The Love Missing From Summer Chapter 02

The Love Missing From Summer Chapter 02

For two days, I did not send Silas a single message.

He did not seem to notice.

Not until after work that day, when a storm rolled in.

I was waiting downstairs for my ride.

Briar Sutton happened to be beside me.

She held her phone and whined into it.

“Pull up a little farther. Hurry, it’s so windy…”

A car stopped in front of us.

It looked familiar.

Sure enough, the window rolled down, and Silas Whitcomb was in the driver’s seat.

In a downpour, he had not checked on me once.

But he had come to pick up Briar Sutton.

Silas saw me and froze.

“Tessa, you…”

Briar folded her umbrella, opened the passenger door, and got in.

“Silas, you know Tessa?”

She looked at me from inside the car, smiling sweetly.

“Tessa, do you want to get in too? Silas can give you a ride.”

“It’s hard to get a car in this rain.”

My boyfriend was driving me, but she had to be the one to offer.

Silas said nothing. He just looked at me.

Expressionless, I shook my head.

“No.”

I had already ordered a ride. It would be there in three minutes.

I had no reason to get in that car and make myself sick.

Briar nodded and rolled up the window.

The car lingered for a few seconds, then drove away.

When I got home and finished showering, I came out to find Silas Whitcomb inside my apartment.

He knew the code to my door.

“Tessa Calder, are you mad?”

“You wouldn’t get in the car, so I thought maybe you had something to do. But the more I thought about it, the more wrong it felt.”

Silas reached for my hand. I stepped aside.

“Is it because I picked up Briar today?”

“Or because I didn’t let you sleep at my place that night and didn’t drive you home?”

He gave a laugh like he did not know whether to be amused or exasperated.

“You’re being so petty right now. Briar Sutton and I went to high school together. I picked her up because I was passing by, and she asked for help. It would’ve been rude to say no.”

“Not letting you sleep at my place was for your own good. I promise I’ll drive you home next time…”

“Silas Whitcomb, let’s break up.”

Silas froze. His face darkened slightly.

“Tessa Calder, is this really necessary?”

“Yes.”

My eyes were calm.

“I can’t sleep at your place, but Briar Sutton can. You don’t think that’s ridiculous?”

From beginning to end, he had never planned to tell me.

Because he knew I would be angry.

“You… listen to me.”

He had not expected me to know.

Shock flashed through Silas’s eyes.

“Briar Sutton left her parents’ house and came to the city alone to make something of herself. I’m the only person she knows here.”

“She’s a young woman in a tough spot. Her landlord kicked her out with no warning. If I didn’t help, she would’ve been on the street.”

“Tessa, you’re a woman too. Try to be understanding…”

When I said nothing, he sighed.

“She’s only staying there temporarily. Besides, she and I have nothing going on. There’s no need to make it weird.”

“She’s different from you. She’s just a tenant.”

“Just a tenant?”

I laughed.

“Silas Whitcomb, I told you Briar Sutton is the new junior coordinator in our department.”

“She’s been at the company for one week, and every lunch break she takes calls in the break room. When people tease her, she says it’s not her boyfriend, just someone she knew from high school.”

“That high school friend is you, isn’t it?”

Silas’s eyes flickered away for a second.

He did not deny it.

I was someone who liked sharing things. Whenever I had a free moment, I messaged him.

He replied slowly. Sometimes he did not reply at all.

We had fought about it several times.

Back then, Silas always looked exhausted.

“Tessa Calder, we’re adults. Work is busy. Lunch breaks are for resting. Can you stop making things hard for me?”

But when it was Briar Sutton, it was not hard for him at all.

“These past two days, Briar started bringing lunch. You made that for her too.”

“And you expect me to believe she’s just a tenant?”

The Tupperware was from a matching set I had bought for us and accidentally left at Silas’s place.

Briar was using it now.

Silas frowned deeply, as if he could not understand me.

“Tessa Calder, aren’t you being a little too petty?”

“Don’t be biased against Briar. She told me there was some misunderstanding between you two…”

He had not listened to anything I said.

But he had listened to Briar Sutton.

I had nothing left to say.

The air between us went rigid.

Then the doorbell rang.

Silas turned to open the door.

The next second, Briar Sutton poked her head in and smiled at me.

“Tessa, sorry to bother you.”