“No, this is me trying to get revenge on the person who did this,” I say. “And on her for leaving me with no fucking explanation.”
“Wow,” she says, searching my face. “You don’t love her.”
“Oh.” I chuckle humorously. “Now you’re going to tell me how I feel?”
“If you ever loved her, you wouldn’t make her go back there. You know she’s going to hate you for it,” she says.
“I don’t give a shit.” I shrug.
She looks at me for a long moment. “Do you remember the first thing I told you when it was clear that you were interested in her?”
“No, why don’t you enlighten me?” I remember damn well what she said, but fuck it. I’m just standing here anyway.
“If you fuck up, she’ll never forgive you,” she says. “If you think this will end with her taking you back, you might as well forget about that right now.”
I look away, scanning the field. The moms are still having their little meeting and glancing over every so often. The dad is still looking at Lyla. Shit-head is staying close by, pretending he’s talking to the kids, but he’s looking at her too much for that to be the case. I’m not at all surprised that she has a little fan club of men who want her. The way she acts here, the way she dresses — this Lyla is the whole package. She may not be smiling or laughing all the time, but she gives them just enough to want more. I should feel bad for them. Even if I wasn’t here to whisk her away, that would have never happened. She can’t give another man more when already gave me everything.
“You should go to Fairview in a few days,” I say, looking back at Marissa.
“Why?”
“Don’t your parents still live there?”
“Yes. . .” she says tentatively.
“You should go.”
“What’s in a few days?” she asks.
“That’s when I’m marrying Lyla.”
“You’re getting marriedthere?” Her eyes widen more than I thought possible. She takes a step back, setting a hand on her chest, and breathes. “Holy shit, Lachlan. Does she know?”
“She knows we’re getting married.”
Marissa looks at me, and I wish it was anger that I found in her eyes. Instead, it’s disappointment. She thinks I deserve it, I know. I’d once promised to protect her best friend and now I’m doing this, which she sees as the complete opposite. I am protecting her, though. Once I’m done in Fairview, she’ll no longer have to hide. She can go back to being Lyla James. Hopefully Lyla James Duke.
“We won’t be in danger,” I say.
“Lach.” She frowns. “She was run off the road. She’ll be in danger the moment she gets there.” She looks away momentarily. “Why would you make her marry you in the one place she hates?”
“What does it matter where we get married?”
“That’s the point, isn’t it?” Her jaw drops, but she recovers quickly. “Youwanther to suffer. Do you know how much she. . .” She shakes her head, taking a breath. “Forget it. You don’t deserve to know.” She meets my eyes again. “You know, after the accident, after Luke, I had to endure her tears and screams, and then nothing. Fucking nothing, until you came along and made her feel all of these different emotions. God, I’ve known her since we were born, and I have never seen her as happy as she was with you.” She looks over to where Lyla is. “I was so grateful for you, but now it’s clear that you’re the worst thing that’s ever happened to her.”
I swallow the knot of emotion that creeps up my throat. This isn’t news to me. Lyla told me herself that I made her feel, after she’d been numb for so long. I’d reveled in that. It made me feel like a fucking king to know that I got a version of her that no one else had. I got her tears, her smiles, her laughter. I had her completely. Until I didn’t. Hearing the person who knows her quite possibly better than I do say this is harder than I care to admit. It doesn’t matter, because it goes both ways. We both made each other experience things we never had before, and then she fucking left like it meant nothing.
“Well then, I guess we’re even,” I manage to say. “She’s the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
Marissa shakes her head and starts to leave.
“Wait,” I say before she takes another step.
She turns to face me again. “What?”
“Who’s that guy?” I nod toward the dad.
“Oh, really?” She laughs humorlessly. “Now you want me to help you identify men who are a threat to you?” She scoffs and starts walking away, but thinks better of it and turns to me again. “Thatis a single dad who’s been waiting patiently for her to sort out her shit so he can finally make his move. He’s also her boss, but now that she’s done with her internship, he can ask her out.”
