Page 80 of Beautiful Storm

“Luke.”

He shakes his head and stands before pacing in front of me. “What are we talking about here? Because you know I fucking cared. I—”

“You promised to be myhero, Luke. You said you’d always be there for me and you lied.”

“Are you talking about the fire?”

“No. Yes. I’m talking about all of it.”

“All of it? What else?” He stares at me with wide eyes, confusion marring his features. And I don’t blame him. I’m still harping on about something that happened when we were kids. I should have moved on by now. I thought I had, but I guess I never expected to be so close to Luke again. It’s bringing up bad memories.

“It doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. It was so long ago and—”

“It doesmatter if you’re still thinking about it. So let’s get it all out in the open. Starting with the fire. It’s about time we said our piece."

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Luke

Amelia cringes but nods as she sits straighter in her chair. “The fire. Okay.” She pulls a face and I internally wince, knowing what’s coming. “I guess first up, I want to know why you ran.”

I rub my hands down my face and curse under my breath. While so much has happened between us since our night together at the hotel, if we don’t talk about this, we’ll never move on. “You’re not going to believe it,” I say honestly, huffing out a laugh.

“Try me?”

“Okay.” I release a slow breath and sit up looking at her when I speak, ready to start from the beginning. “I was the one that suggested the dare,” I admit and then pause when her eyes widen. “The original plan was to lock you in the attic alone, but I thought that would be too easy. In hindsight, you probably would have given up sooner.” Amelia nods without saying a word and it’s worse than when she sasses me. I’d much preferher snapping back at me than this new calm demeanor. “I didn’t know being up there would make you panic. I—”

“I know what happened; I was there. But you never told me… Was it your idea to lie about the fire?” she cuts me off, her voice devoid of emotion.

“It was.” I swallow a lump in my throat, holding on to one vital piece of information, still unable to say it out loud. “But it was a joke to scare you. I knew you wouldn’t want to back out of the dare, and I was trying to push you as far as I could. At the time, I wanted to embarrass you.”

“And then shit got real and you ran.”

“I wasn’t expecting the place to actually burn. But when it happened, I panicked. I ran to the police, hoping I could distract them long enough for you and David to escape without getting caught. But it didn’t work.”

Amelia bursts out laughing, but I can tell from her expression that this is anything but funny. “You expect me to believe that you left me to protect me?”

“I’ve done a lot of things to protect you. Is it really that crazy of an idea?” I think back on all the things I’ve done and shake my head. “It’s like no matter what I feel, I can’t fucking stop.”

“So is that what this is? The marriage. It’s you not being able to stop?”

My eyes widen before I shake my head and sit forward.Fuck. “No.” I pause. “Not exactly.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that so much has happened since we were younger and what we’re going through now is much more important. I’m not doing this out of some deep-seated need I have to protect you. I’m doing this because I want to. Because it’s the right thing to do, for you and our baby.”

“Just because you think you’re doing something for the greater good, doesn’t make it right. You know, we barely got out of thefire when you ran. David had to smash a glass door; I couldn’t breathe. I still have breathing issues to this day. I get bronchitis now, because of that fire.”

“Jesus. I'm sorry. I didn't know any of that. But I promise, my way wasn’t any easier. I had to jump off the roof.”

“So did I,” she finally snaps. “The only way out was the second-story balcony. I was terrified.”

“David helped—”

“I wantedyou, Luke. Despite everything we’d been through, I trustedyou. I let you kiss me and then you broke that trust again.”

Fuck. My stomach knots as a wave of guilt takes over me. No, not guilt—regret. She was my childhood best friend and I treated her like shit over the years. All because of my stupid ego. Because I couldn’t handle that she basically ghosted me and then took joy in competing over the years. “I fucked up. I know that. I knew that at the time, but I was so angry at you for getting me arrested that I never bothered explaining. But I've always cared. And that kiss was real. It may not have been real for you, but it was real for me.”

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