The Certainty of Deception Read Free

heaved in gut-wrenching sobs.
    “Baby, I beg you,” I whispered through my own tears.  “I love you so much.  Let me fix this.  I can fix this.”
    “Damm it, Drew.  Can’t you see what you’re doing to her?  You need to go!”  Jared looked around me to Gavin.  “Get him out of here!”
    Naturally, I wanted to fight Jared.  How dare he try to step in between Mickie and me like that, but seeing how upset she was, it snapped something inside of me.  All the anger I was harboring dissipated into a puff of air.  I felt weak and oddly enough, sober.
    “Jared, please,” I begged.  “I need five minutes alone with her.  I need to make her see how much I love her and show her that nothing has to change.  I can’t live without her.  I know you know how that feels.  Please.”
    Okay, it might’ve been heartless of me to throw Jared’s feelings for Mickie in his face, but I had to reach him somehow.  He was the only thing standing between me and my girl. 
    Jared looked as if I had punched him in the gut.  I guess, in essence, I did.  The rims of his eyes turned red and tears swam near the corners, but he never gave me the satisfaction of seeing them fall.  
    I’m secure enough in my masculinity to say that Jared was a good looking guy.  The first time I met him, he was having lunch with McKenzie.  I initially had thought he was Nate, but quickly realized he was yet another admirer of the beautiful McKenzie Evans.  My first impression of him with his big gold eyes, shoulder length blonde hair and scruffy appearance was that he considered himself some sort of modern rocker.  I was close in my evaluation.  He was a musician, but not a rocker.
    His nostrils flared as he exhaled.   “I do understand, but Drew, I also understand what it feels like to let her go.  And that’s what you have to do, man.  Let her go.”
    A pit hardened in my stomach.  The thought of letting her go was far too much for me to handle.  I couldn’t do that.  Ever!  She was in my blood now, a part of me, and no matter what, I was holding on for dear life.
    “I can’t.”  I cringed at how feeble my voice sounded.  True, I was weak, but I didn’t need to sound that way in front of my rival or my brother.  How could I be for certain that he had, in fact, let go of Mickie when I couldn’t?
    “You can.”  Jared gently pressed his palm into my chest. 
    “If she would just listen to me.  Jared,” I whimpered, “I don’t want Olivia.  I want Mickie.  I need Mickie.”
    “I know.” 
    My head bolted up at the sound of the door closing behind him.  Gavin was no longer behind me.  Jared had somehow managed to move me away from the door and back outside.  My heart screamed for me to push this man away and rush inside, but my mind and body felt defeated.  Mickie had made her decision, and her choice was to leave me.
    I pressed my back against the wall, staring vacantly at her front door, as I slid down to the ground.  All of my confidence and vigor was gone.  Crossing my arms over my knees, I dropped my head into the crevasse and cried.  There was nothing left for me.  My hopes were gone. She had rejected me.
    “Drew, you have to stop this. You’re not only hurting McKenzie, but you’re hurting yourself.  Look at you.  I’ve never seen you like this.”
    “I have,” Gavin muttered ; his arms crossed over his chest.  Gavin was two years older than me, but also two inches shorter.  His light brown hair was starting to thin, so he compensated by using a lot of product and keeping it cropped in a Caesar cut.  He was slender, yet fit and he carried the Wise family trademark of blue eyes; only shades darker than mine.
    A muted chuckle drained from my chest.  “Gav’s right.  I’ve looked worse.”
    Jared lifted his faded ball cap to scratch his scalp in exasperation.  “That might be so, but man, you’ve got to get it together.  You won’t win her back this way.”
    My eyes widened in