“Fuck this shit,” he sneers, shaking his head and climbing into his beat-up car. “When my brother told me that rich people are all weird, I didn’t believe him. Have fun tonight, guys, and good luck. It looks like you need it.”
Lev and I look at each other wondering what’s wrong with our frat president and teammate.
When I notice Heather’s tear-stained face, I open my mouth to ask her what’s wrong. If Dave did something to hurt her, so help me God.
But I don’t get the opportunity to ask her if she’s ok.
“What the fuck did you do?” Ares’s scowl is directed at me.
“Me? Nothing. I had back-to-back classes all day and then practice. I’m coming from the ice rink. What’s crawled up your ass?”
Ares’s scowl darkens. “You fucked Heather? What the fuck were you thinking?”
My hand reaches for the back of my neck. “I… it was over a year and a half ago. It was a mistake.”
“You can say that twice!” Ares snaps. “How could you be so stupid? How could you fuck your brother’s girlfriend?”
Oh.
My eyes meet Zara’s, and she doesn’t look angry. She has reassured me that she wasn’t mad about my questionable decision, since it was before she came back into my life. I’ve been feeling guilty for not telling her straight away, but she told me that she wasn’t mad about that either.
“I don’t know, Ares.” I admit honestly. “It was a lapse in judgement. It happened on the six months anniversary, or whatever you want to call it. We were both hurting, and for one crazy moment, we thought that being together would make usfeel better. I realized that I was wrong pretty much the second we were done, but it was too late to take it back.”
I have no idea how Ares is going to react to that, but it’s the truth.
“Yeah,” he says, to my surprise. “I get that. That’s the same reason why I kissed her the night of the funeral. I wanted to feel closer to Atlas, but it just felt wrong.”
I look at my older brother and, for the first time, I understand where we both went wrong. When we lost Atlas, we should have been there for one another. Instead, we grieved alone. We looked for solace in all the wrong places.
Our relationship has been strained, almost nonexistent since Atlas’s death. Things changed when we both fell for Zara. After a rocky beginning, our love for her brought us closer. She’s the glue between us, the same way Atlas was when he was alive.
I’m not sure who makes the first move, but we end up in each other’s arms. “You should have come to me.” My throat burns with unshed tears.
“I know. And you should have done the same. I don’t know why it was so hard to open up.” He chokes.
“Because he was the one who always helped us fix things. Even with Dad. Without him, we were lost.”
Ares turns to look at Heather. “I’m sorry, Heath. Chance is right. We should have helped each other through that, but I pushed you away. I want to change that. I want to be here for you. But aside from the fact that I’m desperately, madly in love with Zara, I can only ever be a brother to you. The same way I would be if Atlas were here, and you two were getting married like you were planning.”
Heather’s eyes are full of tears again. “Yeah. I would like that. And you’re both right that being with either of you wouldn’t have brought Atlas back. Even if for a second it felt like it could.”
“Friends then?” Ares asks. “For real this time?”
Heather flies into his arms. “Yes. Friends.”
Ares releases Heather to look at Zara. “Princess, I… Are you mad at me for not telling you about that kiss?”
Like she did with me, Zara shakes her head. “No. That was before you and I really started to get to know each other. You don’t owe me anything about your past. Like I said to Chance, it’s water under the bridge.”
Lev pulls Zara to his side. “Thank you for forgiving those two dumbasses, Zee.” He looks at his two best friends. “I hope there aren’t any more skeletons in your closet. You know better than I do that a lot of women would have held your silence about past hookups against you even if it was before you were in a relationship with her.”
Heather nods. “Yeah. And thank you for not being mad at me either, Zara. I should have told you.”
Zara takes her hand in hers. “You had no idea that I was dating Chance and Ares. As far as you knew, they were just my stepbrothers.”
“But you and Chance had kissed before. I feel bad that I kept it secret.”
“And I’m sorry, too.” Zara sighs. “I was going to tell you about me and Ares. But between classes and your cheerleader training and my training for the race, things have been crazy, and I was waiting for the next time we could have a girls’ night.”
