That snapped me out of it. The smile dropped off my face and I took a step back. Would he really do it? That was the dumbest question ever. Of course he would. Mason wasn’t exactly the subtle type. Then again, he told Parker to stay away from me so he might not.
It wasn’t Mason’s cocked brow that made me spin around and run away, it was the obvious bulge in his jeans.
He’d definitely do it.
Parker chuckled and called out, “She’s out back.”
And that’s exactly where I went, as fast as I could. Even when I heard them leave I didn’t slow down. I’d been tricked before and wasn’t about to fall for any games. Especially when they involved possible nakedness.
When I turned the corner towards the backdoor, I practically ran into Lana.
“Whoa,” she held up her hands. “What are you–”
My arms were around her before I could blink. I was too happy to see her sparkling hazel eyes to care what she was going to say.
“I’m sorry,” I cried, while hugging her as tightly as I could.
If I let go she might disappear and I couldn’t risk that. It had killed me to avoid her. I needed Lana. Her smile was the bright spot in my day.
I guess she felt the same way, because next thing I knew her arms were around me and she was crying too.
“I’m sorry too.”
“I missed you,” I sobbed back.
Could I really get mad at her for asking questions? If the roles were reversed, I’d have done the same thing. Besides, what good was all this secrecy if it drove away the one person I needed most? Every time I spoke a lie, or made up an excuse, I was just delaying the inevitable. I couldn’t hide it forever. Lana was everything I wasn’t. Strong, confident, and smart. How did I think she’d react?
“No, I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
“It’s okay,” I sniffed while clinging to her like she was my only life line – which in a way, she was. “You were worried about me.”
Minutes ticked by as we stood there holding onto each other. By the time we let go of each other, neither of us had anymore tears to let fall.
I gazed up at the smile on my beautiful friend’s face and let the dam break. Lana always stood by my side. When Naomi and her minions cornered us in the hall, she never left me alone. She stood up to Mason, Logan, and anyone else that bothered me. When the world was beating me down, Lana carried me on her shoulders. She deserved to know why. She deserved to know everything.
“Lana…”
My words were cut off by the finger pressed to my lips.
“It’s okay, Harper.”
Lana had this infectious smile that made everyone in the room feel her joy. But the one she was giving me now lacked that warmth. She was happy to see me, but the curl in her lips was filled with sadness.
“You’re not the only one who’s been keeping a secret.” She cupped my cheeks to brush the tears off my face with her thumbs. “We should talk.”
I nodded. Lana had no idea how true that statement was.
Lana led me out back where we sat down on some of the patio furniture, and almost immediately she started talking. I sat back and listened to her tell me all about her first night with Parker. How he threw money at her afterwards, and then how scared she was when she found out she was pregnant.
I knew what it was like to suffer in silence. To walk around with a smile on your face while you were dying inside. It killed me that she went through that. And when she told me how Parker tricked her into marriage and the things his mother did, I wanted to hurt him so much that my fists balled. Not that I would’ve been able to do much to a man his size, but I would’ve tried.
Yes, he’d taken care of everything, but the fact that he’d put her in that situation at all was infuriating. Then again, was I any better? While I did my best to protect her from the darkness of my world, I also didn’t give her any information about what she was walking into. Was it too late to give her an out?
But every time I opened my mouth to say something, my stomach flipped. Would she hate me when she found out? Would the girl who sat with me night after night while I cried about my mother leave when she found out that I’d helped bury her ashes?
“Harper,” Lana blew out a long heavy breath. “There’s one more thing.”
Now my stomach was flipping for an entirely different reason. The look on my best friend’s face didn’t show relief or happiness. Her expression was shadowed with the weight of something she’d been carrying around. I knew something about secrets, and this was one Lana was terrified to tell. But it was more than that. She wasn’t scared to speak it.
