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Zeus must be over it too because he doesn’t wait for an invite. He just trots right into my living room and curls up on the rug. I turn back to his owner, annoyed. “I can’t do this with you tonight.”
“An hour, Red. I’ve been waiting for you to answer me for over an hour. You can be pissed at me, but I needed to know you were okay. Was it so hard to just text back and let me know you were alive?” He doesn’t move to come inside like his dog. No, he stays where he is, both feet firmly planted on my porch and both arms crossed over his chest, like he’s the one with the right to be pissed right now.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” That’s it. I feel my last string of sanity snapping and reach a hand out then tug him toward my door. “If you’re going to patronize me like a goddamned child, you need to do it inside the house where it’s warm, asshole.”
He strides into my house like he owns the place.
I guess that’s because he does.
Damn it.
Then with one hand, he pushes the front door closed and cups my face. “I’m not patronizing you. You ran out of the bar like your ass was on fire. You told me not to follow you. I was worried, Wren. I have sisters. And I’d hope, even if they’re arguing with their husbands, they’d still make sure they got home safe.” His eyes skim over my face before his thumbs brush away my tears, and his voice softens. “Why are you crying?”
“You’re not my husband, Kingston. You’re not my boyfriend. You’re not even my friend.” The words leave my lips, but I’m not sure I entirely believe them anymore.
“What if I told you Ishouldbe?” His thumb caresses my cheek, and I lean into it for a hot second before realizing exactly what he just said.
“We don’t even like each other.” I pull away from him and walk into the kitchen so I can fill a bowl of water for Zeus. I feel Sawyer’s body behind me as I turn the faucet off.
His hands grip my hips as his lips brush against my neck. “Yes, we do.”
Why does my body like the sound of that so much?
“You like lying to me, Kingston. And I don’t like liars.” I refuse to turn around and face him. I can’t. Not yet. I’m not sure who I’m angrier with—my sister or him.
“I’ve never lied to you, Wren.”
Well, that makes this decision easier.
I spin around in his arms and push him back. “Yes you did. You lied to me for eleven years.”
He plants his hand on either side of me, gripping the counter and staring straight into my eyes. “Listen to me, Wren, and listen good—because I’m only going to say this once. I’ve never lied to you. Never.”
I take a step back until the counter is cutting into my back, and I can’t escape any further. “Why did you let me believe you were the one driving that night?” I whisper, and as if the words alone are enough to break me, more tears threaten to fall.
Sawyer’s face stays stoically blank. “Wren...”
“No. I just got off the phone with Haley, and she told me everything. Everything,” I sob, giving in to the hurt and pain. “You let me believe you ruined her life.”
He wraps his strong arms around me and rests his chin on my head. “That wasn’t my story to tell, Wren. It was Hayley’s. And I swear to God, I thought you knew. Your parents knew. My parents knew. How the hell did you not know?”
“I didn’t know,” I cry. “Everyone knew but me. You let me hate you for years. I thought you started my sister’s downward spiral. I thought it was all your fault.” I shove against him, but he refuses to let go. “My family was broken for years.Years. How could you let me believe that about you?”
I pound against his chest, and this man just stands there and takes it.
He lets me cry. Sob. Scream.
Until I’ve got nothing left.
Until my legs give out.
Then he carries me to my bed.
This man, who I hated for something he didn’t even do, crawls into bed next to me and holds me while I cry.
At some point in the early hours of the morning, he presses his lips against mine and whispers, “I will never hurt you.”
He moves off the bed and pulls the covers up around me, though, it doesn’t matter. They’re not as warm as his arms were. But I don’t tell him that. I take the coward’s way out and leave my eyes closed, pretending to sleep. “We’re gonna get through this, Wren. I promise.”
