"After Westpoint?" Aaron laughed, but there was no humor in it. "So you were just going to keep lying? Keep sneaking around? Make me look like an idiot?"
"It wasn't like that..." I jumped in, averting his anger from Rosie back to me.
"Then what was it like, Derek?" Aaron's voice rose. "Because from where I'm standing, my best friend has been fucking my little sister behind my back and lying about it to my face. That seems pretty clear."
"Don't talk about her like that," I said quietly but firmly. “This isn’t about sex.”
"I'll talk about my sister however I want!" Aaron took a step forward. "You don't get to tell me how to feel about this. You don't get to act like you're protecting her when you're the one who..."
"Who what?" Rosie interrupted, her voice stronger now. "Who fell in love with me? Who treated me better than any guy ever has? Who was there for me when I needed someone?"
"He's my best friend, Rosie. And you're my sister. There are lines..."
"Lines that we chose to cross," she finished. "Because we love each other. Because we make each other happy. Because this is real."
Aaron looked at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. "How long have you been in love with him?"
"Since last year," she admitted. "Since he was recovering from his injury. Maybe even before that."
"Last year." Aaron's voice was flat. "So all those times you were visiting him, bringing him food, spending hours at the hospital..."
"I was falling for him, yes. But I didn't tell him. I didn't do anything about it until this year."
"Because you knew I'd be pissed."
"Because we knew it was complicated," I corrected. "Because we knew it would affect the team. Because we didn't want to hurt you."
"Too late for that." Aaron's eyes were cold as they turned to me. "You know what the worst part is? It's not that you fell for her. It's that you lied. Over and over. You looked me in the eye and lied."
"I know. And I'm sorry..."
"Sorry doesn't cut it." Aaron moved toward the door. "I need to get out of here before I say something I'll regret."
"Aaron, wait..." Rosie reached for him, and the irony of her holding on to my hand as she did wasn’t lost on me.
"Don't." He pulled back from her touch. "I can't look at either of you right now."
He left, slamming the door behind him, leaving us all alone.
The silence that followed was deafening. I pulled Rosie into my arms as she started to cry, holding her while she shook.
We should have been relieved that the secret was outand we were no longer hiding. But instead, we were completely shattered.
"It's going to be okay," I murmured, even though I didn't believe it.
"No, it's not." Her voice was muffled against my chest, and my heart broke to see her like this. "I just lost my brother."
"You didn't lose him. He's hurt and angry, but he'll come around. He loves you."
"You don't know that."
She was right. I didn't, but I hoped.
The door burst open again, and I tensed, expecting Aaron to come back for round two.
Instead, it was Max, with Maddox close behind.
"Shit," Max said, taking in our tear-stained faces. "It went that badly?"
