I took a breath, feeling the hope I’d been fighting swell until it was impossible to contain. I’d spent so long protecting myself, managing my expectations, never letting myself want too much. But here was Liam Farrell, offering me everything I’d ever wanted.
“Okay,” I said finally. “We’ll tell Drew. And then no more hiding.”
His smile lit up the darkness of the barn, and when he kissed me again, it tasted like a promise.
THIRTY
The weight slammed down with a satisfying clang, and I immediately loaded more plates onto the bar.
I’d been at the gym for two hours, pushing myself harder than I had all summer, and it still wasn’t enough to burn off the nerves crackling under my skin. Tonight was the night. Ava and I were meeting Drew for dinner, and we were going to tell him everything.
She was still in Meadowbrook because she had some dance classes, but she was planning to drive up once she was done.
To say I was nervous was an understatement.
I positioned myself under the bar and pushed through another set of bench presses, my muscles screaming in protest. The pain felt good. Deserved, even. Because no matter how this conversation went, I’d earned whatever Drew was going to throw at me.
He was going to be pissed.
He might even hate me for a while, but he also knew me better than anyone, and I hoped that would work in myfavor because it meant he knew that when I really wanted something, nothing could stop me.
I racked the bar and sat up, wiping sweat from my face with my shirt. Peak Fitness was the gym in Dunridge that Drew was working at this summer. We’d both had memberships here before he’d gotten the job after his fight with his parents. I was thankful he didn’t appear to be working today. It would’ve been awkward to run into him here and avoid the conversation we needed to have until we went to dinner.
And I sure as shit wasn’t about to tell him I was sleeping with his sister when we were near heavy weights that he could throw at me.
I checked my phone. There was still two hours until dinner, but it felt like an eternity. I was both eager and terrified about getting this conversation over with.
The thing was, I knew Drew. Drew was loyal to his core—fiercely and sometimes irrationally protective of the people he loved.
Which was exactly why this could end up being an absolute disaster.
Because Ava wasn’t just some random girl. She was his twin sister. And I’d been sneaking around with her behind his back for months, lying to his face all this time.
You’re a good friend, you know that? I don’t know what I’d do without you.
The memory of Drew’s words made my stomach churn. Good friend. Right. A good friend wouldn’t have spent the summer buried inside his best friend’s sister. A good friend wouldn’t have fallen for her so hard that the thought of walking away made him want to tear his own chest open.
But I had. I’d fallen. And now I had to face the consequences.
I was loading more weight onto the bar—probably too much, but I didn’t care—when my phone buzzed and Drew’s name flashed on the screen.
Shit. He was probably calling to confirm dinner plans. I wiped my hands on my shorts and answered.
“Hey, man. I’m still good for?—”
“I need your help.”
Drew’s voice cracked on the last word, and every muscle in my body went rigid. I’d heard Drew angry. I’d heard him frustrated, exhausted, overwhelmed. But I’d never heard him sound like this.
Utterly broken.
“I’ll be there in ten.”
I didn’t wait for him to respond. I just grabbed my keys and ran. I didn’t need to ask what happened to know it was something bad.
The drive to the hockey house was a blur of stop signs and yellow lights I probably should have waited for. I pulled into the driveway and didn’t bother knocking. The door was unlocked, and the sound of Rory’s screaming hit me the second I stepped inside.
“Jesus, Drew.”
