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“No,” Brandon said with a laugh. “There’s no—”
“Even if I hadn’t, you and Brian are sure it’s someone obsessed with me. You know what she’s like. Every word and every look is overly suggestive. And, shit, Bree just called her a psycho. Weren’t you the one who said she was insane and couldn’t keep it in her pants?” I gestured around us to the printed-out pictures and notes. “What about all of this doesn’t scream Litany?”
“Then it’sher,” he said firmly, shifting to look at Scarlet too. “It’sonlyher. Not her and Chase.”
I gave him a look because I was so fucking tired of people dismissing the truth I could feel in my veins just because I didn’t have full access to my memories. “Brandon...” I gave a rough shake of my head and then stepped back to lean against the counter.
“You called hertrash,” Scarlet said, forcing my attention back to her. When my brow furrowed, she shrugged. Her face pinching in a heartbreaking show of defeat. “I told you LT was harmless, and you said, ‘she’s trash.’”
I continued watching her, trying so damn hard to understand what she was telling me. “I don’t...” My head shook. “I don’t understand.”
“After realizingErinwas theTrishin your memories, I couldn’t figure out why your mind had changed her name. Or, at least, the person who it must have really happened with. This morning, Harper said something that reminded me of one of the times you were complaining about how LT was always around. You hated that she was always in your chair—making appointments with you every few weeks—and wanted her to get tattooed anywhere else. By anyone else. That’s when you called hertrash. I’m positive we were at the coffee shop during that conversation and that Erin was there.”
“Shit,” Brandon murmured just as the weight on Scarlet seemed to settle on me.
Pressing heavier and heavier as if I weren’t already under water. Drowning in a sea of unknowns and so much fucking guilt.
“Wait...Harper?” I asked, head slanting. “You talked to Harper?”
“We thought you’d gone to my house to meet her,” Brandon said, then gestured to Scarlet when I looked at him. “We headed straight there from the beach.”
“Got it,” I murmured before meeting Scarlet’s stare again. “So, you already know everything that happened there?”
“From when she got there,” she answered with a small nod.
“And I was caught up on your epic meltdown yesterday,” Bree said cheerfully, ignoring when Scarlet hissed her name to roll her eyes at me. “Kind of mad I missed it. But I’ll allow this one.”
A hum rose in my throat as I let my stare fall to the floor. Thoughts racing as all the bullshit, information, and new memories from the last day fought for my attention.
“What happened yesterday shouldn’t have. I apologized to Erin, and I’m so damn sorry I did that to you,” I began, head bobbing quickly before I lifted my eyes to look at Scarlet again. “Think it just threw me right back to the morning—”
I gave a hard shake of my head and cleared my throat as I once again had to rearrange what was and wasn’t real in my mind. “To what Irememberas the morning I got in the wreck because it was the first time I’ve seen her since. But after we got home yesterday and I calmed down, I could see everything for what it was.
“Her blatant shock yesterday,” I said, lifting my eyebrows because it’d been so damn obvious. I just hadn’t been able to see it in the moment. “The way she’d been looking at usthenand the way she looked at me this morning. It was all different from what I remember.” A hesitant laugh crept up my throat. “Really put things into perspective when she asked about Scarlet probably five times before Harper even showed.” The corner of my mouth tipped up in amusement when Scarlet rolled her eyes. “Apparently, Erin really is trying to take Scarlet from me.”
One second, I was hearing the beginnings of Bree’sDuh,and Scarlet’s laugh.
The next, I was standing a couple feet away from where I’d been as everyone repeatedly said my name.
Scarlet’s hands were curled around my cheeks, trying to get me to look at her, all while I held myself in place. One hand pressed firmly to the fridge. The other gripping the island so tight that my entire body was shaking.
Or maybe that was the crippling pain and sorrow. The rage. The need for revenge—to make himhurt.
All of it rising up and rushing through my veins.
My eyes finally locked on Scarlet’s as the last of the memory faded, but the feelings stayed just under the surface. Stronger than any of the guilt or worry I’d been drowning under.
“Get out.” The demand was all grit and steel as I continued staring at the girl in front of me, searching her eyes. Looking past her worry to the strength and love there. Finally tearing my gaze from her, I glanced from Bree to Brandon and repeated, “Get out.”
“Rude,” Bree said with a scoff.
“Bree.”
“Fine, fine.” She lifted her hands in surrender, but just as she began collecting her bags, she asked, “Wait, what are we going to do about Litany?”
Scarlet looked toward Bree on a delay before focusing on me again. Her brow furrowed and her words coming out slow and uneven. “I don’t know. I’ll probably mention the sketchbook when she’s here on Friday and see how she reacts.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Bree said, looking at all of us like we’d missed something crucial. “Knowing she could be a total psycho, you’re still going to let her come back to your home?”
