Page 105 of Play It Sinful

“Who told him?” I ask through clenched teeth.

“I did,” Zoey says in a small voice. “I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to.”

I’m still angry, but it’s not her fault. “Ashley broke up with him tonight because she found out Brian was a piece of shit. You couldn’t have known.”

My answer seems to make Zoey shrink even smaller. Out of all Ashley’s friends, she’s the one with the sweetest disposition, and I feel like an asshole for putting her on the spot like that.

Out of the blue, CJ pipes up, “Hey, don’t feel bad. Thanks to your oops, now we all know Brian is anathema.”

Noah snorts. “Anathema? Look at you using big words.”

CJ scowls. “Bite me, Kingsley.”

“Guys, come on. Now’s not the time,” Darren interjects, then looks at me. “How’s Ash?”

“She’s stable, but still in the ICU. We’ll have to wait.”

“I can’t believe this happened,” Zoey murmurs.

Gia throws an arm around her shoulder, and the girl leans into her. “The important thing is that she’s out of surgery and resting. She’ll pull through.”

“Where are your parents?” Blair asks.

“They were traveling in Europe. They should be landing in Boston in a few hours.”

“They must be so worried,” Gia chimes in, curling her arm around her belly. She isn’t showing her baby bump yet under those bulky winter clothes, but her maternal instincts have already kicked in.

Noah covers her hand with his. It’s a sweet moment for them, and it makes me hopeful that I can have that with Ashley one day.

“How did the accident happen?” CJ asks, snapping me back to the here and now.

“Deer on the road, she couldn’t avoid hitting it.” I take a seat across from him and rest my elbows on my knees.

“Why was she driving during a snowstorm? Was it because of Brian?” Logan asks, not hiding his aggressive tone.

As much as I’d love to pin the accident on Brian, he wasn’t the reason she was running away. “No, it was my fault. This was all my fault.”

I cover my face and lose my shit in front of all my friends. I thought I was done crying, but I feel the full weight of my guilt now.

Kenzie sits next to me and rubs my back. “Sean… come on. You have to stop blaming yourself.”

“How was her accident your fault?” Noah asks.

I look up and find all my friends staring at me with looks of compassion, and worry. In that moment, I realize I’m done keeping secrets.

“I kissed her.”

No one says a word for a couple beats, but their reactions are similar. I get a of lot of jaws hanging loose and brows arched.

“About damn time,” Noah replies first.

Alex snorts. “That wasn’t the first time, buddy.”

“What do mean?” Blair looks at him.

Alex rubs the back of his neck, looking hella guilty. “Uh….”

“Nice going, bro.” Logan crosses his arms, and smirks.

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