I purse my lips. “Yeah, I did. Because I hate lying. Especially to my brothers.”
He watches me for a few moments, the muscle on his cheek pulsing before saying, “It was me. I fucked you over. I broke my promise to you. Deliberately. Because I wanted to win. I picked soccer over you. And then broke your heart. I’m the asshole here, understand? So if you want to punish someone, punish the villain in your story. Not yourself.” His eyes rove over my face. “Being gullible is not a crime. Seeing good in people is not a crime either. Taking advantage of it is.”
I watch him then.
Speechless.
I never thought of it that way. I neverthoughtthat I see good in people. I mean, I do, but I never made that connection. I never thought that that’s what I was doing with Reed.
I was though, right?
I did see the good in him and he took advantage of that.
I trusted him and he broke my trust. And maybe he’s right.
Maybe trusting people is not a crime, breaking that trust is.
He’s the criminal. And I’m the crime he committed.
“Are you going to eat the fucking cupcake or not?” he pushes out when all I do is stare at him.
At this beautiful criminal, this gorgeous villain.
“Apologize,” I blurt out and as soon as I say it, my spine goes up.
My resolve strengthens.
“What?”
“Apologize to me,” I tell him. “Because you’re right. Ihavebeen punishing myself. For the crimes that you committed. You’re the asshole here, the villain. And so apologize. Say youwerean asshole. To use me like that. To abuse my trust. To break my heart like that. I apologized for stealing your car eventhough you deserved it and now it’s your turn. And apologize not because your sister wants you to but because you should.”
His nostrils flare and I raise my chin.
I’m not budging from this spot until he apologizes to me.
His jaw tics for a few seconds and his grip on the door tightens before he loosens it and says, “I’m the asshole here. I used you, abused your trust and broke your heart. I shouldn’t have done that. So yeah, I fucking apologize.”
It wasn’t exactly the heartfelt apology I was looking for but it’s fine.
It’s Reed.
He’s rude and insensitive and an asshole like he just said. So I’ll take it like I’m taking his help.
"Thank you.”
“So am I forgiven then?”
I look at him for a few seconds before I shake my head. “No. Not really. I don’t think anything you can do will ever make me forgive you.”
He looks back at me for a few seconds too. “Good.”
I feel a twinge in my heart and I swallow. “Fine.”
“Now, are you going to get inside the fucking car or not?”
“I will.” I throw him a regal nod. “And I will eat those cupcakes too. In your Mustang. Because I don’t care about your stupid rule of not eating inside your car.”
He does have that rule.
