Chapter 70: The Guardian

His expression softened when he saw that my intention was not to explicitly hurt his brother, but he still seemed mildly upset.

"You know that's a terrible idea, right?" he pressed, seemingly still on the defensive.

"Maybe... I don't want to get into it now though," I said, which was code for, 'I don't want to talk to you about it'.

He sighed and wiped his hand over his face with frustration, but he didn't push me for any further details.

"You'd better let your aunt know that you're staying," he suggested, probably understanding that I might be waiting for quite a while.

"Good idea. Do you know where I left my phone?" I asked, looking around and feeling where I usually had pockets to tuck it away.

"Fuck... I think you said you left it in the car. I'll go get it for you," Ryder offered, already heading towards the door.

The moment he left I collapsed back on the couch, groaning with self-loathing as I covered my eyes, trying to block out the rest of the world.

I kept replaying the mome