“Hey, Lainey,” he begins. He seems like he’s nervous, and I have a strange feeling I know exactly what he’s about to say, even though I don’t know if I’m completely ready to hear it. “I-”
He’s cut off by my door flying open.
“Hey, Lane. Can I borrow your-” Ellie stops dead in her tracks, her jaw dropping as she takes in the sight before her.
Me and her brother, naked, tangled together like vines on my bed. Betrayal and hurt are etched all over her delicate features.
I do my best to scramble up, grabbing my sheet off the bed as I go, but Ellie is out of the room in no time.
“Shit,” I hear Holland say as I wrap myself with the sheet, trying not to trip as I follow Ellie out into the living room.
Well, fuck. Now, I’mscrewed.
Chapter 38
Lainey
You know those moments in movies where they freeze frame and the main character says something like ‘yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I ended up here’?
Well, that’s me right now. Standing in my living room, covering up my naked body with my bedsheet as my best friend stares at me in complete shock and disbelief.
I don’t even know where to begin. I don’t know how to explain this to her. This is not how she was supposed to findout.
“Okay, I know I’ve royally fucked up. Like, incredibly bad, I know. But please, listen to me,” I plead, hoping Ellie will let me just explain myself first before she storms out of here.
“How long?” she asks, a tear streaming down her face. My heart shatters as I watch the tear fall to the floor.
“What?” I ask, not completely understanding her question in my panicked haze.
“How long have you been fucking my brother?” she asks, a bit more bite to her tone. I know she’s pissed off because she never swears, and she just dropped the F bomb like it was nothing.
Holland steps out of my room, fully clothed, his arms crossed over his chest as he walks up to stand beside me. I want to be pissed at him. I want to place all the blame on him and tell him this is all his fault.
He did this. He made me fall in love with him. But it’s not his fault. None of this is anybody’s fault but my own. I’m the one that hid this from Ellie. I’m the one that told Holland to keep it a secret.
It’s all me, and for what? Because I was too afraid to confront my own feelings? Because I didn’t want my best friend to hate me? Well, now look where we are, stupid.
I’m the bitch. I’m the problem. I should have just told her when I started feeling differently toward Holland. I should have gone to her and explained what was happening. We wouldn’t be in this mess if I had just said something.
“El, calm down,” Holland tries, but Ellie shoots him a death glare so lethal it could kill anyone in its path.
“Stay out of this. I asked her,” she seethes, and I’ve never seen her so… hurt. She doesn’t seem angry. She just seems, betrayed. I think that’s worse.
Looking back at me, she asks again. “How long?”
Taking a deep breath, I begin to think back at the timeline. It hasn’t been that long, but it’s been long enough. I’ve had plenty of time to tell her, and I’ve been a pussy and chosen not to.
“Since the wedding,” I tell her honestly. There’s no point in lying about anything now. Everything needs to be out in the open if there is any hope of us getting past this.
Ellie’s face falls, her jaw ticking.
“Since the wedding? That was weeks ago!” she exclaims. I wince at the unexpected outburst. “You’ve been hooking up with my brother since Italy? What the hell, Lainey? You’re supposed to be my best friend. Why wouldn’t you say anything?”
Gripping the sheet tightly as if it could save me, I shift from one foot to the other. Ellie and I have never fought, never bickered, never had any differences. Unlike Gwen and I, Ellie and I have grown up together. We’ve been there for each other through everything.
Our friendship has never wavered. It’s been the one stable thing in my life since I was a kid.
I’m also not very used to being lectured or screamed at. Since my parents were never around, I never had any actual consequences to my actions. Sure, my nanny would ‘ground’ me, but she didn’t actually enforce it. Mrs. Monroe tried to keep me in check the best she could, but I didn’t live with her, so there was only so much she could do.
