Page 94 of Love Me, I Dare You

Though Jase doesn’t get the chance to reply before he’s interrupted. “Nash, what the hell is this?” This time it’s Bailey who appears before us, mortified by the scene I’m causing in her place of work.

My heartbeat feels like a thunderous drum in my ears, echoing a truth I had to have been blind not to see. Her hand falls against my shoulder, gently tugging me in her direction, and I can see the moment realization appears in Jase’s eyes.

“You are one to fucking talk, Nash,” Jase answers. “Fucking my sister right in front of my eyes. I guess it’s my fault right, I’m the one who nearly forced you to live with her.”

I can’t help the laugh that leaves me, though I’m in no mood for laughter. It’s delirium which has me laughing like a madman at the absurdity of what’s unfolding before us.

I nod, incredulous. “Yeah, it never made any sense to me. I figured it was a test. Trying to prove my loyalty and whatnot, but now it makes so much sense. Your guilt is what drove you to make a mockery of all of us.”

My words hang in the air, heavy with the weight of his revelation. As if a veil has been lifted, exposing the raw reality beneath. One we all foolishly thought could be easily ignored. This is exactly what I feared, the reason I knew Bailey and I were a bad idea.

Bailey comes to my defense, clearly not aware of everything that’s going on. “Jase, it’s not that simple. Nash isn’t the only one to blame for our relationship, okay? We’re adults. We can decideif we want to be together, even if it bruises your ego about some false pact he broke by dating his best friend’s sister.”

“The same pact you chose to break, for what? To get back at me?” My words are harsh, but at the moment I have no desire to filter out my rage.

“Nash, what the hell are you talking about?” Bailey asks her brother, and Jase opens his mouth to respond, but I cut him off, my voice rising despite the crowd forming around us.

I don’t turn to Bailey, keeping my gaze locked on my best friend. “I’m talking about the fact that Monroe is pregnant with Jase’s baby. That your brother fucked my sister because I fucked you.” The moment the words leave my lips, I know I fucked up, but like everything else in my life, I have no control over it.

“We should take this somewhere more private,” Monty suggests, though I’m baffled by his composure.

Of course, he’s the oldest, wisest, and levelheaded of the bunch, but this is our little sister, his most prized possession. Monroe is like a daughter to him and here he is, facing the man who got her pregnant and is planning to leave her to face all of this alone, and somehow his fist isn’t shoved into her deserving face.

Beside me, I can sense Bailey’s anger. She’s fuming as she pushes against my chest. Her palms are small against my broad chest, yet she uses all the pent up tension inside her to make me falter back slightly.

“Fuck you, Nash,” she cries out. “Don’t try to belittle what happened between them the way you did with us.”

I reach for her, placing a hand above hers against my chest, but she pulls away, tears brimming in her eyes at my harsh tone.

Monroe wraps an arm around Bailey, the two best friends embracing as tears stream down Monroe’s face as her gaze flicks back and forth between Jase and I. “No, don't worry, B. Jameson took care of doing that all on his own.”

Jase’s brows furrow, helplessness flashing in his blue eyes. “Monroe, please,” he pleads, reaching for her, but I don’t let him get near her.

I push him back, my fist aching to do so much more, but I’ll be the only one affected by that. “Don’t you fucking touch her? You’ve done enough.”

Jase scoffs, laughter echoing in the open walls around us as anger vibrates within him. “You were gone for ten years. You hurt her on purpose for so long, and you think I’m the villain here?”

This has gotten way too outta control, but there’s no stopping the truths that are about to come out. Bailey asked me if I ever was going to talk about the reason I left town ten years ago, well there is no time like the present.

The sky is completely dark now, only the bright lights around us illuminating us in a spotlight for all the spectators to witness the unraveling of our family legacies. “You wanna talk about that, Jase? Since we’re all gathered here reminiscing about the past. Wanna tell them why I left?”

“What is he talking about, Jase?” Bailey snaps, her eyes shot wide as tears threaten to come out. This is it. The truth she’s been so eager to discover will finally be brought to light.

Silence hangs heavy in the air, the weight of our unresolved issues crackling like electricity. It’s clear we’re at a crossroads, and the path forward is going to require every single truth to be revealed before we can move on.

“Nothing. Just another lie, I’m sure.” I have to give it to Jase for not cowering down in all this. He never was the brave one, but I never expected him to be a coward.

“You're telling me you forgot how you told me to leave? Wait, I mean threatened with telling your daddy about what you saw that night Bailey snuck out of my room?”

His blue eyes have never looked so angry, not even the night he caught me with Bailey had I sensed such hatred from my so-called best friend. I’d betrayed him, but he’d done me so much worse. Gaslighting me into thinking I was the one who’d fucked up, the only one to blame, only to do this all behind my back to what, enact some form of karma?

I ought to praise him for how eager he is to fight back. Jase was always a lover, not a fighter, except the time three years ago when he found me in a bar in Tennessee. He may have gotten all the fight out of him then, but now it’s my turn. “You used my pitiful threat as an excuse to leave because you wanted to, Nash. You could have fought back, but you didn’t. You took the coward's way out and left.”

“Like you’re trying to do, leaving Monroe to fend for herself,” I shoot back. My brothers take a step forward, sensing this fight is about to get physical.

“I’m doing no such thing. I told Monroe I would be there for her and the baby. She’s the one who wants nothing to do with me.” He nods slowly, a mix of understanding and shame etched in his features.

“Yeah, well, I’m not surprised.”

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