I barely managed a whisper. “I think I hooked up with someone at Jax’s bachelor party.”
The silence that followed felt like it could swallow me whole. I watched her freeze, her eyes locked on mine, processing what I’d confessed.
“You think?”
I winced, my shoulders hunching instinctively. “I got really drunk and...”
“And what?” She hissed through clenched teeth. “What happened?”
“And when I woke up, I was in bed with someone else. Naked. But I don’t remember anything.”
“You cheated on me?” she whispered, the confusion and hurt in it cut deeper than any scream could have.
My shoulders slumped under the weight of what I’d done. I couldn’t meet her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Cam.” I ran a hand over my face, as if I could somehow wipe away the guilt. “I swear I didn’t want to hurt you. I don’t remember anything. I was so trashed.”
“Who? Who did you cheat on me with?” The anger returned, flushing her cheeks red.
I shook my head, my eyes darting away from her face. I couldn’t tell her it was Harlow. It didn’t matter anyway. It didn’t change anything. “It doesn’t matter.”
I watched the realization dawn on her face, horror flooding her features. “Oh my fucking god, it’s someone I know.”
I reached for her instinctively, but she jerked away, throwing up her hands between us. “Do not touch me.” She paused, and I could see her trying to collect herself. “You know you’re right. We probably should have stayed friends, but you should have talked to me. Instead, you cheated.”
She was right. About all of it. “I know,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”
She stepped back, creating more distance between us. “I need some time to process this. I don’t want to fight and ruin the wedding, so I need you to give me some space, please.”
I stood there in the sand, watching her walk away, knowing I’d destroyed our friendship.
CHAPTER 8
HARLOW
As a kid,the beach house was my favorite place in the entire world, but this weekend, it felt like a prison that I wanted to escape from. I couldn’t, though. It was my sister’s wedding. I needed to be here, even if I didn’t want to be.
Standing at the edge of the water, I sucked in a deep breath of the salty air as I watched the sun disappear behind the horizon. The tide rushed toward my toes and then retreated again.
The sky was always beautiful this time of day. There was something about watching the sunset that made me feel closer to my mom, like she personally painted the deep purples bleeding into orange, and the last streaks of pink just for me. Like it was her way of communicating with me.
His footsteps in the wet sand were soft, but I felt them more than I heard them. There was a particular awareness that prickled along my skin anytime he was near, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Owen.
“Hey.” He stopped beside me, shoulder to shoulder. So close his warmth was radiating off him.
“Hey.” I kept my eyes on the horizon as the colorful sky faded to black.
Neither of us said anything. We just stood there, two people drowning in emotional quicksand.
“Cam knows,” He finally said, and my heart dropped to my stomach. “About what happened. Not…” He exhaled sharply. “Not that it was you. I didn’t tell her that part.”
That definitely didn’t make me feel any better; in fact, I think it made it worse. We were still keeping secrets, but I also didn’t want to hurt her more than I already had. There was this pit in my stomach that I couldn’t even describe other than it felt awful.
I turned to look at him and instantly felt worse. He looked terrible. Not in an obvious way, his face was still annoyingly symmetrical, but there was something hollow in his eyes. There was tension in his shoulders, making him look as if he were bracing for impact.
“Is she okay?”
Owen laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Define okay?” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his black jeans. “She asked for space.”
