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"No, I didn't. You ended things and left Spain."
"You didn't come after me. You let me! You let me say those words, and you just sat there. You liked it. You were getting your freedom, and you wanted it!" Tears were rolling down my face. I ignored them. "You weren't there for me. I had to rely on Corrigan because you buried yourself in soccer. And when it was painfully obvious that things weren't good between us—you did nothing. You wanted soccer more, Bryce! You chose everything else except me. You're still doing it. You're with her!"
"No, I'm not. Mathias wanted this—"
"—I slept with Corrigan!" I cried out as my tears blinded me. "I slept with him, because a part of me fell in love with him. He was there for me. You weren't."
I waited with my heart pounding and chest heaving.
Bryce said nothing on his end.
"You still aren't here for me. You keep choosing her over me."
Bryce still didn't say anything.
I stopped and dry heaved. I held the phone with shaking hands. As I closed my eyes, I wanted to hear him say something. I needed to know what he felt, the slightest of an inkling how he felt, but there was nothing. When someone cleared their throat, I looked up and saw Denton. He didn't move or say a word.
I held his gaze and spoke into the phone, "I won't be with someone who doesn't make me his first priority. You were always first for me, Bryce. You always will be, even if we're not together anymore."
I waited and then saw Denton's reaction. He closed his eyes and his face seemed to shut off from me. He straightened in the doorway and nodded before he turned to leave.
Then I heard Bryce say, so faintly, "Okay, Sheldon. I understand."
He hung up, and I was left without any answers.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The next day I stayed in bed. The doc knocked a few times and changed my bandages, but she said I was healing fast. She'd only need to change them a few more times, and then I'd get a clean bill of health. As she said this, I noticed a hard edge in her voice. She seemed more business-like, less friendly. A part of me wondered if it was about Denton; no doubt she heard his proclamations.
Denton poked his head once, but I threw a book at him. His voice was muffled through the door a second later. "I'll come back tonight."
"Just try it." I glared at the door.
Then I remembered who I should've been mad at. Denton hadn't cheated on me. He'd been the messenger. Feeling horrible, I buried my head in the pillows and rolled over with my blanket. If I were one to listen to sad music, it would've been blaring. I felt like I kissed both my best friends goodbye. No pun intended.
A few hours later, I heard another knock on my door. As I sat up, I rubbed at my eyes and realized that I must've fallen asleep. When I looked at the window, I was surprised to see it was dark.
"Who is it?"
There was a moment of hesitation before Denton replied, "You have…open this door, Sheldon." His voice was muffled, but I heard the weird tone in his voice.
I scratched my face and dragged my feet over. Then, because I was curious, I opened the door and saw a Denton that I'd never seen. He looked like he had to vomit, but I knew that wasn't right. "What it is?"
He cleared his voice and gestured down the hallway. "You have visitors."
My eyes went wide. My mouth dropped. And for the first time in a long time, I was scared. "Who?"
His eyes flashed in sympathy. "I think you know who."
Shit.
My stomach bottomed out, and I wondered if my guts were on the floor. "I can't go down there."
"They came a long ways."
My eyes bulged out this time. "They?!"
Denton nodded, looking resigned. "Yep. They both came, Sheldon."
"Quick. Alcohol."
Denton smiled and squeezed my hand. "I think you need to face this one sober. They deserve that."
"What's with you? I thought you'd be happy that things aren't good with me and them. You're their loudest cheerleader now."
Denton shrugged and leaned against the doorframe. "Contrary to what you think of me, I'm actually not the selfish s.o.b. you think I am. I'd snatch you up in a second. I will if those two don't make you happy, but I've seen how you are with them. They're your family. You love them unconditionally—I can tell. They might screw up. You might screw up, but as long as you guys keep going to each other, it'll always be you and them. Don't get me wrong. The second I don't think you're happy, I'm coming in and I'm coming in hard. I'm not scared of those two."
I found myself fighting against a grin. "Maybe they should be scared of you."
Something flashed in him, but it was unreadable and gone in a second. Then he took my hand and nudged me forward. "Go. They're waiting for you."
One foot fell in front of the other, and I found myself going down the hallway. I looked back once, but Denton nodded in encouragement. When I turned down the stairs, I could feel their presence. It was looming and suffocating. My shirt felt like it was constricting me at the throat. They weren't speaking, but I knew they were there. There'd always been something about both Corrigan and Bryce. Neither had to say a word, but all eyes went to them. They held some unspoken power, each of them. As I stepped off the last step, I felt that same power turn towards me.
Then I took a deep breath and looked up. They had varying expressions of hostility on their faces. Bryce glared from the middle of the room and Corrigan straightened from the couch. They turned and squared their shoulders at the same time.
I gulped. This was not good. My heart started to pitter-patter like a horse race.
Bryce stepped forward in a calm and methodical move, but his eyes were fierce. It scared the crap out of me. With his arms folded over his chest, he forced himself to take a deep breath. "You want to tell me why we found you at Denton Steele's cabin?"
Corrigan jerked forward too. "You lied to us."
I saw his eyes and heard what else he thought. 'You lied to me.'
"I'm sorry I lied, but I felt like I had to."
They jerked forward, stopped, and looked at each other. Each gave the other an uneasy look, but it was barely kept in check by the fury each harbored. Then Bryce bit out, "You have some nerve, Sheldon." He clenched his fists again, glanced at Corrigan, and stepped backwards. It was as if he was removing himself from us.
Corrigan jerked to the side in response. After a cursory look at both of us, he resumed his seat on the couch. Then he leaned forward on his knees and looked at the ground. I knew he wanted to check out, but it was too late. He'd already boarded the train to this wreck.
I didn't react to Bryce's comment. I had no justification so I perched on the end of a chair that was beside me and looked out the window. A part of me wanted something to happen, something to distract everyone. Perhaps a moose would pick that time to walk by. Another part of me hoped both would disappear and I'd wake up from the awful dream.
"This is ridiculous. No one's saying anything."
Corrigan looked up. "What do you want us to say? Sheldon lied. We caught her. She doesn't care. Now what?" His tone sounded resigned as if he accepted the situation how it was. Then he shot me a glare that said anything but.
I looked away, but sighed. Bryce was right. This was ridiculous. I started it all the night before, and I should have the balls to nip this in the bud then. If I did, maybe things wouldn't get worse…I didn't know if I could handle that yet. "Okay. I lied. I've lied a lot. Bryce, Corrigan and I never slept together—"
"Well, we did." Corrigan coughed and jumped
up, but regret flared in his eyes a second later. He pulled at his shirt collar and mumbled something underneath his throat.
