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There’s silence, then she clears her throat. "So, your brother asked Cade to take care of you, and he decided the best way was to offer you a role on his team. Then, because he needed your help in salvaging his reputation, he asked you to marry him.”
"Only he didn’t. It’s all a sham," I explain.
"Hmm."
I pout. "What does that 'hmm' mean?"
"It means, when two people pretend there’s nothing to it, there’s always something to it.” A secret smile curves her lips.
I shake my head. “There’s nothing between Cade and me—"
“Yet.” She searches my features. “It doesn’t mean he may not feel that way in the future.”
I shake my hair back from my face. “Oh, that’s not going to happen. Cade is too focused on his career. He enjoys his freedom too much. To him, I’m only an employee, and conveniently there, so he can use me to salvage his reputation.”
“Hmm.” She narrows her gaze on me. “Are you sure about that? The way he looks at you might suggest otherwise.”
I scoff. “You must be mistaking the loathing in his eyes for something else.”
“I’m not sure I’d call it that,” she coughs out.
“You forget, I knew him when he was a teenager. If he felt anything for me, he’d have mentioned it to me then.”
“Or not.” She tilts her head. “It can be difficult for teenage boys to share what they’re feeling.” She laughs. “Not that it changes once they grow up. But you’d think they’d know their minds better, although I’m not holding my breath on that… But you know what I mean, right?"
I nod, then shuffle my feet. "It’s more complicated than that.”
“Meaning?” She looks at me expectantly.
I shift my weight from foot to foot, “I know for a fact that he does hate me.”
“Eh?” She blinks, “What do you mean?”
“I... I caused him to be expelled from school.”
“You did?”
I nod, “He and Knight my brother were best friends, and both were my seniors in High School. I had a crush on Cade, but of course, he never noticed me. I think I was pissed at him, enough that when the rest of his team asked me to help them smear his reputation, I didn’t think twice. I called him for help, and he came right away. They framed him for vandalism. He lost his scholarship and got kicked out. Knight encouraged him to finish school somewhere else, and he did, but as soon as he graduated, he joined a gang.”
“OMG,” Solene gasps out.
“That’s not all.” I squeeze my eyes shut. “He got caught up in a gang war, ended up in the hospital, and Knight had to pull strings to make sure he didn’t go to prison. It’s thanks to Knight, he finally managed to start playing Club Cricket, and the rest ... Well, you know the rest.”
She shakes her head, “Jesus, that’s quite a story.”
I hunch my shoulders. “And it’s all my fault.”
“Hold on, you can’t go blaming yourself for what happened. You were just a kid—”
“Someone who called her brother’s best friend for help, and then when he turned up, promptly betrayed him.”
“We all make mistakes when we’re younger,” she says softly.
I hang my head. “Only mine resulted in Cade’s future imploding.”
“You couldn’t know that.”
“Doesn’t change what happened,” I point out.
