Whispers of the South Wind

Chapter 28

"Alright, I think that's the last of it," Anthony said with a grin, looking over at you. "Ya ready to get Lady loaded up and ready to go?"

"Yeah," you said absentmindedly, kicking the dirt in front of you with a soft sigh. Anthony frowned as he watched you, tilting his head before shoving his hands into his pockets with a sigh of his own.

"Ya wanna talk about it?" He said, and you quickly shook your head no. It wasn't his problem to worry about. After all, it wasn't his fault everything was all screwed up between you and Keigo. You'd both managed to do that on your own.

You looked up just in time to see Anthony rolling his eyes, causing you to cross your arms in agitation. "Why are ya rollin' your damn eyes at me like that," you snapped, letting out a huff. "It ain't like you've talked much about what happened with Mary either."

Anthony hesitated, glancing away with a pained expression before turning back to gaze at you. "We broke up. I don't know what else ya want me to say." He shrugged, and you rolled your own eyes before shaking your head.

"But why?! I mean ya were chasing her like a lovesick puppy forever. You've been together for almost two years, why did you just all of a sudden say fuck it?" You asked, and now it was Anthony's turn to kick at the ground, an awkward expression on his face as he let out a long sigh.

"I don't want ya to blame yourself and I certainly do not want ya gettin' mad at Keigo over this. Nothin' that happened or was said is any of your faults," He said sternly, emerald eyes boring into yours as your brows pinched together in confusion.

"What the hell happened?" You asked again, and you watched in interest as Anthony's jaw ticked slightly before he sighed.

"The night that everythin' happened, Mary and I were already fightin'," He started, shoving his hands in his pockets as he leaned against his truck with a loud sigh, "Lacy's been puttin' it in her head that somethin' is goin' on between us. That I shouldn't be spendin' so much time with ya, but honestly I see ya a lot less now that Keigo's been helpin' ya out. But that didn't really seem to matter when I brought it up. We've been arguin' 'bout it since the river honestly."

"Oh Anthony," You breathed, unable to stop the guilt that overcame you at his confession. Despite telling you not to blame yourself, you couldn't help but feel guilty anyway. Why hadn't he told you that you were causing him issues like that?

"Why wouldn't ya tell me?! I've told ya so many times that ya don't need to babysit me. If you needed to put space between us to fix things with her, then ya should've just told me."

"Well, besides the fact I would never do that because you're basically my family, it wasn't just that," He said with a scowl. "You already know Lacy has her eyes on Keigo for whatever fuckin' reason, but when I got home that night, Mary was on the phone with Lacy. She was trying to get Keigo up so Lacy could pick him up and take him home with her. That was the final straw for me. I couldn't put him at risk like that. It was fuckin' wrong and the fact Mary was encouraging it..." he looked away, sneering at the ground before shaking his head.

"That is not the girl I fell in love with. I was willin' to try and make it work, but to take advantage of him like that. Nope, couldn't let it fly."

You stared at him in shock, his words sinking in as you took a deep breath to try and fight the sudden sick feeling in your stomach. Despite him being passed out drunk, Lacy was still going to try and take advantage of him? What the hell was wrong with her and why the hell would Mary ever go along with something so disgusting like that? It was beyond sickening.

"I'm so sorry," You said softly, and Anthony let out a sigh, shrugging before turning and swiftly closing his tailgate.

"Don't be. I dodged a bullet and I can save the ring for someone who actually deserves it. Now it's your turn." He said sternly, turning and leaning against the truck again. "Talk."