It was late, well past two in the morning, but you couldn’t bring yourself to leave the man seated beside you. You stifled back a yawn as you snuck a glance at his handsome face. Rafe’s face was set like a stone, his jaw clenched, blue eyes so dark they almost looked black. He lifted his glass of bourbon to his lips and you watched the way his neck muscles moved as he swallowed.

You’d lost count of how many glasses he’d had at this point. You’d long ago given up trying to keep up with him, instead nursing the same glass for over an hour now. He gulped down the amber coloured liquid like it was water, but you didn’t have the tolerance he did. Nor were you fuelled by a quiet anger that seemed to determine all his actions these days.

In the days since he’d returned from Morocco, you’d found yourself struggling to be what he needed. Your friendship with him had always come easy, the two of you seemed to have developed a quiet understanding and acceptance of each other. You’d witnessed many angry outbursts, many crash outs. Seen him so drunk or strung out that he’d barely been able to move.

But this last year, he’d seemed to be doing better. You’d thought a lot of that had been due to him being in a stable relationship with Sofia. You may never have particularly liked the girl, but she had seemed to make him happy in a way you hadn’t seen before, and happiness was always what you’d wanted for him. And then he’d returned from Morocco all sullen anger and bitterness. His relationship with her was over, he’d said, but he hadn’t given you any specifics.

So you sat here, on his couch, trying to let him know that you were here. That he could count on you. You knew something bad had to have happened. Some kind of betrayal. And you knew there would be no coming back from it. Because Rafe wasn’t the kind of man who gave second chances to people. He cut everyone out of his life at the first sign of betrayal, without a second thought.

“She went behind my back. Took money from Hollis” his voice is so low and flat you almost think you’d imagined it. Your mind races to put his words together. And your eyes widen when you realize he means Sofia betrayed him for money.

Damn. Even though you’d never liked her, you wouldn’t have expected that from her. Your hand tightens around your glass of bourbon, before you set it down on the coffee table. You move closer to Rafe, resting your head on his shoulder, your hand resting on his thigh, rubbing soothing circles. You weren’t sure of what you could say to make this better, so instead you offered your silent support.