Page 84 of Bought and Broken

“Just like everyone else in my life, you lied to me too!”

My foot lifts from the brake and the car rolls back. She steps away, and before turning away, I see Tate and Dane standing together by the front door, talking to each other.

The worst part is I can’t tell by the look on Tate’s face if he knows or not. I’ll never get the truth about this. Because there isn’t a single person in my life that I can trust.

I have no idea where I am. I just started driving and ended up… somewhere. There is a sign for a scenic view off the highway a few miles away. I suppose that’s a good place to stop. I ripped the GPS tracker from my car and tossed it out the window miles ago, so I don’t have to worry about being followed. My ass is going numb from sitting in this position, so stretching my legs is a good idea.

I bet my brother is freaking out. My father too, if Dane told him I took off. He likely did, especially if he checked the tracker and realized it wasn’t working. I think a semi ran it over. One agreement of having my own car was having the tracker. My father said it was for my protection, since it would alert him if I was in an accident and he would know where I am if I ever broke down—as if I could go far enough that I couldn’t tell him.

But it’s all bullshit.

Everything in my life is a lie. People lying and manipulating me to get what they want. No one cares about what I want. They’re all focused on themselves and their own lives, and I’m here caught in the crossfire.

When I come up to the view turn off, I take it. I’m grateful no one else is here. There is a dirt lot that can fit a handful of cars. I park in the middle and get out, moving to the guardrail. Well, I can’t be far because I see water. In fact, I think I may be near the beach I went to with Summer and Astrid. Was I only driving for that short of a time? I felt like I was driving for hours…

I hate that I have no one to talk to. That every person in my life has betrayed me. Even my best friend, who I thought I could tell everything to, has betrayed me. Maybe worse than the rest of them. Or maybe it just hurts more because I trusted her the most.

She slept with my brother and didn’t tell me. What a slap to the face that is. I’m not even mad that they slept together. I wouldn’t have cared about that. What I care about is that they lied about it and that my brother hasn’t been able to spend time with his daughter—if it’s even true.

I don’t want to be that type of person to say Summer is lying to him, but why did she suddenly tell him now? Why, after all this time? Why did she let everyone believe Astrid was Tommy’s? Is that why he left and didn’t come back? Because she never even told him? Didn’t anyone else?

How deep do Summer’s lies go? Is it possible she’s only telling this to Dane to get money? I can’t imagine Summer being like that. I’ve offered her money and she refused… but I feel like I don’t know my best friend and I hate that. We’ve been friends for ten years. That’s a long time. And in all that time, we’ve never had a fight. Never over anything serious. We’ve had disagreements, but we’ve always worked them out because that’s what we do. But this?

This is such a mess. And I’m so angry!

I slap my hands on the guardrail, letting out a frustrated growl before I start pacing.

Back and forth I go, letting out energy, but I don’t feel any better. I feel out of control. Like I’m going crazy. My entire world is crumbling around me.

Why didn’t Dane tell me he slept with Summer? That hurts too. I don’t know which of them I’m angrier with. The fact they discussed it behind my back, I think it’s the worst part. Together, they decided it was best to keep it from me, which is so shitty! And how the hell did Dane not put this together? He should have known that the timeline matched up. Didn’t he question it? He knew Summer was pregnant… he isn’t an idiot.

On second thought… Astrid was premature. She was born six weeks early. I’m not sure I ever mentioned that to Dane, so maybe he did try to line up the dates and they didn’t match? Still, you’d think he’d have at least asked! A decent man would ask, right?

Ugh, this sucks!

I come to a dead stop, like I hit a brick wall, when the memory of me and Astrid at the beach hits me. I looked right into her bright green eyes and told her how they matched mine. Yet, it never clicked. Nothing about that stuck with me because I never thought Summer would lie to me about something like that. I never thought it could be possible that we share blood because I didn’t think my friend would keep something like that from me.

I should have known, though. Tommy has brown eyes too! What are the chances of two brown eye people having a kid with green? I’m sure it’s possible, but the odds? And for them to be the same shade as mine? Wow, I’m an idiot. The evidence was right there in front of my face, and I ignored it.

Because I trusted them… Seems to be a common theme here. A life lesson. Trusting people is bad.

And Tate… I can’t even get started on him.

My issues with him have nothing to do with this and instead with everything else. Which isn’t fair to him. Funny thing is, out of this entire situation, he’s the one who likely didn’t do anything, and I shouldn’t have gotten mad at him the way I did. Maybe he didn’t know. Or he did and never told me. But will he tell me the truth now? If he knew, would he admit it? Or will he hold his loyalty to my brother above his loyalty to me?

I never wanted Tate to have to choose between me and my brother, but now that I think about it, I don’t think it’s because I was worried about him hurting my brother. I was worried about him hurting me. Tate would choose Dane.

I stop in front of my car and take a few deep breaths, then let them out slowly.

One thing at a time, Devon. That’s all you can do.

I need to know if Tate knew about this. I need to know if I can trust him. I have no one to go to about this, and it’s driving me crazy. My issues with Tate can be put aside until this mess with my brother and Summer is over. But how will I know if Tate is lying? Maybe I won’t. Or maybe I’ll just know.

Opening my door, I lean over the seat to grab my phone from the cup holder, and with shaky hands, I unlock it.

I already have a text from Tate from twenty minutes ago.

I swear I didn’t know.

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