At the end of the hall, Carl stood, wearing pajama pants and a T-shirt, his salt-and-pepper hair slightly mussed, as the door closed behind him.
Their stares met. Beck’s entire body went rigid. Dread slammed into Beck’s chest like a freight train.
He’d fucked this up. Seth had specifically asked for one thing: no drama on his mother’s wedding day. And here Beck was, about to deliver it in spades before the sun had even risen.
Carl approached on silent feet, his brow lifted. “Everything okay?”
Beck scrambled for a reply, something logical. Anything believable that would explain why he was standing in the hallway outside Seth and Heavenly’s door at five in the morning, looking like he’d just rolled out of their bed.
Heavenly had a headache. I was checking on her.
No. Why would he look sleep mussed if he’d been seeing to her medical needs? Besides, Seth could have found her a fucking aspirin.
Seth was sick. He needed a doctor.
Nope. The minute he rolled out in his tux to walk his mom down the aisle, Carl would see right through that BS.
I couldn’t sleep. Went for a walk. Got turned around in the house.
Even worse. The house was hardly a maze.
They were busted. Completely, utterly busted.
Fuck.
Seth appeared in the doorway of his bedroom—wearing only sweatpants— and saved Beck from gaping like a fish on shore. His gaze swept to Carl and back to Beck. Understanding flashed across his face.
Seth moved to stand beside Beck, shoulder-to-shoulder, his gaze locking on Carl’s. “This isn’t how I wanted to do this, but…we should talk. About me and Heavenly. And...Beck.”
Beck’s heart stopped.
Holy shit. Seth was doing this now, the morning of the wedding? Before anyone had even had coffee?
What terrible fucking timing. If Carl lost it, raised his voice, woke Grace—this would blow up in Seth’s face and destroy everything. The wedding. Grace’s happiness. The fragile lie they’d been so carefully trying to preserve.
Beck had no one to blame but himself. If he’d left when he was supposed to and hadn’t fallen asleep, none of this would be happening. Guilt twisted in his gut.
Yes, he wanted the truth out in the open, but not like this. Not on Grace’s wedding day. Not in a hallway at barely five in the morning with disaster looming.
Beck braced for Carl’s face to flash red with fury. For his booming voice to rise and wake the entire house. For the inevitable destruction of peace.
Seth didn’t flinch. His jaw was set, his shoulders squared. He looked determined to plow ahead no matter what happened next. Beck stood beside him in solidarity and hoped to hell this wasn’t about to become a complete shit show.
“I’m listening,” Carl said finally. “Something you want to tell me?”
Seth kept his voice barely above a whisper. “Beck and I are friends…who are both in love with Heavenly. We’re partners in her care.”
Carl’s brow crept higher. “Meaning?”
Seth’s jaw clenched. “Meaning we…share her. Beck and I aren’t romantically involved with each other. We just happen to love the same woman and realized we’re all happier together.”
Beck’s heart hammered against his ribs as Carl listened, arms folded. His gaze moved between them, studying their faces. His expression was terrifyingly impossible to read. Silence stretched on, every second seeming to last an eternity.
Suddenly, Carl’s mouth curved into a soft smirk. “Tell me something I didn’t figure out days ago.”
Beck’s breath caught. He and Seth exchanged a startled glance. What the fuck?
He’d been so careful. Maintained his distance. Played the role of Seth’s friend perfectly. Heavenly had done the same—barely a word between them beyond a few stolen whispers about how hard the façade had been to maintain.
