Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
“No,” Declan stated.
Before I could beg him, Sebastian sighed. “Truly, Simon, we don’t know anything that might help. It was the middle of the day, and we decided to go swimming.”
“It had been fucking hot,” Rome added. “We were going to swim for a while. At sunset, we were going to toss some steaks on the grill and start drinking. It was the last day of freedom prior to the arrival of you and your parents. None of us had drunk alcohol yet.”
I nodded. I remembered overhearing a conversation between my parents that the coroner had found zero alcohol or drugs in Sawyer’s system. My father had even sounded surprised. Sawyer had been twenty-one and reckless. My parents had likely assumed he’d been drunk when he dove off those rocks.
“Rome, Dec, and I went down to the lake first. Sawyer and Pierce stayed behind to pack the cooler with ice and drinks.”
“They took a long time. Longer than you would have expected.” Declan turned to stare at Rome. “You even said you were going to check on them.”
Rome grunted. “Yeah, but Sawyer appeared a second later with the cooler. We teased him, and he muttered something about Pierce being a slow-ass.”
“What about Pierce? Where was he?” I demanded.
Sebastian shifted on the couch to gaze at me. “He followed Sawyer, but it was several minutes later, and even then he didn’t get in the water. He sat on the end of the dock with a bottle of water.”
“Did they seem off? Upset? Worried?” I pressed. Most of this I’d heard years ago, but I was sure I’d missed something since I’d been consumed with grief over losing my brother.
“Sawyer seemed pissed, or maybe annoyed,” Sebastian answered. “I asked him about it, but he brushed me off. Pierce was…” His voice trailed off, but I couldn’t tell whether it was due to being unable to remember or unwilling to say.
“Pale,” Declan cut in. “I remember thinking he looked pale, like he was sick.”
“Honestly, I thought he looked upset,” Rome admitted. “I just figured he and Sawyer had just had another argument. They were always bickering about something. Sawyer would blow up about something stupid, and Pierce would sulk, giving Sawyer the cold shoulder until Sawyer apologized. It was their thing.”
“Except that time, Sawyer didn’t have the chance to apologize.”
Because he had died diving off the rocks into the lake.
“Do you think Pierce feels guilty about having an argument with Sawyer right before he died?” Byron asked.
“Maybe he blames himself for Sawyer’s death,” Parker suggested.
“That’s insane,” Rome gasped. “Sawyer’s death was an accident. He jumped off the rocks in the wrong spot and hit his head. End of story.” He winced and looked at me. “Sorry.” I waved him off, and Rome continued. “Pierce wasn’t even in the water at the time. He was sitting on the boat dock. Said something like his head hurt. How could he blame himself?”
With Pierce, I had a feeling he would find a way.
“Maybe he feels guilty about their last argument and never having the chance to make up,” Liam offered.
That made sense to me.
The only problem was that no one besides Pierce could tell us what they’d talked about.
“After the initial police investigation, Pierce has never willingly talked about that day,” Sebastian stated.
“And we’ve all tried to get him to talk,” Rome murmured.
A sigh slipped out of my soul, and I closed my eyes. Whatever was keeping us apart was undoubtedly tied to their final conversation, but Pierce refused to say one word about it.
“What am I supposed to do?” I whispered, my voice thick with emotion. What hopes I’d had minutes ago had fallen apart.
Seconds ticked by and no one spoke. It was so quiet, I began to fear they’d all sneaked out of the room when I closed my eyes.
“Get him to talk about it,” Liam stated firmly. “Rome and I had that big blowup as kids. No matter how close we got as adults, it was window dressing until we dealt with what happened back then.”
Rome leaned over and wrapped his arms around Liam’s waist. “I dreaded talking about that day because I was sure I’d lose Liam again.”
Liam turned his head toward Rome and stole a kiss. “Same, but it was worth it.”
Could Pierce be afraid of scaring me off if he came clean about his fight with Sawyer?
They were right. If Pierce and I were to have any shot at an actual relationship, I had to get him to talk about the day my brother died.
“Simon, if you want us there to help you…” Sebastian offered, but I was already shaking my head. If Pierce hadn’t talked about it with them during the past decade, he wasn’t likely to do it now. Besides, Pierce was an intensely private person. Exposing his inner pain and trauma to all these people, even if they were his closest friends, seemed unlikely.