Page 37 of From Our First

Silence filled the room as the others tried to keep up. I felt like I was drowning.

“They wouldn’t have liked Nate,” Hazel added.

“No, they wouldn’t,” I replied. “Apparently, they found out. My family always had people watching me. They had enough money and could do anything. And they did. They found out I married Nate, and they doctored photos to show that I was cheating on him with my ex-boyfriend. And Nathan believed them.”

“You call him Nathan,” Dakota whispered.

“He believed you cheated?” Paris asked. “What a fucking asshole.”

“You were married,” Hazel said again.

I shook my head and then sat down on the ottoman in front of the table. “Yes. I call him Nathan. It was a thing between us, and sometimes it comes out. And yes, he believed them, but he had proof—or so he thought. I don’t know who would blame him. And, yes…we were married.”

I looked at the others, and they stared. I could see them thinking hard and trying to piece everything together, and I knew I needed to keep going. “It all came out when Nathan came to the house to talk to me. We’ve been trying for a truce, you see. I hated him because he never trusted me, and he hated me because he thought I cheated. Anyway, he came to the house the other day when my parents were there, and the truth came out. Nate and I haven’t talked since. We will, though I don’t know what’ll come of it. But I told him I needed to tell you. And he’s telling his family now.”

“Oh my God,” Hazel muttered. “His brothers are going to hate this.”

“It all started off wrong,” I continued. “When you introduced me to him, I didn’t know how to tell you that we already knew each other. In so many ways.” I laughed hollowly. “How was I supposed to tell you that I had married the person I thought was the love of my life, and that it had turned out to be a moment that shattered me into a million pieces?”

“We’re your best friends, you should’ve told us,” Dakota said, and my heart broke once more. “But we understand about secrets. I get why you couldn’t tell us before we met him. But why keep up with the lie afterwards?”

I looked down at my hands, frowning. “It snowballed, I guess.” I shrugged and looked up at Hazel. “I didn’t know you would fall for Cross. I didn’t know that his family and the family that I made would intertwine so much. But when everything happened, it became this taboo thing where I couldn’t speak the words that I needed to, and he couldn’t either. We just hid the secrets because we were afraid of the outcome, and now there’s no going back. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I lied—I’m sorrywelied. I hope you can forgive me. Because I’m breaking inside over many things right now, and I don’t know what I’ll do if you guys walk away from me.”

They were silent for a moment, and I was afraid that this was it. Would they tell me to leave, and make me lose everything? I’d lost the one person in my birth family that I loved more than anything, I had lost Nathan years ago, and now, I was afraid I would lose the family of my heart, too.

Hazel stood up first, and I rose as well, ready to leave if I needed to. But then she opened her arms and pulled me close, and the tears fell again.

“I’m so sorry you were afraid that we would walk away. We’ve all made mistakes, and now have to deal with the consequences,” Hazel said. “And the consequences mean that we’re going to be all growly with you, but we still love you.”

Dakota leaned forward. “You’ve been through so much. All of us have. We don’t toss out our family because of a single mistake.”

I shook, my tears still falling. “It’s more than a single mistake,” I countered.

“It’s like youwantto get rid of us,” Paris teased.

“I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m trying not to freak out, but I am. Everything that I thought was the truth is a lie. My parents deliberately pushed Nate away from me. And I loved him, you guys. I loved him more than anything. I thought we were going to be each other’s forevers. As it turns out, he thought the worst of me. And I don’t know how to get past that. And now, he’s constantly in my life, and in yours, and I can’t walk away. Add that to the fact that I still don’t know what to think about losing my grandmother and not being able to say goodbye, and the idea that Nathan and I still have to talk… It’s so much. I need you guys. Help me figure this out. Please.”

“You’re our sister,” Hazel said simply. “We’re always with you. And now, we’re going to help you figure out what to do.”

The tears streamed harder, and I fell into my girls. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” I whispered.

Hazel let out a breath. “But you don’t need to figure it out right now. At this moment, you’re going to eat to soak up some of that wine, and then you’re going to tell us exactly what happened. Slowly. And in detail. And then we’ll decide if we have to kick Nate’s ass or not.”

I laughed and held them each close, marveling at how lucky I was, even after making so many mistakes. But in the end, I knew it wouldn’t be their decisions that brought me to the next step. I needed to take that alone.

But I had no idea where to begin.

Chapter 9

Nate

“Okay,are you going to tell us why you gathered us here today?” Cross asked as he picked up a chip and dipped it into the sour cream and onion dip that Arden had made.

I rubbed my temples and nodded. “Yes, soon. I figured we should eat first.” I paused, my stomach turning. “Or maybe we should skip eating and I’ll just get this over with.”

Prior walked into the dining room, ribs and wings on a platter in front of him before he set them down on the table next to the salads we had set out earlier. He gave me a curious look, and I shook my head, trying to collect my thoughts.

I ran my hand over my face as Macon walked in, his phone in his grip. “Joshua is hanging with his friends tonight. He was texting me photos of a frog they found.” He showed off his phone, and Arden took it, grinning.

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