Chapter 81

Deric POV

It was my 27th birthday today, and I wasn’t having it.

To be honest, I hadn’t felt less celebrating a day that was supposed to be mine in years. The problems pressing down on my chest made it impossible to forget. It wasn’t about the passing of time, hell, I’d had birthdays before, ones filled with love and happiness. Today’s own was different. My father was dying.

And there was nothing I could do about it. Not a damn thing.

As if that weren’t enough, Eric’s situation had twisted itself into knots in my mind, and now, Ava kept asking me if I was okay, but I wasn’t. I hadn’t been for a long time.

The rumble of the car’s engine only seemed to amplify the silence that lingered between us. Ava sat at the passenger sit, her eyes soft and observant, but she knew something was off