit Aiden hard.”
I’d hoped Aiden had just been pissed and wasn’t answering my texts. But Mateo was making it sound as if I’d actually hurt him—which, no matter how crappy I’d been feeling, had never been my intent.
I sighed. “I’ll talk to Bryan.”
Mateo exhaled and said a silent thanks to the sky before turning to grab the door for us. “Thank God, because Bryan’s been asking me to kick your ass.”
I snorted without thinking. “As if you could.” Then I remembered that Mateo kickboxed and occasionally competed in amateur competitions. “Hold that thought. You absolutely could kick my ass. Please don’t.”
“Damn straight I could,” Mateo replied. “You’re lucky I like you so much.”
Mateo clapped