Page 63 of More For Me

“He means,” Leo cuts in, “That it’s time for you to actually do something about this shit, Bodhi. Once and for all.”

“He’s right,” River says, leaning across the table to fix me with his icy blue stare. “This has gotten to a critical level.”

“And you call me a drama queen,” I grumble to Leo.

“We just don’t want to see you this way anymore,” Will says. “That was rough last night. Before you went off with her.”

“So I got drunk,” I argue, feeling heat come to my cheeks. I hate the way they’re all looking at me. “It was one night.”

“I’ve never seen you like that before,” River says flatly. “You weren’t just drunk. You were like…”

“Devastated,” Will finishes for him.

My temper rises and I scowl at Leo, annoyed he isn’t putting a stop to this. He knows why I was so upset yesterday, of all days. “I had a bad night,” I grind out. “I had some personal shit going on that had nothing to do with Everly.”

“We know,” Will says gently, and fresh horror rushes over me. “You told us that, too.”

I only have to look at Leo to know exactly what I told them. There’s pity on his face.

“Damn it.”

“Hey, you don’t need to worry, man,” River says. “We get that it’s private. We’re not going to go around telling people.”

“But you could have told us, you know,” Will says. “We’re your friends, Bodhi.”

“I don’t like to talk about it,” I manage.

“Obviously,” River mutters, a distinct note of hurt in his voice. “Since we’ve known you for years and none of us had any idea you had a brother. That’s a pretty big fucking deal.”

I really wish I had stayed on that rug in the sunroom.

“Lay off,” Leo snaps. “He’s allowed to decide what he wants to be private.”

“Okay.” River raises his hands. “I’m just saying—you can talk to me about real stuff, Bodhi. You don’t have to just be the fun guy all the time.”

“Agreed,” Will says in his gruff voice. “We don’t just hang out with you because you’re a good time.”

A knot comes to my throat, too big to swallow past, so I just nod and hide my face in my coffee. It means a lot, them saying that. It’s nice to know they don’t just tolerate me because I’m friends with their cousin and Leo.

But hearing it doesn’t really change anything. The idea of letting people see me sitting around, acting depressed, makes me feel almost panicky. That’s not who I am. That’s not why any of them decided to hang out with me.

“And since we’re all such good friends, we’re going to help you,” River says, and my gaze snaps up to meet his.

“Why does that sound so ominous?”

He grins. “We have a plan.”

“Pretty sure you guys already had a plan,” I mutter through a groan. “All that Team Bodhi did was annoy the fuck out of me and make her feel uncomfortable.”

Will waves away the argument. “That was kid stuff. Messing around.”

“I’m so glad you all thought my love life was a good place for you to mess around.”

He ignores me. “Last night showed us that things are far more serious than we thought.”

“Especially if she kissed you,” River agrees. “That’s major.”

“I hate everything right now.”