Carter walks into the living room with a familiar bag in his hands—my bag.His dark eyes fall on me, and I recognize the regret shining in them.
“Can we talk?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t want to talk. I’m sorry for dragging you into all of this, but I think it’s best if you leave.”
The little hope I had that maybe he would still want to be something to me is crushed, and I don’t think the pieces will ever be able to fit together again.Everything I touch, I break.
“Leave?” The words echo throughout the walls of the apartment. “Where am I supposed to go?” I hate the panic that slips into my voice, but I don’t have anything.
Carter presses my bag into my chest, forcing me to take it. Now he can’t look me in the eyes. “You go back home to your family.”
“Wait, Carter, it doesn’t have to be like this. We can?—”
“What? Continue pretending we’re brothers? We’re not, Bailey.We are not the same.I’m a bastard, and you’re a poor little rich kid throwing a tantrum because your actual brother stole your girlfriend, and your sister grew up without your permission. Congratulations—your parents aren’t the liars you thought they were, but we’re not anything.” His words are carefully placed, hitting me exactly where they can inflict the most damage. “Go home, and don’t contact me again.”
Carter still won’t look at me.
So I do what I do best.
I leave.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Kaitlyn
NOW
I can’t sleep.
I’ve been tossing and turning for almost two hours, and at this point, my mind won’t stop racing.
My steps are light as I try to avoid the spots on the floor that creak on my way from the guest bedroom to Bailey’s. I’m just hoping he’s in his room instead of on the roof because I’m not sure I’m brave enough to face my worries about falling off tonight.
I knock softly on the door, hoping it’s loud enough for Bailey to hear if he’s still awake. It feels like an eternity before his door opens, but I’m grateful he’s up. “Kait?”
“Hey, B. Can I come in?” I ask, reaching for my necklaces.
“Of course,” he answers, stepping back. “Just wanted to make sure that was really you, and I wasn’t dreaming.”
“I didn’t wake you up, did I?”
He turns his lamp on, casting a soft glow across the room. “I was still up. Couldn’t sleep either,” he says, turning to face me, and I sit on the edge of his bed.
“Must be something in the air,” I try to joke, and Bailey moves to sit next to me. I didn’t think about changing out ofmy pajamas before walking down the hall, but now that I have, I’m hoping it doesn’t send the wrong message. “Can I talk to you about something?” I ask, wondering if maybe this is just something I should forget about, but for some reason, it’s nagging at me.
Maybe I’m poking the hornets’ nest by wanting to talk about this, but I don’t want any animosity to form between us.
“Sure,” Bailey says, but he sounds hesitant.
“Is it weird for you that I dated Hunter?” I blurt out, forcing myself to not look away from him.
He chuckles under his breath. “Not really. Is it weird I spent the entire summer hoping you and Hunter would break up?”
God, we’re quite the pair. “Can’t blame you after everything that happened between us, but I just want to make sure it really doesn’t bother you? Like this isn’t going to be something we get hung up on because Hunter isn’t going anywhere for either of us.”
Bailey rests his hand on my knee, squeezing it with reassurance. “Kait, trust me, I’m very aware of how long you and Hunter were together. It doesn’t matter to me because I’m glad you were with someone who cared about you, even if it was my brother. Just like . . . maybe do me a favor, and don’t like compare us, please? I don’t really need to know what the differences are between us,” he says, and that makes sense.
“I couldn’t do that,” I promise, and he drags his thumb across my skin in the most distracting way.
