“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not. I said you got too far in your head sometimes, and if they gave me the A, I’d keep you loose. Look, I wanted the A, and I was still pissed about Kayla.”
He sagged in his chair and started biting his lip again.
I leaned toward him and lowered my voice. “I was an asshole.”
“Agreed.”
“I’m telling you the truth, Pack.”
The light caught his eyes, and I saw tears there. “I’d have liked to wear the A too.”
“I know.” That brought something else to mind, and I said, “Speaking of wearing things, what about my clothes? Why did you throw everything I owned in the mud?”
“Fuck.” He rubbed his chest. “Because of the A. And everything else. It was too much, and I lost it.”
“You took it out on my wardrobe.”
He rolled his eyes. “I washed your clothes.”
“No. You sweet-talked your girlfriends into washing them.”
His mouth twitched. “Same thing.”
“It was absolutelynotthe same. You can’t have someone else make amends for you.”
We fell quiet.
“I was an asshole too,” he eventually said. “But you were supposed to be my friend.”
“I know.” My voice was small. “And you were supposed to be mine.”
The past was heavy between us. I’d never wished so hard that I could go back in time and change something.
“I shouldn’t have slept with Kayla,” he finally said. “I told myself we were all adults, and you told me you broke up with her.”
I stared at the floor. “I lied. Sorry.”
“I figured that out, but not before I slept with her.”
“Fuck. I shouldn’t have said all that bullshit about you.” My throat ached, but I forced myself to go on. “I wanted the A so much I forgot whose name I was shitting all over.”
He nodded once. “I shouldn’t have trashed your clothes.”
“I shouldn’t have put you on your ass in front of the team.”
We looked into each other’s eyes. Nothing was fixed, but the air was lighter.
After a long moment, he scrubbed his hands over his face. “Well, since we’ve established we’re both assholes… Truce?”
“Another one?”
He raised an eyebrow.
I nearly laughed. “Truce.”
“Okay.” He picked up his beer and tilted it toward me. “To truces.”
