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I was supposed to arrive on Friday for Claire and Ben’s wedding on Saturday, but when Deacon offered to fly me out early, I couldn’t resist.

“Yeah, okay, but I’m still a little confused.” She looks at Deacon for answers.

“I picked her up from the airport this morning. I think it would be good for you and her to have time totalk.” He put emphasis on the wordtalk.

“Deacon, can I have a word with you in private?” she asks in a not-too-pleased tone.

“Well, babe, actually…I was just heading out the door. Pauly called, and he needs some help with a few things. Vic is working right now, and he can’t do them by himself.”

He leans in toward Cam and whispers something in her ear before he kisses her head. “I love you,” he says against her ear before pulling away and turning toward me. “See you in a few hours, Lexi.”

She watches him as he leaves and then twists to face me. “So what is this all about?”

“Deacon paid to get my butt out here early. He said it would do us good to have time to talk about some stuff. What do we have to talk about?”

Cam audibly exhales and sits on the couch. She drops her head in her hands. “This sucks.”

“What sucks? Now, I’m the confused one.”

Sighing, she raises her head and catches me in her stare. “Lex, what do you see when you look at me?”

“Um…what kind of question is that?” I ask, confused at the question.

“It's exactly as it sounds. When you look at me, what do you see?”

“Okay…” My lips pout into a frown, turning down at the edges. “I guess I'll play along. When I look at you, I see Cam, my best friend.”

“You still think we're best friends?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because we have nothing in common anymore.”

I laugh. “Cam, we never had anything in common from day one.” I shake my head with a grin, thinking back over the years I’ve known and loved Cam. “But that’s what made us great. You know—yin and yang. Why would I want a friend identical to myself? That would be plain boring. Well, not boring really because I'm so not boring.” I laugh at myself. “Annoying, I guess. It would be annoying if you were just like me.”

“Okay, well, when I look at you, I see regret, selfishness, and betrayal.”

My eyes go wide, and I flinch at her words.What is she talking about?

“Let me explain,” she says.

“Uh…yeah, please do. Because right now, you sound like a total bitch.” My words come out harsher than anticipated, but seriously…wtf?

“Remember Mexico during our senior year?”

Obviously.Cam and I went to Mexico for our senior spring break trip.

“Well, do you remember that first night when you ran into what’s-his-face as soon as we got to the club, and you left me?”

“Gage, and yes,” I recall my high school crush.

She takes a deep breath. “After you left me to go back to Gage’s room, I was going to leave, but I was sad that I had to go so soon. I decided to finish my one drink at the bar while enjoying the scene a little before I went back to the room. While I was there, this hot college guy started talking to me. He seemed so nice. One thing led to another, and I ended up spending the evening with him and his friends, drinking and dancing.”

“You never told me that,” I say.

“Yeah, well, there's more. So it started getting late, and the guy—Alec was his name—told me that they were having an after-party at the hotel and that tons of people would be there. He invited me to come. I was having such a great time, and I wasn’t ready for the night to end. A party sounded so exciting. I never did anything spontaneous and fun back then unless it was with you, so I was feeling adventurous on our first night of spring break. I agreed and went back to the hotel with them. When I stepped into the room, I immediately knew something was wrong.”

My heart starts to race as she continues, and I lean forward in the chair.

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