Page 108 of Beach Vibes

Beth waited until they were led to the table to start pacing again. She anxiously watched the door, then lunged for her brother when he walked in.

“There you are. Why didn’t you call me back?”

He stared at her. “What’s wrong with you?”

She grabbed his arm and led him outside. “I left you messages and texts. You could have gotten back to me.”

She led the way to the side of the building and glared at him. “Dammit, Rick.” Tears burned. “You lied to me.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why are you upset? Do you have your period?”

The verbal dismissal made her want to slug him. Instead she poked him in the chest and glared at him. “You don’t even have to try to be an asshole, do you? It just kind of comes naturally. Galaxy stopped by today.”

Under any other circumstances, his look of surprise would have been comical. He blinked several times, then took a step back.

“Galaxy?”

“Yes. You remember her, don’t you? The two of you have been going out for nine months!” She had to consciously lower her voice. “You lied about all of it. You’re not cheating on Jana, you’re cheatingwithher. Galaxy thinks you’re in love, but that can’t possibly be true, because that would require you to havea heart, and you obviously don’t. You lied to everyone, including me.”

“Stop saying that,” he told her, then glanced over his shoulder. “Who I’m seeing shouldn’t matter to you.”

“What?” Her voice was practically a yelp. “Not matter? Jana’s my best friend. She matters to me, and you’re hurting her. Teddy’s her brother. I’m dating the brother of the woman you’re cheating on.”

“I told you to stop seeing him,” he said, his voice low and angry. “You should have listened.”

She couldn’t believe it. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say? I kept your secret because I believed your song and dance about making a mistake before. But none of it was true. You were playing me.”

His glare was cold. “You make it so easy.”

It was as if he’d slapped her. She inhaled sharply and stared at the man she thought she knew. But there was no familiar Rick in his angry expression—he wasn’t anyone she recognized at all.

“I don’t get the game,” she told him, “but I’m no longer taking part in it. Either you tell Jana the truth or I do.”

He grabbed her arm, his fingers biting into her skin. “The hell you will.”

“Unless you plan to physically lock me up, you can’t stop me. You’ve been cheating with Jana since the first day you asked her out. She deserves to know the truth. Man up, Rick. Or is that too much to ask?”

“Beth?”

Her body froze, but that wasn’t enough to block out the horror of looking up and seeing Teddy standing there. At first he looked confused, but then his face tightened as if he were grasping what he’d overheard.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

And just like that it was done, she thought sadly. All her hopes, all her dreams—they were gone. There was no recoveryfrom what had happened or her part in it. The pain was physical, nearly stealing her breath. Still she forced herself to move toward him. No matter what, she was going to tell the truth.

“Don’t,” Rick commanded.

She ignored him and stopped in front of Teddy. “Rick’s been seeing someone else the whole time he’s been dating Jana. I didn’t know until a few weeks ago when I saw them together. I confronted him, and he promised he would end things with Galaxy. He swore it was over, and I believed him. He allowed me to think that Jana was the girlfriend and Galaxy was the one he was cheating with. But it was the other way around. I found out when she came to see me today and told me everything. He and Galaxy have been going out for nine months. He never broke up with her. She says they’re in love.”

She saw Rick turn and walk away, then returned her attention to Teddy.

“I swear Rick told me they’d broken up, and I believed him. He said he’d made a terrible mistake and Jana was the one.”

Teddy was right there in front of her, listening intently, but to her it felt like he was a million miles away. She couldn’t say exactly why. It was probably something in the way he was standing or how he looked at her. But with every word, he grew more and more out of reach.

“So you didn’t tell,” he said quietly. “You kept it to yourself. You came into my house, played with my children, slept in my bed, and all the while you were lying to me and hurting my sister.”

She felt tears on her cheeks but ignored them. “I thought it would be all right. I thought Rick cared about Jana. She’s my friend. I would never do anything bad to her.”

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