Page 106 of Forgive You

I let my shoulders sag, releasing the air from my lungs. Then we did what we did best.

“We fought. Or I fought, and he pleaded. He left the ring on my desk when he walked out, and I threw it in my bag because I didn’t want to leave it at the office for everyone to grab and see.”

Dumbest thing I’ve ever done. I should’ve just left it there, never touched it. Why did I feel responsible for that damn piece of jewelry.Heleft it there, not me.

“I was gonna return it to him the next day,” I go on, “but he didn’t come in for the rest of the week and Jason was in town. We met for drinks at the Holiday Inn downtown, but the second he realized Jacob and I were really done, drinks turned into us getting a hotel room.” I find Kayla’s eyes, before they move over to Rae and Charlotte. “That’s the first time we slept together.”

“I knew it! How was it?” Kayla shouts with excitement, like I told her Bodi bought her a theme park.

I chuckle, the memory warming my chest. “Great. Amazing. Like everything was right in the world. We hadn’t talked about what was going to happen after, but it was clear we were finally on the same page.”

I still remember that moment like it was yesterday. I’d been longing to feel what it was like to be in his arms and not think of it as something bad because he was my boyfriend's brother. I’d been longing to be held like I was his. And for just a couple of hours, I was the happiest I’d ever been.

My smile turns into a frown, and I fixate on my pastel pink nails. “But then Jason found the ring in my bag.”

“Oh, shit,” they collectively murmur.

My stomach churns, thinking about that night, my heartbeat picking up pace.

It was awful. If I could turn back time, that’s the moment I’d go back to. I’d toss that damn ring out of my bag and into the trash and I’d tell Jason I love him.

Because I do. I love him more than anything. I love him like Hunter always loved Charlotte. I always loved Jason. I just never really thought I’d fall in love with him.

I nod. “He freaked, which I understood. But then he walked out on me without asking for an explanation. I didn’t talk to him until I moved to LA.”

I understood, of course I did. Seeing another link to his brother must have broken his heart, but it still aches knowing he didn’t give me any chance to explain it.

“That’s it? That’s why he ghosted you?” Kayla growls with a hand balled into a fist.

I bite my lip, softly nodding.

“That son of a bitch.” Kayla looks radioactive and ready to raise hell.

I shake my head. “He apologized for it. We’re good now.”

She settles back into her seat, albeit still a bit on edge.

We are good, though. I genuinely feel he regrets it, and I just wanna focus on the future. I know we both won’t let it happen ever again. Though, the sadness that settles around my heart tells me I might still need some time to really let that pain dissolve. To let myself heal and trust again.

I conjure a smile on my face, pushing whatever emotion I have left to the side, but Charlotte wouldn’t be my best friend if she didn’t see right through me. It’s no wonder I avoided her for months. I can barely keep anything a secret from her.

She wraps her arm around my shoulder, tugging me against her side until I meet her eyes. They are green and filled with a pureness that always had the ability to stare right into my soul. I brace myself for whatever is going to come out of her lips next.

“Why are you worried, then?”

See, there you have it. She always calls me out on my bullshit. When I want to pretend I’m okay, she’s there looking at me with an expression that says,who are you fooling, girl?And I can’t even be mad about it, because she does it with a level of kindness and compassion that makes it impossible to get annoyed by her.

So, why am I worried?

Because after all this time, there’s a part of me that’s wondering if maybe Jason and I are just not meant to be. If maybe we’re always doomed by bad timing and shit communication. But just thinking about the possibility of that being true breaks my heart before it’s even fully healed again.

The doorbell echoes through the hallway and into the kitchen, and I jump up before either of them can hijack my escape.

“I’ll get it.”

Saved by the fucking bell.

29

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