Page 2 of Undeniable

Shecouldn’tbe there.

“Why?”

She shook her head. “Even if I gave you a reason, a damn good reason, you still wouldn’t be okay with this, and don’t,” she snapped when I opened my mouth to argue, “argue with me because I know I’m right. You know I’m right.”

“Either way, we had an agreement. Willowwood is your place.Thisis mine.”

“We did not have an agreement. What the hell are you talking about? Your entire family still lives next door to mine back home. How is that fair at all?”

I paced in front of the door. Her condescending tone was grating my last nerve. “I didn’t think it had to be an explicit agreement.”

“You’re making shit up. But you’ve always been good at that: creating your own version of events, twisting the truth to fit your narrative.”

I stopped pacing and turned to face her. The rather spacious break room they’d added during the short renovation they completed after they bought the place felt half the size. Like our past was taking up any extra space it could find.

We grew up together, lived next door to each other. Hell, our parents still lived next door to each other and our moms were best friends. She moved back to our small hometown after college while I stayed in Austin. And I made it a point not to go back more than necessary.

“What the hell does that mean?”

It was a pointless question. I knew what she was referring to—both recent events and some that happenedyearsago. I just wanted to hear her say it. She glared at me like she was picturing me going up in flames or spontaneously dropping dead.

“Like the car accident.”

I was still blocking the door, but suddenly, I was the one that needed to escape. The stupid accident.

In February, Texas was hit with a huge winter storm. The entire state closed down as ice and snow pummeled a region that rarely even saw sleet or the occasional flurry. Ivy still lived in Willowwood at the time and apparently wasn’t answering her phone. So, my mom, along with Ivy’s mom, thought the best option was to drive to her house across town. They hit a patch of ice and veered off the road.

“There’s no way you didn’t have something to do with that,” I reasoned, which was apparently the wrong thing to say.

“Exactly. You’re making shit up.”

“They wouldn’t have gone out in that storm just to check on you. That’s insane.”

She groaned and stared at the door behind me. It was a wonder none of my nosy friends had tried to barge in, curious about what was happening and why I’d chased the new bartender upstairs. Or why she freaked out when she saw me.

“Not his Ivy anymore.”Those were the first words out of her mouth when she realized who was standing in front of her. The reality of those words sat heavy in my mind—the honesty and truth in the statement were like a punch in the gut.

She had been mine once. Or as close to it as I’d ever get.

“What’s insane is that everyone has told you the exact same thing, yet you refuse to believe it.”

The worst part was that I hadn’t known about the accident. My family decided not to tell me about it or my mom’s broken leg until I went back home a month later. She was still in the boot, hobbling around when I got there.

I couldn’t believe they got out in that storm only because Ivy wasn’t answering her phone. There was more to the story—there had to be. And when I’d texted her to figure out the real story, it was the first time I’d done so in thirteen years. After an unanswered text message and another phone call, she blocked my number.

All I wanted to know was why the hell my mother was out in that storm—why they felt the need to go to her.

“You’re just upset because they didn’t tell you,” she said plainly.

“That’s part of the reason, but I also know there’s more to it.”

“You really want to hash everything out? Because I’m not sure now is the time or place to do it.”

It would have taken hours, if not days, to wade through all of our shit. Thirteen years’ worth of it. So, I noted her blatant deflection and pressed on. “Not everything, but I think there’re a few things we could settle right now. Especially since you’re in such a great mood.”

Sarcasm dripped from my every word, and I tacked on a saccharine smile at the end. One that I knew would irritate her even more.

There was no love lost between the two of us. She loathed me and my very existence seemed to irritate her to no end.

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