(Brad)
I pulled into the driveway and cut the engine.
For a moment, I stayed where I was. My hands rested on the wheel, fingers tight without me thinking about it, my jaw set as the ache in my face settled deeper. It wasn’t the kind of pain that demanded attention anymore. It just sat there, steady, reminding me every time I shifted even slightly.
The drive hadn’t helped.
If anything, it had made things clearer in a way I couldn’t ignore. I had enough time to go over it from every angle, enough time to decide what mattered and what didn’t. By the time I turned into the driveway, I already knew how I was handling it.
Sitting there longer wasn’t going to change anything.
I stepped out of the car and closed the door behind me, the quiet outside lasting only as long as it took me to reac
