A low laugh, dripping with self-deprecation leaves Hunter as he braces his arms over the back of his head, and my stomach churns. “Yeah, I know about that. I don’t care you kissed him first either, because I want to be with you. I was happy to ignore that it happened. I even thought I could makeyou—” Hunter cuts himself off, turning away from me. “God, I can’t believe how stupid I was to think you might ever love me more than you love him.”
He’s wrong.
“You can’t really think that,” I whisper, my eyes stinging with unshed tears. This is not where I imagined today going. “How long have you known?” My head is spinning, trying to fit the pieces of this puzzle together, but I’m afraid to see the bigger picture.
Hunter doesn’t turn around, falling completely still.
Oh my god.
This is what happened between them.
It was me.
“Hunter, what happened between you and Bailey?” I ask, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
“He came to me after, and I told him to pretend it never happened. I told Bailey he wouldn’t be able to make you happy.”
I’m not innocent in this either. I know I fucked up kissing both the twins within a few weeks, but I never meant for it to turn into this. My relationship with Hunter hasn’t been a mistake, and I don’t regret it, but I didn’t mean to start going out with Hunter right after Bailey rejected me.
When Hunter asked me to give him a chance and kissed me at the haunted house, I didn’t know what to do. All I knew was I loved him in some manner, even if it wasn’t the same way I felt toward Bailey.
I was a stupid teenager who had her heart broken, and it was nice to be wanted. I knew if I tried hard enough, I could love Hunter in that way too.
And I do, but I never would have had to if Bailey hadn’t shoved me away.
“You’re lying.” I shake my head, feelingmy heart finally tear into two halves. “Please tell me you didn’t do that to Bailey.”
Hunter leans forward to grab the counter, hanging his head, and I know there’s nothing I can do to change the choices we’ve all made. Bailey made choices, as did Hunter, and so did I.
This explains the complete one-eighty Bailey did back then, going from telling me I’m his favorite person to pushing me as far away as possible.
His broad shoulders start to shake, and I move forward to close the distance between us, hugging him from behind and feeling every shudder wracking his body. I’m mad, but more than anything, I’m incredibly sad for Hunter. He’s carried the weight of this around with him for the last three years.
It doesn’t matter how we got here. Neither of us is innocent, but I don’t know how we can move forward.
Is it even possible for us to come back from the secrets we’ve kept?
Hunter twists to wrap his arms around me, tucking his head into the crook of my neck. I know I’ll never be able to forget the feeling of his hot tears landing on my skin as he cries. “I’m so sorry, Kaitlyn. I hate myself for what I did, but I couldn’t take it back. It was the reason I had you.”
I don’t know if there’s anything I can say to make this better.
“I don’t want to wreck us, but I have to be there for JJ. I swear, I didn’t do this for revenge. I’m just trying to do right by my brother. He’d do the same for me.”
“I know. I love you,” I whisper, the tears falling from my eyes echoing the bleeding of my heart from the gaping wound in my chest.
Hunter doesn’t say another word, only holding on tighter to me.
I’m not sure if it changes anything, though.
I don’t know if there’s anything left to hold onto.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Bailey
NOW
I can tellthe instant she walks into the room that Kaitlyn’s been crying, and I know my idiotic brother is to blame.
