Page 58 of Wine & Whiskey
She looks from him to Shae, her mouth downturned as her brow furrows. “Okay, let me talk to Nathan. If he doesn’t go too ballistic, I’ll do it.”
Shae wraps her arm around her friend and lays her head against her shoulder. “Thank you. I know this is unfair to you, but it will be good, I swear.”
“Yes, living at a gorgeous house on the beach with a huge pool is awful. You’re really asking too much, but somehow I’ll power through.”
“Let me get my stuff, and then I’ll help you pack.”
He rubs Shae’s back, nodding toward the hallway. “I’ll be there in just minute, sweetness.” Once she walks out of the room, he turns back to her friend. “Thanks for doing this. I know you don’t really want to, but she needs you.”
“Listen, I don’t mean to be a bitch, but this is fucked up.” She rubs her crossed arms, as if trying to calm her anxiety. “I’ll do anything for Shae, and I can’t let her go through this alone. But all of this scares the shit out of me, and it’s really going to piss off Jason and Nathan. I keep having to defend you to them. If anything else happens, I don’t know if I can keep doing it.”
At least she’s honest and confirms what he suspects. Her support is precarious at best. He can’t fuck this up. “I’m sorry you’ve had to do that.”
She bends over and gathers up the magazines, putting them into a neat stack and setting them on the bedside table. The only order in a seemingly tornado-ravaged room, signaling her worry. “Yeah, well, I do it for her because I love her, and she loves you. That’s what best friends do.”
His heart races. Carrie holds the answer to the mystery he’s never been able to figure out. “How do you know?”
“How do I know what?”
“That she loves me. She never says it.”
Carrie blows out a long breath. “Shit. I shouldn’t be talking about this with you.”
“Please tell me. I have to know.”
She coils her hair around the back of her neck, shaking her head, fighting with herself. He forces himself to keep quiet, not say anything to make himself the loser of her internal battle. “Her mom…had some issues. She’s the reason Shae and Evan broke up. Right after she told Evan she loved him, Jackie went berserk and gave her an ultimatum. Her or Evan. Of course, she chose her mom. When she told Evan it was over, he was really hurt and said some things he shouldn’t have.”
Fucking bastard. Heat creeps up his neck and face, his jaw aching from his clenching teeth. “What did he say?”
“That her mom was crazy, and if Shae really loved him, she would choose him. He threw it back in her face she said she loved him and then broke up with him.”
The image of her being talked to like that makes his chest pound, providing a concrete reason to despise this motherfucker beyond just his jealousy of him being Shae’s first love. “Son of a bitch.”
She shakes her head. “Evan’s a good guy. He was devastated. He wanted to marry her, and she broke his heart. He tried to make it up to her, begged her to forgive him, called tons of times, sent flowers, but she never got over it.”
He drives his hand through his hair, trying to keep his temper in check. This bastard’s vindictiveness stands between him and Shae, keeping her from letting him in completely. “If she doesn’t tell me she loves me, then she thinks she can’t hurt me.”
“Something like that. All this with her mom and Evan really messed with her head. She doesn’t trust herself, or anyone else.”
“Except you.”
Her eyes widen as she meets his. “I’ll never make her choose. I wouldn’t do that to her, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“No, I wasn’t. But, if you did, I would step aside. She’d be better off with you than me, anyway.” A commitment to himself as well as to Carrie. After what he’s put Shae through, he’ll always do what’s best for her, even if it kills him.
“You really love her, don’t you?”
More than anything or anyone, including himself. “Yes.”
“Then make sure nothing else happens, or I won’t be able to stop Jason and Nathan from trying to get her to end things with you.” She picks up her phone. “I’d better call Nathan.”
