“I don’t need you chewing my ass, little brother. Hayden will do it when he sees fit.”
I barged into the room, and their faces looked guilty, caught in the crosshairs. And they had been. I was fucking pissed.
“How dare you? Mine and Hayden’s marriage is none of your fucking business.”
“Deckie…”
“Heidi, I’m in no mood.” I turned to look at Foster, whose hands were in the air as if to say he was out of the mess, which didn’t shock me. He wasn’t usually a big meddler, and neither was Celeste, but Walker and Heidi? They were worse than our grandmother when it came to meddling in other people’s lives.
“Tell me what you did.”
“We just orchestrated you both being in the same spot.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
He closed his eyes with a dip of his chin, and I sighed. That day was almost as bad as the day Hayden left me standing in the front yard at the beach house.
“It’s true. Katie’s dad mentioned bringing in someone named Hayden, and I didn’t think anything of it until he mentioned Lucia and her brother, Scott. We didn’t meet Lucia, but putting all three names together, it was too much of a coincidence.”
“When was this?”
“The night before you got here.”
“So, you could have warned me,” I said, the accusation crystal clear. I turned to Lucia. “What about you? When did you join in with the merry meddlers?”
“Last night when I got here and saw you.”
“How did you know it was me?”
“I saw the photos of you and Hayden.”
I nodded, remembering the photos I sent him during that first float. The only one where we weretogethertogether.
“And you decided it was a good idea to go along with their harebrained idea of forcing us into the same room?”
“Yes.”
I stared at her. Finally, I asked, “Are you still in love with him?”
The way her eyes widened would’ve been comical in any other situation. She cleared her throat before answering. “No. I love him as a friend. That’s all.”
Not sure if I should trust her response, I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at her. Her gaze never wavered. Satisfied, my eyes found the ceiling while contemplating what to do with the lot of them.
There wasn’t anything I could do. What they had done was done, so I shook my head. I turned to leave, only to come face-to-face with my husband.
He leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. His face appeared carved from granite; it was so devoid of emotion.
Squeezing past him, I left the room.
And he let me go.
I didn’t know what hurt more: Him letting me leave, or my family putting me in this situation to be hurt by him again.
14
HAYDEN
The conversation followed by the confrontation… or maybe I should call a spade a spade? It was two confrontations. Whatever you call what happened a few days ago between Declan and me, and then between Declan, his family, and Lucia, ate at me.
