Page 52 of Inked Obsession

Benjamin shrugged. “No need to be sorry. We love you. You sounded relaxed on the phone, and we wanted to know how everything went, considering I heard you had a friend there.”

I froze. “Excuse me?” I asked softly.

Lee grinned. “I was talking to my friend who owns the resort, and it seems that he has a friend who has a sister who was also there. Do you want to tell us why you didn’t mention that Eliza was there, too? After you tell us what happened with Brenna, of course.”

I looked at them and then went into the kitchen to get a beer. “I need booze for this.”

“Are we all going to need alcohol for this?” Archer asked.

“All of it. Any booze we can get,” I answered.

“Well, good thing we brought food,” Benjamin said as he set things down on the kitchen island. “What happened?”

I rubbed my temples. “Brenna was just here too, rightly getting on my case for keeping secrets.”

“Told you that you should have told her,” Lee grumbled.

“That’s not very helpful right now, Lee.”

“I still don’t know why you didn’t tell anyone when it happened,” Benjamin said and shrugged when I glared at him.

“It didn’t make sense in my head why I didn’t. I just needed to keep it inside. To work through it. And then it got awkward, and then it got horrible, and here we are. It’s not like I can go back and fix it. I apologize. It’s not enough.”

“I forgive you,” Archer said, and we all looked at him. “What?” he added. “You’re my brother. You’re going through shit. Of course, your brain isn’t going to fire on all synapses. How were you supposed to focus when your life was going off the rails? I totally get you needing to keep things to yourself, and not actually making the correct decisions. You’re not perfect. Nobody is.”

The way he said that made me feel like he was talking about something that had nothing to do with me, but he plowed on.

“I love you. Like a brother.”

Nobody laughed.

Archer cringed. “Well, then, I was trying to make a joke, but that’s apparently not going to work. Anyway… What else did Brenna say?”

“She said that she needs to figure out who she is or something.” I wanted to know more, but I didn’t think I had the right anymore.

“Is something wrong?” Benjamin asked, leaning forward. “What’s going on?”

I let out a breath that was more of a growl. “I don’t know. Brenna’s not telling me something. Just like I didn’t tell her. And now I feel like everything I thought was right when it came to Brenna is completely fucked up, and all I do is make mistakes.”

“Did you have feelings for her beyond friendship?” Lee asked, and I shook my head as the others stared at me.

“No. In fact, both of us have been very clear that we don’t feel that way about each other.”

“You had to make it clear?” Archer asked, a brow raised.

“I did when things got fucked up because I was keeping secrets, and no one knew what those secrets were. I’m trying not to keep any more, but it seems like I have one more set,” I grumbled.

“Let me guess, this has to do with Eliza?” Lee asked.

I cursed.

“Yes.”

“Did you fucking sleep with her?” Benjamin grumbled.

Archer nearly spit out his beer. “Oh my God, that was not something I expected.”

My jaw tensed. “I didn’t even say if I did or not.”

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