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Eventually, Toni sighed “Here’s what I know,” she said

He turned to her Toni knew so?

“I wanted to talk to you earlier, but Zach ive you some time He said you haven’t been the friendliest of men lately”

“That’s one way of putting it” Copper let out a rough laugh “Bet h”

She gave hiht, he actually said you were up to your asshole in self-pity, and acting like a constipated hyena”

“Ouch”

“Yeah,” she said with a shrug as she snuggled herself “So here it is The day Rusty showed up at the diner to surprise you, remember?”

Of course he reo, and he’d been over the fucking moon “Yeah”

“The second Shell saw hiot worried when she was in there for a long time so I went to check on her, and in a weak moment, she toldwith me to believe it wasn’t what I’d initially think And you knohat?”

She’d gotten physically ill at the sight of Rusty? That had Copper frowning “What?”

“I believed her Because I love her and knohat kind of person she is”

“Toni, it’s not that si asked to choose sides between my brother and my woman”

“Yeah,” Toni said with a nod “You are And I think you know, somewhere deep in that thick skull of yours that there is not only a good choice but a right choice”

What the fuck ith all the ol’ ladies talking to hih he had to admit their loyalty to Shell was admirable

“Rusty is an asshole,” Toni continued “And you know it You just don’t like it, so you’ve ignored it your entire life I get it somewhat You feel partly responsible for his shitty childhood But guess what, Copper? Lot of us had shitty upbringings We don’t all turn into backstabbing, thieving psychopaths You’ve buried your head in the sand because of guilt or love or whatever Now, you can’t ignore it anymore”