Page 59 of Bitter Truths

“Griff? Oh good, you’re speaking to him then?”

“Sort of,” I say, avoiding his gaze. Why I care what my douche brother thinks is beyond me, but whatever.

“Hals! You have to hear him out,” Max says, and I raise my hand, but he bulldozes right over me. “Listen, I knew . . .. When I saw how this was going to go down, I convinced him you fucked Bobby Moore. He was devastated, but I saw how tortured he was, and every time I sensed him going soft, I told him another lie. Remember when he fucked your friend?”

Nodding, I grimace because this was after the first time I confessed my feelings, and his punishment was fucking my only friend.

“I told him I caught you fucking Darius Banks.”

“Max,” I whisper.

“I’m not done,” he says grimly. “When he took that chick and fucked her near the treehouse, what was her name?”

“Mandy,” I mutter.

“Yeah, I told him you torched all those drawings you had of him.”

“You knew about those?”

“Yes,” he says quietly. “Hals?”

“Yeah?” My stomach is a ball of dread, and I’m not sure I’m ready for whatever else he plans on confessing.

“When he told off Jason? Um,” he says, swallowing nervously, “I told him you were playing him because Kiera Langford told you he still liked you, and you decided to get even.”

Covering my face, I tamp down the rage boiling in my veins because I need to keep my shit together, but it’s a near fucking miss. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“It didn’t have to. I nailed him where it hurt every time,” he says softly.

“You’re a fucking psychopath!”

Nodding miserably, he drops his eyes to the carpet. “I’m sorry. I am. I fucked up so bad. I was such a jerk. I was jealous. I was angry about the adoption shit. I took it out on you. I don’t even know why. But it was like when Griffin came, I disappeared. He loved you more, but even worse, you loved each other, and I was on the outside.”

Staring at him sadly, I acknowledge his words because it’s true. At some point, we couldn’t see past each other, and Max was left out in the cold. Not that it makes what he did right, but fuck.

“Look.” He sighs. “I pushed and pushed until Griffin couldn’t see past it.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“I made sure he would never come back to you because every time he wavered, I fed him more lies.”

“Jesus, Max,” I say helplessly.

“I know. I don’t blame Griff for hating me. I made him believe the most disgusting things. And I don’t blame you if you hate me too.”

“I’m not entirely sure how to feel,” I mutter, “but considering how much damage you’ve done, I’d say you owe me.”

“What?” he says slowly, looking me over with wide, wary eyes.

Smiling brutally, I ignore his expression because he owes me. The fucker.

“Tell me about Jason. Is he out about, well, being bisexual?”

Max’s brows furrow. “I don’t think he identifies as bisexual any more than I do.”

“How does that even work?”

“Well, I don’t like all guys,” Max says, shifting uncomfortably, “just Griffin.”

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