Chapter 28 The Truth
The Truth
Cole
I notice Sirus through the restaurant window first, striding past with his brows pulled together in a way that screams something’s wrong. The easy conversation at our table fades into background noise as unease settles in my chest.
“I’ll be right back,” I mutter, pushing back my chair.
The cold air hits me as I step outside, and I scan the street until I spot them. Sirus’s standing a few feet behind what looks like some kind of standoff, and my stomach drops when I realize who’s involved.
Liam’s positioned a few feet away from Harper, eyes locked on hers with an intensity I’ve never seen from him—not even in the middle of a game when everything’s on the line.
There’s something electric and dangerous in the air between them, like they’re having a conversation the rest of us can’t hear.
Maddie’s nearby, arms crossed, looking between them like she’s guarding a live grenade that could explode at any second.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
I step closer, confusion knotting my stomach.
The air between Harper and Liam is thick, suffocating, like there’s no oxygen left for anyone else to breathe.
Harper’s eyes flick toward me for just a second, then snap back to Liam’s face, and that’s when my chest starts to tighten with something I don’t want to name.
“What’s going on?” I ask again, keeping my voice steady despite the alarm bells going off in my head.
Liam’s gaze doesn’t leave Harper. His jaw flexes, and I can see the muscle jumping under his skin.
“Are you going to tell him?” Liam says, his voice sharp enough to cut through the night air.
My pulse stutters. “Tell me what?”
Liam finally looks at me, and there’s something like fury and regret tangled together in his expression. Something that makes my blood run cold.
“She’s Trouble,” he says, and the nickname hits me like a slap to the face.
My brain immediately flashes to every conversation we’ve had over the past few weeks. Every time Liam mentioned his mystery girl, every description that suddenly makes terrible sense. Smart as hell. Mouthy in the best way. Way too good in bed to be completely sane.
“She’s your Trouble?” I ask, the words feeling thick and foreign in my mouth. The realization is settling like a rock in my stomach, but I need to hear it confirmed. Need someone to tell me I’m wrong, that this is some kind of sick joke.
But nobody says anything.
I turn to Harper, searching her face for denial, for explanation, for anything that would make this make sense. “Is that true? You’ve been sleeping with him this entire time?”
Harper’s lips part like she’s going to speak, but no words come. Just that guilty silence that twists my stomach into knots and confirms everything I don’t want to believe.
“This is all my fault,” Maddie blurts suddenly, stepping between us with her hands raised like she’s trying to stop a fight. “Cole, this is my fault.”
My eyes snap to her. “What?”
“When I found out Liam took her home from that party, I told her she needed someone... sensible. Someone stable.” The words rush out of her like she’s been holding them back for weeks. “I thought if she met you, if she saw what a real relationship could look like—”
Liam lets out a bitter scoff that cuts through her explanation.
“I thought I was helping,” Maddie continues, her voice cracking. “I thought—”
“You thought wrong,” I cut in, the betrayal sitting heavy and sharp in my chest like broken glass.
I look over at Sirus, who’s been silent through this entire revelation. “You knew?”
“No, man, I swear,” Sirus says quickly, holding up his hands. “I had no idea.”
I shake my head, not sure if I believe him, not sure if it matters anymore. The noise in my head is too much—Harper’s silence, Liam’s stare, Maddie’s pleading voice trying to fix something that’s already broken beyond repair.
“You two deserve each other,” I say to Harper and Liam, the words tasting bitter even as they leave my mouth.
I turn toward the restaurant, ready to walk away from this nightmare, but Harper catches my arm.
“Cole, wait—”
I pull back like her touch burns. “Leave,” I say, my voice low and controlled. “Just... leave.”
I look past her toward the others, forcing my voice to stay level. “The waiter’s ready to take our order.”
Without another word, I walk back inside with Sirus and, after a moment’s hesitation, Liam.
The noise of the restaurant swallows us up—clinking glasses, laughter, the ordinary sounds of people having an ordinary night that doesn’t involve discovering your girlfriend of one day has been lying to your face for weeks.
Liam follows us to the table, his jaw still tight, his eyes distant.
I know I should be furious with him, but we’ve broken too many unspoken rules in our friendship over the years to keep score like this.
We’ve covered for each other, lied for each other, forgiven each other for worse things than falling for the same girl.
But that doesn’t stop the resentment simmering under my skin.
Because it’s not really Liam I’m angry with. It’s Harper.
She’s the one who played both sides. She’s the one who smiled at me like I was the only person in the room while apparently giving Liam the same look. She’s the one who let me fall for her while keeping this massive secret, letting me plan a future that was built on a lie.
And that’s the part I can’t forgive.
Through the window, I catch a glimpse of Harper still standing on the sidewalk with Maddie, both of them talking, their shadows stretched long under the streetlamps. For just a moment, I want to go back out there, demand an explanation, ask her if any of it was real.
But I force myself to look away.
The waiter appears at our table, pen poised over his notepad, ready to take our orders. I pick up my menu and don’t look toward the window again.
Whatever Harper and I had, whatever I thought we were building—it’s over.
Some things you can’t come back from, and this is definitely one of them.