Page 52 of Unmasked

“Yeah, I feel like I still have an indent in my head from that damn pip,” Imogen said drily.

Corinna laughed. “How could we forget it? We had that slip-and-slide thing in the backyard and you decided to take the cat on it.”

“I did!” A heartfelt laugh burst from Lainey’s lips. “She scratched the hell out of my arm and wouldn’t go near me for months. We were so stupid back then.”

“We?” Imogen asked in mock indignation. “Speak for yourself. I knew that was a bad idea at the time and told you as much. You were too busy trying to impress Damian and his mates.”

“Not his mates,” she said with a sigh. Worry coiled tight inside her. She’d never seriously admitted to her feelings in front of Corinna before. All the previous times she’d covered the words with bluster and exaggeration. “Just him.”

Guilt gnawed at her. This was the only thing she’d ever kept from Corinna, without at least having the intention to fess up at a later date. How had she thought it possible to walk away and act like none of it ever happened—the ball, the weekend with Damian? Dragging Imogen into her lies?

“I told him once to stay away from you,” Corinna said, wrapping an arm around Lainey’s shoulder. “After the divorce. I said if he ruined our friendship I’d never forgive him.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I don’t think he took me too seriously. But I saw how he looked at you then.” Corinna sighed. “And I was jealous. You two always had this spark and I knew you had a crush on him and, well, all the boys had crushes on you. Ever since we were teenagers.”

“They did not.” She rolled her eyes.

“That summer you dyed your hair white-blond and got your braces off, I don’t think I’ve ever been more jealous. Everyone looked at you, and I was still in my ugly duckling phase.” She adjusted the glasses on her nose. “After he split with Jenny, I caught Damian watching you when you came over for a swim, and I was furious. It was so stupid, but I wanted someone to look at me like that. In hindsight, I wish he’d ended up with you instead of her.”

“I slept with him.” Lainey blurted the words out, unable to carry the guilt a second longer. Then the fear of knowing she’d crossed a line whipped through her—confessions could never be taken back.

Corinna sat up straighter and snapped her head toward Lainey. “When?”

Imogen bit down on her lip, her eyes swinging back and forth between her friends. But she didn’t say a word.

“Recently.” Lainey swallowed. “I had it in my head that since I was leaving...”

“It might be your last chance?”

“Yeah.”

Corinna’s expression was hard to read, but she didn’t look as though she were about to fly off the handle. “And you’re still leaving?”

“Sex doesn’t change that.” She waited for Corinna to make her usual fake-disgusted reaction, but her best friend was uncharacteristically serious.

“Is that all it was?”

“Do you even want to be talking about this? It’s your brother.” The tears prickled her eyes again, and Lainey tipped her face upward, begging them to stop. “I know how you feel about something happening between us. I thought you’d be furious.”

“It’s not like I didn’t see it coming a mile away.” She brushed her thumb over the photo. “Honestly, I thought one of you would have caved earlier than this.”

“You’re really not mad at me?” Lainey asked.

Corinna shook her head. “Like I said, there’s always been something between you two. And I know now that sometimes you can’t help who you fall for. Joe wasn’t the man I thought I would end up with.”

“You seem so perfect together.”

“We are, but I had it in my head that I’d marry some ambitious lawyer type. A career guy who wanted the great Aussie dream.” She shrugged. “Instead I met a schoolteacher who wants to move to the beach and have a veggie garden and a couple of chickens...and I couldn’t be happier.”

“You two are total opposites.” A strange expression washed over Imogen’s face. “It’s nice. Balanced.”

The pressure slowly eased out of Lainey’s chest. Keeping secrets from Corinna had been weighing her down, forcing the spring out of her step. But worse still was the growing fear that running away to London would do nothing to ease the ache in her chest. That no matter how many continents and oceans she put between them, Lainey would never be over Damian.

“He didn’t treat you badly, did he?” Corinna picked at a frayed patch on Lainey’s carpet. “I know he doesn’t mean to be a dick, but he hasn’t been himself the last few years. Sometimes I feel like I don’t even recognise him anymore.”

“He was great,” she said. “Treated me like I was special even though I’m not.”

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