Chapter 8
ETHAN
She stays.
We spend the day in Denver like normal people. I take her to breakfast at a diner near the hotel. We walk downtown, looking in shop windows we don't care about. She drinks coffee from a place that isn't as good as hers. I hold her hand on the street and don't worry about who might see.
It feels like freedom.
It also feels like borrowed time.
"You're thinking too much," Callie says as we sit on a bench in a small park. "I can see it on your face."
"Just thinking about when we tell Luke."
"We said a few days."
"I know. But I don't want to wait. I don't want to keep lying to him."
She's quiet for a moment. "He gave you his blessing. This shouldn't be that hard."
"It's not about the blessing. It's about the fact that we didn't trust it. That we snuck around anyway."
"We didn't sneak around. We just... delayed telling him."
"Callie. You drove here in the middle of the night. We slept together. And he doesn't know any of it. That's sneaking around."
She pulls her hand from mine. "So what? You want to call him right now? Tell him over the phone?"
"No. But I want to tell him soon. Face to face. Before someone else does."
"Who else would tell him?"
"I don't know. But secrets have a way of getting out."
She stands. Walks a few steps away. Her shoulders are tense.
"You regret this?" she asks without turning around.
"No. I don't regret anything about us. But I do regret lying to the one person who trusted us enough to give us his blessing without us even asking."
She turns to face me. "So we tell him. When you get back. We sit him down and explain everything. He'll understand."
"Will he?"
"You said he was fine with it."
"I said he gave me his blessing. That was before we did exactly what he was worried about. Going behind his back."
Callie crosses her arms. "He wasn't worried about that. He said he trusted you."
"Which makes this worse."
We stare at each other. The park is quiet except for birds and distant traffic. Normal Sunday afternoon. Normal life. Nothing about this feels normal.
"I should go home," she finally says.
"Don't."
"Ethan. If staying makes you feel this guilty, I should just go."
"That's not what I want."
"Then what do you want?"
"I want to stop hiding. Want to be able to see you without feeling like I'm betraying my best friend."
"Then tell him. Call him right now. Get it over with."
I pull out my phone. Stare at Luke's name in my contacts. My thumb hovers over the call button.
"Not over the phone," I say. "He deserves better than that."
"So what? We drive back today? Show up at his door and confess?"
"Maybe."
"Ethan. That's insane. You have work here for another week."
"I can finish remotely. Most of it's done anyway."
"You're going to drive twelve hours because you feel guilty?"
"I'm going to drive twelve hours because it's the right thing to do."
She laughs. It's not a happy sound. "This is exactly what I was afraid of. That the guilt would eat at you until there was nothing left."
"It's not guilt. It's respect. For Luke. For what he means to both of us."
"And what about what this means to us? Does that matter?"
"Of course it matters."
"Then prove it. Stay. Finish your job. Come home when you're supposed to and we'll tell him together. Like adults. Not like teenagers sneaking around."
She's right. I know she's right. But the weight in my chest won't lift.
My phone rings.
We both look at it. Luke's name on the screen.
"Don't answer it," Callie says.
"I have to."
"Ethan."
I swipe to accept. "Hey."
"Hey." Luke sounds tired. "You got a minute?"
"Yeah. What's up?"
"I'm worried about Callie. She drove to Denver last night. Said she needed space. But that's not like her."
My eyes meet Callie's. She's shaking her head. Mouthing don't tell him.
"She seemed fine when I talked to her," I say carefully.
"Did you see her?"
The question hangs there. I could lie. Could say no. Could buy us more time.
"Yeah," I say. "She's here with me."
Silence. Long and heavy.
"She's with you," Luke finally says. His voice is flat.
"Yeah."
"In Denver."
"Yeah."
"And you didn't think to mention this when she called me this morning?"
"Luke—"
"Let me talk to her."
I hand Callie the phone. She takes it like it might explode.
"Hey," she says.
I can't hear Luke's side of the conversation. Can only watch Callie's face as she listens. Her jaw tightens. Her eyes go hard.
"I'm an adult, Luke. I don't need your permission to visit a friend." Pause. "That's not what this is about." Pause. "Fine. Yes. We'll talk when I get home."
She hangs up and hands me the phone.
"He's pissed," she says.
"I know."
"Not about us being together. About us lying to him."
"I know."
"He wants to talk when we get back."
"Yeah. I figured."
She sits back down on the bench. Drops her head into her hands. "This is a mess."
"It's my fault. I should've just told him the truth."
"We both should've."
I sit beside her. Take her hand. She doesn't pull away.
"We can fix this," I tell her.
"Can we? Because right now it feels like everything's falling apart."
"It's not. Luke's just hurt. He'll understand once we explain."
"Will he? Because from where I'm sitting, we just proved him right to worry. We went behind his back exactly like he was afraid we would."
"He said he was fine with us being together."
"And then we lied to him about it. That's different."
She's right. We betrayed Luke's trust. Not by being together, but by hiding it.
"I need to go home," she says. "Tonight. Face this head-on."
"I'm coming with you."
"Ethan—"
"I'm not letting you do this alone. I'll pack. Tell the client I need to finish remotely. We leave in an hour."
"You don't have to do that."
"Yeah, I do."
She looks at me. Really looks at me. "Why?"
"Because you drove twelve hours to be with me. Because I'm done running. Because Luke deserves the truth and I'm not going to make you deliver it alone."
Something in her expression softens. "Okay."
"Okay."
We go back to the hotel. I pack while Callie showers, make calls to the client, and arrange to finish the last week remotely. Everything moves fast. Efficient. No time to second-guess.
By three, we're on the highway heading south. Callie drives her car and I’m right behind her in my truck. It’s going to be a long twelve-hour ride.
"What are we going to say?" she asks once we finally arrive home.
"The truth."
"Which is what exactly?"
"That we have feelings for each other. That we should've told him sooner. That we're sorry for lying."
"You think he'll forgive us?"
"Eventually. He's pissed right now, but he'll get over it."
"How do you know?"
"Because he's my best friend. Because he loves you, and because underneath the anger, he wants us to be happy."
"I hope you're right."
"Me too."
We pull into Hearts Bend just before midnight. The town is dark and quiet. I drive to Luke's house, his truck is in the driveway, and the lights are on inside.
"He's waiting for us," Callie says.
"Yeah."
We sit in my truck for a moment. Neither of us moves to get out.
"Last chance to run," she says.
"I'm done running."
"Me too."
We get out and walk to the door together. I knock. Luke answers within seconds.
He looks between us. His expression is unreadable.
"Come in," he says.
We follow him inside. The house is exactly as I remember. Comfortable. Lived-in. Photos on the walls of Luke and Callie growing up, and photos of their parents before the cancer took their mom.
Luke gestures to the couch. "Sit."
We sit. He remains standing. Arms crossed. Waiting.
"Luke—" I start.
"Let me talk first." His voice is calm. Too calm. "I gave you my blessing. Told you I was fine with you having feelings for my sister, and told you to figure it out. Do you remember that conversation?"
"Yes."
"So explain to me why, instead of coming to me and saying hey, we're together now, I had to find out that Callie drove to Denver in the middle of the night. That you've been lying to me, and that you're doing exactly what I was worried about. Going behind my back."
"We weren't trying to go behind your back," Callie says.
"Then what were you trying to do?"
"We just wanted time. To figure things out before telling you."
"That's called going behind my back, Callie."
"Luke, I'm sorry," I say. "You're right, we should've told you immediately, but I needed time to process what you said. To make sure this was real and not just something we'd both regret."
"And driving to Denver? Was that processing?"
"No. That was me being done with processing."
Luke looks at Callie. "And you? What's your excuse?"
"I don't have one. I wanted to see him, so I drove there. I'm sorry we didn't tell you, but I'm not sorry for going."
"I'm not asking you to be sorry for going. I'm asking you to understand why I'm pissed that you lied to me."
"We understand," I say. "And we're sorry. But Luke, you need to understand something too. We've been fighting this for months. Trying to do the right thing. Trying to respect you. And it's been hell. So, when you gave me your blessing, I didn't know how to process it. Didn't know if you meant it."
"Why wouldn't I mean it?"
"Because she's your sister, and because I'm your best friend. And because people say things they don't mean all the time when they're trying to be supportive."
Luke is quiet for a long moment. When he speaks again, his voice is softer. "I meant it. Every word. You're the only person I'd trust with her. The only one."
"I know. But trusting someone and being okay with them dating your sister are different things."
"Maybe. But I told you I was okay with it. And instead of believing me, you lied."
"We didn't lie. We just... delayed the truth."
"Same thing."
He's right, it is the same thing.
"You're right," I say. "We lied. And I'm sorry. But I'm not sorry for being with Callie. I'm not sorry for wanting her. And I'm not going to apologize for that."
Luke looks at me. Really looks at me. "I'm not asking you to apologize for that. I'm asking you not to lie to me."
"I won't. Not again."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
He turns to Callie. "And you?"
"No more lying," she says. "But Luke, you need to let go. I'm an adult. I make my own choices. And I choose Ethan."
Something in Luke's expression shifts. "Fine, you choose Ethan. Then be with Ethan, but don't lie to me about it."
"We won't," I tell him.
Luke nods slowly. Uncrosses his arms. "Okay. Then I guess we're good."
"Just like that?" Callie asks.
"Just like that. You're both adults. You want to be together. I'm not going to stand in the way. But I am going to hold you to the honesty thing. No more sneaking around. No more lies. We clear?"
"Clear," I say.
"Good." He looks at his watch. "It's almost one. You two should get some sleep. We can talk more tomorrow."
We stand and head for the door. Luke follows.
"Ethan," he says as I'm about to leave.
I turn back.
"Take care of her. That's all I ask."
"I will."
"I know you will. That's why I'm okay with this."
I nod. I don't trust myself to speak.
Callie hugs her brother, they exchange words I don't hear. Then we're outside, walking to my truck.
"That went better than expected," she says.
"Yeah."
"You okay?"
"I think so."
"You think so?"
I stop and turn to face her. "I'm committed to this. To you. To making this work. But I need you to understand something."
"What?"
"I'm not going to lie to Luke again. Not for you, not for anyone. If that's a problem, we need to figure it out now."
She studies my face. "It's not a problem, I don't want to lie to him either."
"Good."
"So what now?"
"Now I take you home. Get some sleep. Tomorrow we figure out what comes next."
"Together?"
"Together."
I drive her to her apartment, and walk her to the door. She unlocks it and turns to face me.
"Stay," she says.
"Your brother just gave us a lecture about honesty."
"I know, but I also know that I don't want to be alone tonight."
I should say no. I should maintain some kind of boundary. And I should do the responsible thing.
"Okay," I say.
We go inside. She locks the door behind us. We don't talk about what happened with Luke. Don't analyze or process. Just go to bed and lie there in the darkness.
"Ethan?" Her voice is quiet.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you, for driving back with me. For facing Luke. For all of it."
"You don't have to thank me."
"I know. But I want to."
I pull her closer. She fits against me perfectly. "We're going to be okay."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
She falls asleep in my arms. I lie there awake, thinking about everything that's changed. Everything that's still the same.
I'm in love with Callie Reyes. I'm committed to making this work. And I'm done running.
Whatever comes next, we'll face it together.
No more secrets. No more lies. No more hiding.
Just us. Finally.
And that's enough.