Chapter 13 #2
“Listen, Wren. It’s a shit situation. I understand why you did what you did, but I’m just pissed about it, I guess. You should have come to me.”
“You’re right. I should have known you well enough to know that you wouldn’t do that to me.
I don’t know why sometimes it’s easier to believe the bad than the good.
” She shrugged. “And I have had a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that my brother would lie to me like this. That he would do this to me. To us. Knowing how close we were, even before that night, you know? You were my person. My best friend. And I should have come to you instead of shutting down.”
I ran a hand down my face. “Listen, we’d just spent the night together after years of friendship. We were both nervous about doing anything that could affect our friendship. And then all hell broke loose with your brother and Emerson, which had emotions running high for everyone.”
“And then he filled my head with a bunch of lies, and I believed them.” She shook her head.
“Collin can be an asshole, I’m the first to admit it—but this is different.
This is deceitful and manipulative. I wouldn’t have ever thought him capable of being this evil.
But it’s on me that I didn’t give you the chance to defend yourself.
That I spent two years feeling betrayed by the person I’d always trusted most. I wish I could go back and change the way I handled things. ”
“I get it, Wren. He’s your brother.”
“And you’re my best friend. I messed up,” she said.
“I think the reason I believed it was because he said that you’d told him about my father’s affair.
You and my mother were the only ones who I talked to about it.
So in that moment, it felt like betrayal.
Like a gut punch. And then when he said that you were making out with Megan Wilson, and that you left with her—I just thought you had turned your back on me.
He definitely knew how to manipulate the situation.
It’s appalling and disturbing all at the same time. ”
“How do you think he knew about your dad’s affair?”
She sighed. “I spoke to him yesterday, and we had it out. He admitted everything. Apparently my father had confided in Collin all those years ago when it happened. They were aware that I’d gone to stay with you at school, so Collin knew that I’d shared it with you.
He just never brought it up to me, and even after I told my mother everything, neither of us spoke to Collin about it.
He was away at school during that time. I thought I was protecting him by not telling him what happened, and he’d known all along and never said a word. ”
I nodded. “He knew the whole fucking time and then used it against you when he was angry.”
“Yeah. How messed up is that?”
“And that bullshit about me going home with Megan Wilson that night. Did he own up to that lie, too?”
She nodded as she ran her fingers over the blades of grass beside the blanket. “Yep. He said that he was angry about what had happened with Emerson, and he felt like everyone was against him at the time.”
I laughed. “He fucked his fiancée’s maid of honor a few weeks before their wedding, and he’s mad that everyone is upset about it?”
“I know.” She shrugged. “He said that he wasn’t in a good place, and he’d been really hungover that following day when he’d said those things to me, and basically, he wanted someone on his side. And obviously, the best way to assure that was to put a wedge between us.”
“And during the two years that followed, when we didn’t speak, all based on lies that he told, he didn’t think about telling you the truth?”
“Well, I mean, he handled the sale of Wrax and then pretended that he was trying to find him for me. So my brother is clearly more manipulative than I could have even imagined. I don’t know him. Maybe I never have. What does that say about me?”
“Listen, Emerson is one of the smartest people I know, and she was manipulated by him as well. He’s clearly very good at pretending to be someone and something that he’s not.” I couldn’t hold that against Wren. Hell, even I wouldn’t have thought the dude capable of this.
“Yeah. I have come to learn that you can love someone and not like them at the same time. My brother is a selfish narcissist. He’s not going to change, and I’m going to have boundaries with him moving forward.”
“I think that’s wise,” I said before taking the last bite of my sandwich.
“I guess our wild night really bit us in the ass, huh?” she said, but her laugh was forced. “I told you it would mess everything up if we went there.”
“I don’t think us spending the night together messed everything up. That was all your brother’s doing.”
She popped a few chips in her mouth and thought it over. “True. And you’re my best friend, Axel. I know my actions almost cost us everything, so I’m here to repair our relationship in any way you are willing to.”
“I’m glad you’re back in my life, but we both know that you’re not staying, so there’s no sense complicating things,” I said, and she let out a loud sigh and nodded. “Let’s focus on our friendship. It’s where it all started, right?”
“In a heartbeat,” she whispered, her eyes wet with emotion as she blinked a few times.
“Always. And I need to know that you trust me again, Wren. Because that’s more important than anything.
More important than intimacy, or sex, or any of that bullshit.
Our friendship is deeper than all of that, and you need to know that you can say whatever the fuck you want to me, and you will always be safe with me. ”
“I do know that, Axel.” She placed a hand on her heart. “I just got lost for a little while.”
“It’s all right. We found our way back to one another, and we’re going to be just fine.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” I leaned back on my elbows and stretched out my legs.
“Did you really wait a year before you had sex?” She chuckled, but her cheeks pinked, which told me she was nervous. “I mean, I know how much you enjoy sex. I had to hear all about it through your entire hormonal teenage years and beyond.”
I balled up my napkin and tossed it at her. “You used to love talking about sex. I was like your sex ed teacher when we were growing up. Telling you all my little tricks and secrets.”
She burst into a full-bodied laugh. “I was a late bloomer, no doubt about it. Of course I had to live vicariously through my playboy bestie’s escapades.”
“Happy to oblige.”
“So… are you going to answer the question?” she pressed.
“Yeah, Wren. I waited a year. Then I got drunk and forced myself out of my slump with a tourist who was just looking for a good time,” I admitted, because I’d always been able to say anything to her.
“That’s a long time to go without.”
“Well, I’d waited a long time to be with you, and it wasn’t easy to move past it,” I said as my gaze locked with hers, because it was the truth. “What about you. Did you run back to your horse boy?”
I knew he hadn’t been happy about their breakup, so I’d always assumed he’d be waiting in the wings for her.
“No. Ryan and I are just good friends. And if you remember, our fights were mostly about the fact that he was convinced I was in love with my best friend.”
Hearing those words from her still caused my chest to tighten, even two years later.
“Yeah? So how long did you wait? I mean, you thought I betrayed you that next night, so I won’t be offended that you didn’t wait long.” I chuckled. “We’ve both moved on. It never should have happened anyway, right?”
She leaned back and looked up at the sky. The sun was shining down on her golden skin, and a little bit of her lace bra was peeking out of her button-up, which dipped down low enough to show the swell of her breasts.
She was avoiding the question, and there could only be one reason for that.
She’d obviously moved on quickly.
“Wow. That bad, huh?” I laughed. “Maybe it’s best you don’t tell me.”
I thought she would laugh. Hell, I understood it. She’d thought I’d taken a woman home the night after we’d been together.
But her head straightened, and she looked me dead in the eyes. “I haven’t been with anyone since you. I mean, sure, I’ve gone on dates and kissed a few guys. But I was busy training, so it’s not like I was out there looking for a roll in the hay with some random dude.”
Mic drop.
We were both quiet as we stared at one another. “Damn, woman. I tell you I waited a year, and you double down and tell me you waited two years. You always did love to beat me.”
She chuckled. “I do love to win, Cowboy.”
But her smile was forced.
And so was mine.
Because neither one of us had forgotten about that night we’d spent together.