Page 95 of Those Heartbreak Scars

“I’ll ride with Gray,” Dove says.

“Thanks.” America hurries to join Indy while Theo loads her suitcases in the back of his truck.

“Those two have a lot to talk about, babes. It’s going to be so noisy and emotional.” Dove links arms with me. “It’s better to give them their space to go through it all.”

America climbs into the backseat of Theo’s truck. All three of them slam the doors. I can only imagine the immediate barrage of questions from Indy. And I hate leaving her to face it entirely alone. Even when she said that’s what she wanted.

“When you get out of your own way you are one of the good ones.” Dove pats me on the back and pushes giant owl shades onto her nose. They cover half her face. “How are you getting to the Dells?”

“Rental.” I show her the keys I picked up. I knew there was no way I would be offered or want to ride with Indy. And EJ thinks making my own way there proves something about my commitment.

I send America a text as we make our way across the lot to the vehicle on my key tag. She might need to deal with Indy alone, but I want her to know I’m right here.

Gray: Whatever happens with Indy. Whatever it takes. I’m in it with you, my sweet girl. We’re in this together. I’m happiest when I’m with you xx

Chapter Thirty-Six

America

“How long have you been in love with Gray?” Indy asks me.

“A couple of months.” I stare at the texts on my phone.

He was afraid of getting his heart broken again. I don’t blame him. But he never meant to abandon me in a foreign country either. He was mugged and spent the night in the drunk tank. He had no way of contacting me.

But he got his sexy ass on a plane home as soon as he could just to tell me that he loves me. That he’s mine. And now he’s making sure that I know I’m not alone, even though I have to face the music—Indy—on my own. He’s willing to move home. He’s willing to try with Indy and Theo.

“Since you were all in Italy?” Indy asks from the front seat.

“Since—"

“Or since you were fourteen and you learned Korean from those K-dramas we watched? Do you remember Gray’s confusion when you marched up to him and he had no idea what you were saying?”

“It was just a joke,” I say quietly. “Back then it was a joke. How could I know what it really meant? We were only kids.”

But I did know. My feelings for Gray have always stayed the same. They have never wavered, never changed. Try as hard as I did to hide them, they were always there. And after the time we’ve spent together they’ve only grown stronger.

“Tell me the truth,” she says. “You wanted him, didn’t you? You loved Gray this whole time.”

I duck my head. My cheeks grow hot. “It wasn’t like that.”

“I don’t believe you.” She sounds sad.

Theo squeezes her hand, resting their joined hands on her knee.

“I don’t care that you’re in love with him,” she says, facing me between the seats. “I don’t care that he wants you. If anything, the two of you together… that actually would make me happy. He deserves to be happy. And so do you. It’s the fact that you and I… we’re supposed to be close.”

“We’re still the same America and Indy we’ve always been,” I say quietly.

“No, we’re not.” She wipes at her lashes. “Because I think you’ve been keeping things from me since we were teenagers. And I think maybe that’s why you moved to the UK.”

My throat grows watery. I swallow. She’s not wrong.

“Which means you moved to get away from me. From our friendship. And that makes me so sad.”

“I didn’t want to move away from you. I moved because I couldn’t be around Gray,” I admit. “Not when you were getting married. I’ve missed you so much. I’ve hated not telling you everything. It used to be easy to keep my feelings to myself. I told myself it didn’t need to affect us. But then this thing with Gray became a real thing, and the first person I wanted to tell was you.”

“But you didn’t tell me. You talked me around in circles. You told me you were dating that soccer player.”

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