Page 95 of Groomsman to Groom

“That’s not happening,” Hayes says simply.

“But this week’s Lock & Key ceremony—”

“Was already filmed.” His eyes hold mine, unflinching. “And I didn’t give out any keys.”

“You what?”

“No one got keys, Brielle.” His voice softens. “I couldn’t. Not when I was still in love with you.”

My heart performs a gymnastics routine in my chest. But I’ve been here before. I’ve heard Hayes say beautiful things and then watched him send me home, anyway. “You eliminated me,” I remind him, hating the tremor in my voice. “After telling me that before. You looked me in the eye and chose someone else.”

“I know.” Agony flashes across his face. “I had to.”

“Why?” I finally get to ask the question that’s haunted me for days. “Why did you do it?”

Hayes takes a deep breath, his gaze dropping to the weathered boards of the deck. “After the wine incident, Darren called me in for a meeting. He told me they were going to air everything—the beach footage, the photo, Luna’s accusations, all of it. As you would say, it’d be ‘ratings gold.’”

A cold weight settles in my stomach. “So it was about the scandal.”

“Yes. Darren offered me a deal—he’d bury the footage if I eliminated you that night.”

I gasp. “He was going toairthat? That would put his own ass on the line.”

“Yeah.” Hayes sighs, explaining everything to me. Darren told the network that the photo was leaked, so they wanted toair the footage to get ahead of the scandal. Plus, it was so juicy, it was a risk they wanted to take. But that, in the end, it wasn’t leaked at all. Darren had paid the family for it and then gave it to Luna. Then Skye roasted him for it with an affidavit and everything.Go, Skye!

Hayes looks up, his eyes haunted. “I wanted to protect you, your professional reputation. And with you staying, you’d be in hell since the other women had turned against you. Social media would be brutal.”

I blink, fighting to process it all. “You’re right—if Darren had aired that with edited footage that made me the lying, conniving villain, it would’ve had massive implications on me and my career.”

“Yes.” Hayes steps closer, close enough that I can see the flecks of gold in his eyes, smell the faint pine scent clinging to his clothes. “And August too. Darren threatened to edit the footage so I looked like I was playing favorites from day one, that the whole journey was rigged.”

The manipulation is so obvious in retrospect, but I understand how it would have worked on Hayes—the devoted father, the widower still carrying guilt about his wife’s death.

“So you sent me home to protect your son,” I say, softening slightly. “And me.”

“Yes..”

Something lifts from my chest. “So you didn’t send me home because of my sister?”

“Couldn’t be further from the truth,” he says earnestly. “But Brielle, there’s something else you need to know. About me, before Tyler comes out with the camera on.”

“Okay.” I wait, steeling myself against whatever revelation is coming.

“When Sarah died,” he begins, his voice tight with emotion, “it was because she was picking August up from T-ball practice,as you know. But what you don’t know is that the pickup was something I was supposed to do but couldn’t because of a last-minute photography gig. A big client, good money, and something I thought I couldn’t pass up.” His eyes shine with unshed tears. “She called me, said she’d handle it. She always handled it when I couldn’t make it, which was too often. And on the way, a drunk driver ran a red light and hit her car.”

“Hayes,” I whisper, my anger dissolving in the face of his pain.

“After that, I made a vow. I’d never again put anything ahead of those I loved. That I wouldn’t let them down.” His voice cracks. “Then, with you, I was forced to let you down. Again, I did itagain. And it’s been killing me inside.”

I understand now—the weight he’s been carrying, the impossible choice he faced. “But you did it to protect me. To protect August. Thatwasputting us first. Now that I know why you did what you did, I’d ask you to do the same thing, all over again.”

“Really?” A sparkle returns to his eye.

“Of course I would. In an impossible situation, you put us first. Above your own wants and desires.”

“Only you.” He smiles.

“Only me what?”

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