Page 93 of Sterling Stone

“So, she broke up with you? Because you put family first.” Taxi shifts, sitting taller. Her irritation evident through the phone screen.

“Not exactly,” I whisper, never wanting to fault Bailey for this sliver of our history.

“What exactly then?” Taxi is even edgier. Like she has sudden issue with a woman she’s never met and she’s bracing to throw down on my behalf.

My head spins a little bit, dizzy at the idea that Taxi is offended on my behalf.

Most people are upset for me, but they’re more upset with someone else. Disappointed in him, like I’d been.

“She slept with my best friend. And they got pregnant.”

“Cortland,” Taxi whispers. Not as shocked as I’d expect, and I consider she must have heard the story like everyone else in this town has. People like to share it, feeling sorry for me, feeling shame with him.

“Un-fucking-believable!” Taxi blurts, throwing me off guard at her adamant disbelief.

She’s not angry at me; she’s angry for me. For the betrayal I endured. Her eyes are fierce, protective, like she’s in my corner even if I didn’t ask her to be.

“Their excuse was grief.”

“What the hell had they been grieving? You lost your father, Stone. And your dreams.”

“I know,” I whisper.

And I remember it clear as day. Cortland standing in my yard, in front of the house I’m still living in. He’d gone to Bailey’s apartment because she called him over. At first, Cort said she seduced him, but quickly he reneged on the accusation, taking ownership for his part in the decision. There were two people involved. He’d been weak.

“Cort said he missed our friendship. A wedge had developed around the time Bailey entered my life.”

“So he slept with her?” Taxi interjects, still appalled by the behavior.

I chuckle without humor. “Yeah, well, Cort and I had a relationship first, I guess. He was my best friend. Cradle to college.”

“Stone,” Taxi whispers, her voice softening.

“Anyway.” I scrub a hand down my face and sit forward in my office chair, the damn thing creaking beneath me. “The hardest part was . . . well, there were several. For the first time in my life, I had something that was mine. Someone who was only for me.”

I swallow an unexpected lump in my throat, which makes no sense being there because it has been more than two decades since I lost Bailey.

“I hardly remember much before I was twelve years old, and then I was thrown into raising Vale as a baby and caring for Sebastian and Ford as toddlers. Then my dad dies, and I’m back at it again. I’d been taking care of others my entire life, and I finally had someone who would take care of me. Or so I thought.”

I choke back that thick lump. “I mean, I thought Bailey loved me. But Cort . . . Cort was the harder hit. He was my best friend. He stood by my side through all of it. He was my person as much as I thought she was, if that makes any sense.”

“It makes perfect sense,” Taxi confirms.

“Going off to college was the first break I’d gotten in life. A chance for me.” I tap weakly on my chest, having never confessed these feelings to anyone before. “I had a future. I had a plan. And my fucking dad . . .”

The lump is back. Dammit. What is happening to me? Why am I opening up to this woman?

Because she’s listening . . . to me.

“So selfish,” I whisper, instantly chastising myself. He’d been heartbroken and then sick. Alcoholism. What a wicked disease.

“I’d wanted something for myself,” I quietly admit. “And instead, I’d lost one of the most important people to me.”

“Bailey?” Taxi asks.

“Cortland,” I confess. The ache for my old friend was bigger than the loss of Bailey.

I’d never really asked Cort to stand by me either. He just did it. He’d chosen me. As his friend. As his brother from another mother. And then he chose her. One night. One mistake.