Page 159 of Just This Once

I gulped uneasily and looked down at our hands. “He loves you, you know. You’re his best friend.”

“I know,” Thane murmured. “You don’t have to worry; I’ll be there for him through this. He won’t go through it alone.”

I nodded my gratitude but kept talking. “I mean, you’re his favorite person on the planet. He’d never willingly lie to you either. I don’t think he’d evenwantto keep a secret from you. He would just…haveto. He even tried to tell you aboutmewhen he knew he shouldn’t. It’s just like with me and Alec; I’m only lying to my brother right now because I love him so much and want to protect him.”

“Hope?” Thane tilted his head with a confused frown. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You just said; you’re a big proponent of the truth, right?” I reminded him. “Well, I learned something this morning. Something Parker hasn’t told you—or maybe can’t tell you—because he’s either protecting you or maybe he’s legally bound to silence, I’m not sure. But he loves you. You’re his person. I really don’t think he would want to keep it from you unless he absolutely had to. Meaning,Iwant to tell you since I know he can’t and so you won’t hate him. Is that okay?”

Mouth gaping, Thane shook his head slowly. “You’re not making any sense. Parker isn’t keeping anything from me.” But then he squinted, looking less sure of himself as he added, “I would know.”

“Maybe,” I allowed with a shrug. “Maybe I’m wrong about all of this. Itisjust a guess. But I don’t think I’m wrong.” Gaze sliding to him regretfully, I winced. “I think I’m right. And if I am, then I would want to know if I were you, so I’m going to tell you.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “I…kind of followed that. What do you think you know?”

I smiled sadly. “But first, I owe you a huge apology. I haven’t seen you since I got to town. So if you’ve been staying away from the guys just to avoid me, then I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you away.”

Surprise filled his eyes, and he pulled back, shaking his head in immediate rejection. “What? No…no. I’ve just been busy. I’ve?—”

“Been with your new girlfriend?” I asked, watching him closely. “With Christine?”

When he flinched slightly at her name, I let my shoulders sag sadly. “Alec told me he hasn’t gotten to meet her yet. None of them have. They think it’s becauseshedoesn’t want to meet them.”

“What?” he blurted, his eyes widening with dread. “No. That’s not it at all.”

“That’s what I thought,” I murmured before heaving out a breath and asking, “It’s because of me, isn’t it? That’s why you’ve been too afraid to introduce her to the guys?”

Thane merely blinked at me before wrinkling his nose and blurting, “Jesus, Hope. Why in the world would you have anything to do with it?”

“Because of what I said to you after Nova left,” I answered. “I made some stupid crack about how she probably left because you chose the guys over her. Because you chose to stay in Westport with them instead of following her to Texas A&M.”

“Hope,” he started uneasily, lifting his hands and letting me know he did not want to have this conversation.

But I kept going. I had to. “Ever since then, you’ve been cold and distant toward me. As if I hit a nerve. As if you actuallybelievedwhat I said.”

“Hope,” he repeated with more force this time. “It’s fine. None of that matters anymore. Okay? Why are you even?—?”

“Because I think I was really, really wrong. I just learned something, and I think I was wrong abouteverything. Nova never would’ve left because of your feelings for the seven. She cared about the guys just as much as you did.”

His jaw clenched, and I could tell he was trying to control his temper. Releasing a hard breath, he muttered, “Stop. She’s gone, and I’m with Christine. So there’s no reason to?—”

“I don’t think she wanted to leave you at all,” I rushed out. “She loved you. I was there. I was a freshman when y’all were seniors. I saw how much you two meant to each other. And the abrupt way she disappeared was just—it was too startling. Too unbelievable. And she didn’t just leave you; she leftallof us. Which didn’t make any sense at all. So I don’t think shewantedto go at all.”

“Then whydidshe?” he countered, his chin starting to quiver because I’d clearly hit a nerve. “Why did she leave? Can you tell methat?”

“Because she had to.”

He huffed out a hard, bitter laugh, and his knee started to bounce under the table. “But why would shehaveto?”

I studied him for a moment before admitting, “I recently learned how to keep secrets from the people I care about the most because the truth could hurt them. And I think Nova loved you enough that she would one hundred percent keep something from you in order to protect you.”

Tears sparkled in his eyes before he rasped, “Protect me fromwhat? Just say it already.”

“That’s what I’mnota hundred percent sure of,” I admitted with a wince. “But I know some of your friends aren’t reacting the way they should about her. Anger is Parker’s default emotion, and he doesn’t get angry when her name is mentioned.”

Lips parting, Thane pulled back because he knew I was right.

“He lookssad,” I went on. “Sad isn’t even in his wheelhouse, Doc. When something saddens him, he gets pissed. Hell, good things make him mad. And this girl left his best friend. Hisperson. She broke your fucking heart. Jesus, some guy accidentally knocked me down at the airport when I got to town, and I looked him up a few days later only to learn that Ohrley Enterprise had bought out the company he worked for and he was no longer on their payroll. And I’m not even Parker’s favorite person. So if someone hurtyou, he would hunt them down and destroy them piece by piece.” Lifting my hands, I asked, “Why did he never do that to Nova?”

---