That doesn’t make it true.
I grip the arms of the chair, drawing calming breaths in through my mouth and pushing them out through my nose. Fighting with my brothers won’t solve anything. “Perhaps you’d feel differently if you’d seen the notes.”
“I don’t need to see the notes,” Miles says dismissively. “They were for a project. A damn fine one if I know anything about Scarlett. Whatever she wrote had nothing to do with your relationship, and everything to do with improving Triada’s culture.”
If that was the case, why hadn’t she told me?
I would’ve told you…if I thought you could handle it.
Those had been her words. And in my fury, I hadn’t heard her. Hadn’t wanted to hear. Because deep down, I was looking for a reason to call it quits.
“Look,” Miles says, cutting into my thoughts. “I don’t know if Scarlett’s the one for you, but if there’s any chance she might be, you’d be a damn fool to let her slip through your fingers.”
“You trusted her enough to tell her about your parents and about Mama Hart,” Beck adds. “That has to count for something.”
They’re right. I know it in my bones. But that doesn’t make it any easier to accept. It makes it harder. Because even though I told Scarlett it could only ever be sex between us, I’d been fooling myself.
It could never be just sex with Scarlett.
Smart, beautiful, snarky Scarlett, who loves animals, and school, and who believes in scienceandtrue love. Scarlett, who isn’t afraid to stand up to me and call me on my bullshit. Scarlett, who’s easy to talk to and listens without feeling compelled to solve every problem or offer meaningless platitudes. It’s why I shared a part of myself I’d never shared with anyone before. Deep down, I’d believed she could handle it, that she could be trusted with my story.
With my heart.
Miles levels his gaze at me. “You can’t keep running. Eventually, your past will catch up to you if you don’t face it.”
Christ, he sounds just like her.
Until you find peace, you’ll never experience true happiness.
The question is, could loving Scarlett bring me true happiness?
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Scarlett
“Bring us another round!” Sofia declares, smiling mischievously at the bartender. “My girl needs to turn that frown upside down.”
It’s Friday night and even though I bailed on work today, Sofia insisted that it shouldn’t prevent us from going to happy hour. After all, if anyone needs to get happy, it’s me. Think of it as an early Galentine’s, she’d said.
Honestly? I didn’t have the strength to turn down cheap drinks.
I tossed and turned all night, wondering if I’d gone too far with Nick. Knowing I’d said things I could never take back. Things he’d never forget, and probably wouldn’t forgive. Everything I said was true, but just because Nick can dish out real talk doesn’t mean he can take it.
Not when it comes to his personal life, anyway.
“Are you hungry?” Sofia turns back to me as the bartender, a cute Black guy with a killer smile and powerfully built arms, mixes us another round.
Sof hasn’t noticed him flirting with her, but only because she’s focused on the train wreck that is me. Poor guy. Any other night, she’d probably flirt right back.
I make a mental note to try happy hour again some other night when I’m not such garbage company. Who knows? Sexy shaker guy could be her Mr. Right.
“Giiirrrl.”
“Sorry.” I tuck my hair behind my ears and offer a weak smile. “I’m not hungry.”
My appetite is nonexistent. And while I know drinking on an empty stomach is a bad idea—a fact any college freshman can confirm—I can’t bring myself to care. Not when alcohol is dulling the pain of last night’s heated exchange with Nick.
“Remember what I told you.” Sofia plants a hand on her hip. “That pendejo isn’t worth it.”
