Page 4 of Trust Me With Forever

I snapped back to the present. Realizing I needed to act fast, I asked, “Is there anything you really want in the world, Abigail? Be it a thing, an action, or what have you?”

She blinked. “What are you talking about?”

I took a step toward her. “I have a proposal, but it’ll only work if I can give you something in return for your help.”

After a beat, she rolled her eyes. “If you expect me to say I’m dreaming of your dick, you’ll be waiting a long time.”

“What?”

“Oh, come on. We never did it last night, and now that you remember, you’re trying to think of ways to get into my pants. Well, no, Rafael. I don’t want your cock anywhere near me.”

Ouch.Well, that was the dump of cold water I needed.

After clearing my throat, I said, “I’m not talking about sex with me, Abigail. More like, do you want revenge on your ex? Or maybe to own a house? Something along those lines?”

She took a step backward. “What do you know about Travis?”

“Ah, so he has a name.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t want to talk about him.”

“I could help you get back at him, you know. Say the word, and I’ll hire as many people as it takes to ruin the bastard.”

Her eyes searched mine. “Okay, now you’re not making any sense. Why the hell would you want to help me like that? You’ve been in and out of Starry Hills for months, and rarely said two words to me, even when I tried being nice at first. Andnow you’re wanting to know about some of the most painful moments of my life? Or, if I have revenge plans?”

“Was I really that much of an asshole to you?”

She blinked. “Yes. If you can’t recognize that, then I’m not sure you’re the guy I remember growing up.”

Now she’d touched a nerve. “I’m not that fucking innocent boy who left at eighteen. Life happened, shit happened, and if you’re waiting for me to joke and smile and think the world is full of rainbows and butterflies, you’ll be in for a hell of a wait, Abigail.”

She gave a harsh laugh. “You’re asking me if I think the world is nothing but happy? You lost your parents, but so did I. Then I lost half of my brothers for years and years. And eventually, I losthim,too, even if I never really had him to begin with.”

Her voice cracked, and it was like a dagger to my heart. And suddenly, I wanted to find every person who’d hurt her and make them apologize. Maybe even grovel.

Except then I’d be in that group, too. Ihadbeen a dick to her in recent months. However, facing my little sister and learning how she’d felt responsible for our parents’ death when it had clearly been my fault—combined with Weston Wolfe being there for Emmy when I couldn’t—and well, it’d made me hate the world even more.

But Abby hadn’t deserved any of my bullshit. I still remembered when we were younger and she was always so cheerful and happy. She and my sister had always thought they were the sneakiest kids ever as they followed me, West, and our other good friend, Mark, around.

However, something had happened to that little girl, much like something had happened to me.

The urge to protect her and try to make amends for being an ass coursed through me. Maybe time apart from her family, withme at her side to fight whatever battles came her way, could help Abby heal or at least move past the ass who’d broken her heart.

And even if it wasn’t with me, I wanted to try giving her the happy future she deserved. Helping my sister’s best friend would also be a good step toward making amends for the pain I’d caused Emmy.

Of course, that meant convincing Abby to say yes to my plan. To do that, I needed to step up. I blurted, “I’m sorry, Abby.”

She blinked. “Um, excuse me?”

“I’m sorry. Iwasa jerk to you, and I shouldn’t have been. You were one of the few who didn’t give me the side-eye whenever I first showed up back in Starry Hills last year.”

Her face softened a fraction. “Then why were you so mean to me? I could never figure that out. As far as I know, I’ve never done anything to hurt you or upset you or anything like that. Unless merely being West’s sister is enough to merit your vitriol.”

I ran my hand over the top of my head. “Of course not. What’s between West and I has nothing to do with you.”

“Then why?”

Fuck, was she really going to make me talk about feelings and shit?

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