Chapter 25
One Last Secret
ZARA
Heather’s eyes are full of unshed tears.
“Fuck you, Ares.” She bites out. “You’ve always acted like you’re better than all of us. If I think that I had a crush on you before Atlas started paying attention to me, I feel so stupid.”
Ares’s gaze softens. “No, Heath. I don’t know anything.
I fuck up more times than I get anything right.
And I’m sorry if I ever broke your heart in any way.
I swear I never meant to. My brother was crazy about you, and you two were perfect together.
You and I would have been a disaster. Even without everything that happened.
Please don’t be angry with Zara for not telling you, and don’t hate me. We never meant to hurt you.”
Tears start falling from Heather’s eyes, and my heart hurts for her. “It’s just that you look exactly like him.” She cries. “Your voice is the same as his voice. Why couldn’t you just love me? He would have been happy to know that we were finding comfort in each other.”
Ares shakes his head. “I can’t love you the way he did, and I’m not him. You need to move on, Heather. I’m saying this for your own sake. Atlas isn’t coming back, and he would hate to see you hurt like this. He would want you to be happy again.”
“Happy?” Her lips are tight, her tone bitter. “I’ll never be happy again. I feel nothing. That’s why I was hoping that you or Chance would want me. Because you’re the closest thing to him. No one else will do. Every time another man touches me, I feel like I want to fucking vomit.”
Dave, who had been observing our confrontation without a word, barks out a mirthless laugh. “Jeez, thanks. Nothing like hearing your girl say that you make her want to vomit every time you touch her. If that’s how you talk to a guy, no wonder Ares didn’t want you.”
Heather shrugs, looking empty, defeated. “Whatever. I don’t think you and I are going to work anyway, Dave. I’m sorry, it’s over.”
Dave looks genuinely hurt. “You’re breaking up with me? Come on, you haven’t even given me a real shot. I thought we were having fun.”
“Fun?” She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. “You were the only one who was having fun, Dave. I was just laying there, hoping to feel something. To be honest, I was just faking it. Atlas and Chance were the only men who could ever make me come.”
Heather and I have already talked about her one-night stand with Chance.
It was way before Chance and I were ever anything more than a few hot kisses at a party.
I’m not mad at her. There’s a part of me that can’t blame her because Chance is incredibly hot, and he knows what he’s doing in bed.
So, I have no doubt that he rocked her world.
I wrap my arm around my friend’s shoulders. “Come on, Heather. Ares and I were going to order pizza. Please stay and eat dinner with us?”
Heather’s response is a tearful laugh. “Right. I was coming to ask you if you wanted to go out to dinner with me and Dave and bring Lev or Chance, or both. I guess we won’t double date now.”
“It’s ok, Heather. You’re our friend, and you don’t need a date to hang out with us. Babe,” I say, turning to look at Ares. “Do you mind starting an order and see if Lev and Chance are coming home for dinner?”
Ares doesn’t answer. He’s staring at me and Heather with a bewildered expression. “Did you and Heather just say that Heather was with Chance? Like, they fucked?”
Neither of us has time to answer. We see Lev’s SUV park right next to Ares’s Jeep a few feet away from us.
Chance and Lev walk up to us, totally unaware of the drama we’ve been dealing with.
Chance
Hockey practice was particularly grueling today, and every muscle in my body is sore. I’m also starving. I think I might see if Zara would like to get pizza, but I’m probably gonna raid the fridge before dinner comes. I’m way too famished to wait.
“Look,” Lev says before opening his door. “Dave must have picked up Heather straight from her cheer training.”
“Great.” I roll my eyes. Dave is in the top five of the people I wouldn’t hang out with unless I’m forced to. “I hope Heather and Dave leave. I was hoping for a quiet night in, just the four of us. Maybe just pizza and a movie with Zara tucked into my side.”
Lev agrees. “You and I both, man.”
As if the universe had heard my wishes, Dave walks away the second Lev and I approach them.
“Fuck this shit,” he sneers, shaking his head and climbing into his beat-up car. “When my brother told me that rich people are all weird, I didn’t believe him. Have fun tonight, guys, and good luck. It looks like you need it.”
Lev and I look at each other wondering what’s wrong with our frat president and teammate.
When I notice Heather’s tear-stained face, I open my mouth to ask her what’s wrong. If Dave did something to hurt her, so help me God.
But I don’t get the opportunity to ask her if she’s ok.
“What the fuck did you do?” Ares’s scowl is directed at me.
“Me? Nothing. I had back-to-back classes all day and then practice. I’m coming from the ice rink. What’s crawled up your ass?”
Ares’s scowl darkens. “You fucked Heather? What the fuck were you thinking?”
My hand reaches for the back of my neck. “I… it was over a year and a half ago. It was a mistake.”
“You can say that twice!” Ares snaps. “How could you be so stupid? How could you fuck your brother’s girlfriend?”
Oh.
My eyes meet Zara’s, and she doesn’t look angry. She has reassured me that she wasn’t mad about my questionable decision, since it was before she came back into my life. I’ve been feeling guilty for not telling her straight away, but she told me that she wasn’t mad about that either.
“I don’t know, Ares.” I admit honestly. “It was a lapse in judgement. It happened on the six months anniversary, or whatever you want to call it. We were both hurting, and for one crazy moment, we thought that being together would make us feel better. I realized that I was wrong pretty much the second we were done, but it was too late to take it back.”
I have no idea how Ares is going to react to that, but it’s the truth.
“Yeah,” he says, to my surprise. “I get that. That’s the same reason why I kissed her the night of the funeral. I wanted to feel closer to Atlas, but it just felt wrong.”
I look at my older brother and, for the first time, I understand where we both went wrong. When we lost Atlas, we should have been there for one another. Instead, we grieved alone. We looked for solace in all the wrong places.
Our relationship has been strained, almost nonexistent since Atlas’s death. Things changed when we both fell for Zara. After a rocky beginning, our love for her brought us closer. She’s the glue between us, the same way Atlas was when he was alive.
I’m not sure who makes the first move, but we end up in each other’s arms. “You should have come to me.” My throat burns with unshed tears.
“I know. And you should have done the same. I don’t know why it was so hard to open up.” He chokes.
“Because he was the one who always helped us fix things. Even with Dad. Without him, we were lost.”
Ares turns to look at Heather. “I’m sorry, Heath.
Chance is right. We should have helped each other through that, but I pushed you away.
I want to change that. I want to be here for you.
But aside from the fact that I’m desperately, madly in love with Zara, I can only ever be a brother to you.
The same way I would be if Atlas were here, and you two were getting married like you were planning. ”
Heather’s eyes are full of tears again. “Yeah. I would like that. And you’re both right that being with either of you wouldn’t have brought Atlas back. Even if for a second it felt like it could.”
“Friends then?” Ares asks. “For real this time?”
Heather flies into his arms. “Yes. Friends.”
Ares releases Heather to look at Zara. “Princess, I… Are you mad at me for not telling you about that kiss?”
Like she did with me, Zara shakes her head. “No. That was before you and I really started to get to know each other. You don’t owe me anything about your past. Like I said to Chance, it’s water under the bridge.”
Lev pulls Zara to his side. “Thank you for forgiving those two dumbasses, Zee.” He looks at his two best friends.
“I hope there aren’t any more skeletons in your closet.
You know better than I do that a lot of women would have held your silence about past hookups against you even if it was before you were in a relationship with her. ”
Heather nods. “Yeah. And thank you for not being mad at me either, Zara. I should have told you.”
Zara takes her hand in hers. “You had no idea that I was dating Chance and Ares. As far as you knew, they were just my stepbrothers.”
“But you and Chance had kissed before. I feel bad that I kept it secret.”
“And I’m sorry, too.” Zara sighs. “I was going to tell you about me and Ares. But between classes and your cheerleader training and my training for the race, things have been crazy, and I was waiting for the next time we could have a girls’ night.”
This time, Heather smiles. “Girls’ night sounds amazing. But wait a second. Did you say you’re racing? I thought the whole reason why you went into this deal with Enzo Morelli was to get out from Mason’s blackmail.”
“I’ve always wanted to race, like my dad.
I’ve told you before. Now that the motorcycle ban has been lifted, there’s no reason why I can’t do it openly.
My dad is moving to Star Cove and starting a team that he hopes to qualify for MotoGP one day.
He offered me a spot, and I need to get racing experience. ”
I’m glad that Zara doesn’t tell Heather about our plans to draw out the dirt bike and catch Atlas’s killer.
If she knew, Heather would want to help us, since that person took so much from her.
We are already taking too many risks, and if Heather got hurt helping us, we could never forgive ourselves.
Heather pulls Zara into a hug. “I’m glad your dreams are coming true, but would you be mad if I didn’t come to watch you race?”
“No, of course not.” Zara reassures her.
“After coming to those races on campus, I realized watching you guys race is triggering for me.”
Zara nods. “I understand.”
“Just be careful out there.” Heather’s voice trembles. “I don’t want to lose anymore loved ones to motorcycles. That’s why I wasn’t too mad about the ban.”
“I promise I’ll be careful. Now, let’s order some food, please. I was promised some pizza.”
Heather’s sad expression fades away. “Pizza is my happy place. Can you order one with ham and pineapple for me?”
“No way.” Zara gasps. “How can you be my friend and want pineapple on your pizza?”
“Duh,” Heather giggles. “Because it’s delicious.”
Zara doesn’t back down. “No, it’s not. It’s just plain wrong.”
I open the pizza place app on my phone. “Aside from Heather’s pineapple, any other special requests? If we wait until the girls settle this argument, we’ll all starve.”