Brandon shoved the last piece of pizza down his throat and tossed the box back on the coffee table. The television was on, but he may as well have been watching Telemundo; he had no idea what was going on. The nagging idea that he’d taken this all a step too far wouldn’t go away, but he fought the urge to run down to Cassidy’s apartment and apologize, swallowing his feelings topped with pepperonis and washing them down with a beer from his dad’s tiny fridge in his room he wasn’t supposed to touch. His plan was to finish it and hide the evidence before Elliott came back.
That didn’t work out. The apartment door opened, and the first thing his dad asked was, “Is that mine?”
Still chewing, Brandon waited to answer till most of the pizza was gone. “It was.”
Elliott studied him for a moment before taking a seat next to him on the couch. “Everything okay?”
“Nope, not even a little bit.” Brandon finished off the beer and wished he had some water. It had been a while since he’d drank anything with alcohol in it since he’d seen what a mess it made out of his mom. Sure, he’d drink at parties if given the opportunity, but for the most part, there was no reason to drink around here. Breaking up with Cass was reason enough.
“What happened?” Elliott turned toward him, the expression on his face showing he genuinely cared and wasn’t just asking because he was supposed to.
“I took your advice. I tried to talk to Cass, but she didn’t want to. I tried asking her out. She didn’t want to go. So... I told her we needed some time apart.”
Elliott’s bushy eyebrows shot up. “I don’t remember saying to do that. I said to give her some space, not break up with her.”
“I know, Dad. But that wasn’t working. So I took it to the next extreme.”
Running a hand through his unruly, dark curls, his dad nodded. “I’ll say. Well, I guess all you can do now is give it a day or two, see what happens.”
“You don’t think I should go down there and talk to her?”
Elliott eyed the beer can. “How many of those have you had?”
“Come on, Dad. Even if I had had a whole case you know it wouldn’t affect me.” He crinkled the can up and plunked it into the empty pizza box.
“True. But still, it’s not a good look for anyone, showing up at their ex’s place smelling like beer, even if it is the good stuff.”
Brandon sort of lost track of every word after the syllable “ex” came out of his father’s mouth. “God, what have I done, Dad?”
“I don’t know. It might end up being for the better. Heaven knows breaking up with Aurora just made her wanna stick to me like glue.”
Brandon had seen that firsthand. “I think you disappearing through the portal made Roar and Mom both remember that you’re a decent guy to have around. All it did for Cass is let her know that it’s not so bad being single.”
“Now, come on, son. That’s not true. She’s just struggling with some stuff right now. Like you said, without knowing what Alex’s message said, it’s hard to tell. But I think there’s a chance he did say some things to her that he wouldn’t want you to know about.”
“I think he did, too. I saw the way he looked at her. I’m not stupid.”
“Well....”
“All right, Dad.” Elliott chuckled and Brandon shook his head, though he agreed he’d done something dumb tonight. “She said she was sitting in on a hunt tonight, too.”
“A hunt?” Once again, his dad was looking at him oddly. “Where?”
“I don’t know. Someplace over there where she thinks we should be.”
“Huh... I didn’t know there was one. I wonder if Hannah knows.”
“I’m sure she does. Wouldn’t she have had to approve it since Aaron’s still gone?”
“I guess so.” He shrugged like it was no big deal, but Brandon could tell something was bothering him.
“When are they coming back? Aren’t they supposed to leave there tomorrow?”
“Hell, I don’t know. It’s hard enough for me to keep track of what day it is here, let alone halfway around the world.” He stood up. “They’ll be here when they get here.”
“Right. Okay. Thanks for listening, Dad.”
“Any time. I just... give her a couple of days. Let her come to you.”
Brandon nodded, thinking the next few days could be the hardest of his life. “What if I see her with another guy?”
“I doubt that will happen, Brandon.”
“I already saw her with Christian.”
“He’s not another guy. He’s a douche. And no one knows that better than Cass.”
“Nevertheless....”
“He’s not even here.” Elliott picked up Brandon’s trash and headed toward the kitchen.
“What do you mean?”
“He left. Couple days ago. Said he needed a vacation, too. I’ve never known him to take one, but it was fine with me. Whatever it takes to not have to deal with him.”
“That’s really weird.” Brandon didn’t follow his dad into the kitchen and hardly noticed when he headed for his bedroom a few minutes later, he was so preoccupied with wondering why Christian would suddenly need a vacation just before Aaron came home. Was it possible the tech guy thought he might get transferred if he stayed? Or was Christian up to no good again? Whatever it was, Brandon still didn’t trust the guy.
His thoughts faded back to Cassidy. He wondered if she was still awake, if she was still watching the hunt. Was she thinking about him—or someone else?
“I am such a moron,” he decided, sprawling out on the same couch where he’d watched a hundred movies with her. The ceiling didn’t answer, but it also didn’t judge. It was going to be a long couple of days.
