Page 138 of More To Us

"You need to be there around eight." Nash hands me a sheet of paper. "Those are the places you need to be and when. I've listed the addresses there. I know you're not that familiar with Chicago, so if you get lost, just call me. My phone number is on there."

I take a moment to look at the sheet he gave me. At the top it says First Annual Wheeler Fall Fix-Up Event. As I review the list of assignments, I see that I'm not on Austin's work crew. He'll be at a different house than me. I'm sure that's intentional.

"You sure you can do this?" Nash points to the boot on my leg. I assume Austin told them what happened and how I lied to him. They're a close family. He tells his brothers almost everything.

"Yeah. I even got a doctor's note." I go over to the kitchen counter where I have it sitting. I bring it to Nash. "I told the doctor I'd be raking leaves and he was fine with that."

Nash stuffs the note in his pocket. "So you can be there at eight?"

"I'll try, but I don't have a car so it'll depend on the bus schedule."

"Shit, I forgot about that," Nash says. "Callie and I will come pick you up."

"That's okay. I'll just take the bus and walk to wherever the house is." I look at the sheet again. I have no idea where that address is. I still don't know my way around Chicago or the suburbs.

"You're not taking the bus. We'll pick you up. And when it's time to go to the next house, you can get a ride with Bryce. He's the crew leader at the house you'll be working at in the morning."

"How many houses am I going to?"

"Two. One in the morning and one in the afternoon." He glances at my leg again. "But if that's too much for you, you can leave at lunch."

"It's not too much." I smile. "I'm excited about this. It'll be good to get out and help some people that need it."

"We do events like this a lot. We like to give back to the community. I'm hoping you can help us out again sometime. Austin's already planning a holiday event for November. It's to raise money to buy Christmas gifts for kids who otherwise wouldn't get any. If you want to volunteer, just let Austin know."

I don't know if I'm just overly sensitive today or what, but hearing him talk about Austin has me in tears. I'm suddenly crying, like a complete moron, but I can't seem to stop.

"Shit," I hear Nash mutter under his breath. He races up to me and wraps me in a big bear hug with his giant arms. He's huge. Tall and wide and muscular. "Kira, I'm sorry. Was it because I mentioned Austin?"

"Yeah. But it's okay. I just really miss him." I pull away and wipe the tears off my cheeks.

Nash looks to the side, then back at me. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this but...he misses you too."

"He does?" I ask, sniffling.

"Yeah. Shit, he's a mess. He's trying to pretend he's not, but my brothers and I know him better than that."

"Did he say anything about me?" I wipe more tears from my face.

Nash folds his arms over his chest. He looks torn, like he's not sure how much to tell me. "He said a few things."

"Did he tell you why he broke up with me?"

"Yeah. And I'm not trying to be mean, but I gotta say, that was a pretty shitty thing you did. Lying to him is one thing, but you made him train you at the gym, knowing whatever he had you do could've injured you. It wasn't right to hide that from him. Like me, Austin worries about his girl. He'd do anything to protect you. He's never cared about anyone as much as he cares about you, and then to find out he might've hurt you..." Nash shakes his head. "He's having a hard time with that."

My tears had stopped, but now they're starting up again. "But Austin didn't do anything wrong. He just did what I asked. He didn't hurt me. I hurt myself."

"He still needed you to be honest with him. Austin has always been someone who's open and honest, and he expects whoever he's with to be the same way."

I look down at the floor. "So you're saying he'll never forgive me."

"That's not what I said. I think he WILL forgive you if you're honest with him from here on out, and if you make an effort to stop whatever got you to this place. Whatever it is that caused you to lie to him."

When I don't respond, Nash continues. "I'm a lot like Austin when it comes to being open and honest. I tell it like it is. I don't lie to people. In fact, I'm probably more honest than people would like me to be, but I don't care. Honesty is important to me and I told myself I'd never be with a girl who lied to me. But Callie lied to me and..." he laughs a little, "now I'm engaged to her."

"Callie lied to you?"

"She lied for the first couple months we were dating. She said her family was living here in Chicago for the summer while she lived in their summer home, a couple hours south of here. I was living in the house next to hers, renovating it. We got to be friends, then more than friends, and then her boss tells me Callie's family is dead. That they'd died in a car crash a year earlier. When I found out, I was pissed that she never told me. For weeks, she'd made up stories about where they were and what they were doing. It was all lies. I assumed she didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth and it almost ended our relationship."

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