“No.” She slammed the car door and went around to the other side to finish buckling in Brady.
“Mommy why are you mad?” the little boy asked.
She glared at me then turned back to her son. “Because Uncle Ash and Natalie are liars.”
Brady gasped. “They lied?”
“They did.”
“Why’d you lie?” Brady asked from the back seat.
Oh God. This was awful. “I didn’t mean to lie.”
“It was an accident?” the little boy asked. The innocence of his question made my lie of omission feel so much worse.
“Umm...”
Beth turned and glared at me. “Don’t you dare lie to my kid,” she snarled.
“I wasn’t going to.” I chewed my bottom lip as I glanced at the two little ones in the backseat of her car. “Can you close the door? I really don’t want to have this conversation like this.”
I wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but thankfully she finally shut the door and stepped forward.
My feet felt glued to the driveway, and I didn’t seem to be able to take a step toward her. My heart pounded in my chest. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little afraid. Not because I thought she’d hit me or anything. Okay, maybe I was a little afraid of that too. But mostly because I didn’t have a clue what she would do. I’d never seen her this angry before in my life. I’d expected her to be a little unhappy, but nothing like this.
Beth glanced at the kids in the backseat, then faced me. She widened her stance and shook her head as if I disgusted her. “I can’t believe you’re willing to throw away our friendship for a fling with my brother.”
My stomach knotted. “I didn’t realize I was.”
“How could you not? I told you the first time I met you my brother was off limits.”
“Come on, Beth. We were twelve years old. You can’t really expect that stupid pact to still hold.” Could she? Judging by thepissed-off look on her face, she thought so. “I didn’t honestly think you still cared. I mean, you’ve been teasing me about your brother since I got here. I didn’t realize it would bother you this much.”
“How could you not?” she demanded.
“I don’t know because we aren’t twelve anymore, calling dibs on a boy we like.” I gaped at her. Was she kidding me right now? “You married Brian. I kind of assumed it didn’t matter since we’re adults now.”
“Please tell me Ash is not the reason you’re thinking of staying,” she snarled.
“Not entirely…” Was Ash a factor? Of course he was.
Beth snorted. “I never thought you’d be one of those girls.” With a disdainful sneer, Beth looked my body up and down. Damn it, I wish I wasn’t standing out here in nothing but Ash’s T-shirt. “But I guess I should have. You’ve always been so desperate to be loved and accepted.”
Ouch.
Pain lanced through me and I sucked in air as the jab stole my breath. Is that really what she thought of me? I thought we were friends. What the hell was happening here? Where was this coming from?
I closed my eyes and took a breath. I’d never seen this side of Beth before. It was like every venomous feeling she had about her life was now directed at me.
“You don’t have anything to say?” Beth growled.
“Nothing nice.” I replied honestly.
I wanted to lash out at her like she’d just done to me, but I didn’t want to stoop to her level. That wasn’t who I was. Or at least I tried really hard not to be. “I’m going to leave before we say something we can’t come back from.”
“That already happened when you screwed my brother.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way.” And I was. Would I have allowed myself to cross that line with Ash if I’d known my friendship with Beth would be over? Probably not. But I couldn’t regret it. This was Ash. He was everything I’d ever wanted and so much more than I’d ever dreamed I could have.
