Something burns through my chest. Not the clean burn of anger, but something tangled and vicious. Hurt. Fear. A spike of betrayal I don’t want to feel but can’t fight. She didn’t ask what I thought or even talk to me. She made this decision alone, as if I wasn’t already falling apart over the way she looked at me when she said she loved me.
I feel something hot and ugly burst in my chest, not at her, but at how she was conditioned to take the hit first. The way she thinks that the only way is to be the martyr, to throw herself to the wolves and bleed for me in order to stop the narrative.
“She said that?”
I’m not sure who I'm angriest at this moment.Myself or the world that taught her she has to defend the people she loves even if it kills her.
“Yeah. She said someone had to take the fall, and you don’t need more instability attached to your name. She said she could weather this better than you.”
That last part slices something vital inside me.
My eyes sting with a pressure I refuse to let fall. She honestly believes she’s stronger carrying the hit than I am standing beside her? God, it guts me because she shouldn’t have to be strong for both of us. Not like this. Not again. Not alone.
“She thinks she can weather it?” My voice is too soft for how violently everything inside me is shaking.
“She can,” Cooper admits. “But she shouldn’t have to.”
I press the heel of my hand into my eyes. The image of her—standing in some conference room, shoulders squared, pretending she’s not terrified—clamps around my chest like a vise. I should have followed her and insisted we face this together. Damn what PR and Cooper said. Instead, she is probably sitting in her office, with her heart in freefall, trying to protect me from a storm we created together.
“Don’t let PR send anything,” I say, my voice steadying into something lethal, even as it trembles beneath. “Not a draft. Not a note. Not even a fucking comma. She is not taking the fall for me.”
“Kyle—”
“No. She already gave them enough,” I continue, my breath coming rough and uneven, the truth clawingits way up my throat. “She walked into that damn office alone to do the brave thing because she thinks no one will do it for her. She won’t bleed for me on paper either. Not now, not ever.”
This time, the silence isn’t cold; it’s weighted with emotion and something that sounds like guilt on Cooper’s end.
“What do you want to do?” he asks finally, voice low, careful, as if he knows the wrong nudge will send me straight through the wall.
I stare at the space where she stood, her voice cracking when she said she’d choose me again even if it destroyed her. And the truth appears right in front of me, as if it hadn’t been there all along, staring me right in the face.
“I’m going to tell the truth,” I say, my voice no longer shaking. “I’m done hiding behind PR strategy. I’m done watching them protect the franchise and let her bear the weight. I’m done letting her believe she has to face this alone.”
“Kyle—”
“You won’t talk me out of it, Coop. I’m telling the truth,” I repeat, firmer now. “Today. Unfiltered. And I don’t give a damn if it pisses off the front office.”
There’s a quiet beat on the other end before Cooper speaks, and for the first time all morning, his voice softens. “Good choice, little brother.”
“Yeah?” I respond, slightly surprised.
“Yeah,” he says, and there’s a rustle like he’s rubbing a hand over his face. “And… I’m sorry for going along with Cole’s half-baked plan. I never should’ve let it get this far, but I didn’t know how else to make you two stop being idiots and admit you even liked each other.”
“Does everyone know?” My grip on the phone slips, and I catch it mid-drop, heart stopping.
“Yes,” he says, so plainly it borders on rude. “Everyone knows.”
“Even—”
“Yes,” he interrupts with a sigh that sounds both long-suffering and affectionate. “Even Momma. She’s been praying for this outcome since Cole sent Alycia’s picture to the group chat on your first day of training.”
“Wait, there’s another group chat?” I let out a strangled sound.
“Yes. We made it when Beau and Alise couldn’t pull their heads out of their asses. We just added them and started using it again for you two.”
“Perfect. So, I’ve basically been starring in a family group chat reality show about my love life without even?—”
“Kyle, do you want to stand beside her now?” Cooper asks, gentler.
