Page 110 of The Forever Rule

“I don’t want to grieve him. I want to move on, and I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I guess you aren’t Dad.” Without thinking, I pulled her into a hug, and Isabella stiffened before hugging me back.

“This is weird,” she said after a moment, and I laughed, even though there was barely any humor in it.

“Very. We’re going to have to figure this out, Isabella.”

“I know. I thought we were off to a good start, at least with some things.” She pulled back and cleared her throat. “But I guess there are a lot more potholes out there.”

“I need to figure out how the hell I’m going to grovel.”

She studied my face. “Tell her the truth.”

“If she lets me.” I let out a breath. “If it’s all right with you, I’m going to change, and we can deal with the familythings later. I have a feeling there’s going to be a few more obstacles in our way before we navigate how to live with this new reality.”

“I’m not sure any of us are ready for that. Now go to her and tell her the truth. Blakely is a lot calmer than I am,” she added dryly.

“I’ve noticed that.” I let out a breath. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“Were you going to tell her about the kiss?”

I nodded immediately. “Yes, but I was going to do it in person. That way she could actually see my face. I didn’t realize I had paparazzi.”

She cringed. “Nothing is private anymore. I’ll let myself out. Do good things, Aston. For some reason I believe you can.”

And with that, my sister left, and I quickly changed, not knowing how the hell I was going to fix this. It took the entire car ride to Blakely’s house for me to realize that I had no idea what I was going to do.

I pulled into her driveway and was grateful that the lights seemed to be on in her living room. She was home, hopefully she was awake, and hopefully she would listen.

I knocked quietly on the door not wanting to wake her in case she was actually sleeping, but she opened it quickly, and my breath caught in my throat. Her hair was piled on the top of her head, her eyes swollen, and her pajamas were of the comfy sort. Her cardigan wrapped tightly around her.

“Hi,” I said, my voice cracking.

“What are you doing here, Aston?”

“I’m sorry.”

Blakley tilted her head and gave me a slow blink. “Sorry for kissing your ex-fiancée? For leading me on?”

I shook my head quickly and reached out to her. She took a step back, and I held back the curse. “Meredith kissed me. I did not kiss her at all.” I explained the entire evening, going over every detail, and Blakely stood there, silent.

“I was going to tell you as soon as I got home because I wanted to see your face when I did so you could see my face. I am sorry you found out that way.”

“I want to trust you, I think, but seeing that kiss just threw me for a loop.”

“Honestly, why wouldn’t you believe it? My entire family is drenched in this mess because of cheating, and we’ve spoken of Meredith before, so you understand how she’s like. At least recently. I hope you never have to cross paths.”

Something skittered over her face, and I frowned.

“What is it?”

She sighed and pulled me inside the house, closing and locking the door behind us. “I should probably tell you that one time when we were out to dinner, Meredith cornered me in the bathroom.”

My eyes widened and I moved forward. “What the hell? Did she hurt you?”

She shook her head. “No, but she claimed that you two were meant for each other. I told her that she needed to think better about herself and the choices she made, but I suppose she didn’t take that to heart.”

I ran my hands over my face before moving forward tentatively. “Isabella said I should grovel, and I will.”

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