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“I thought about you every single day. You know that, don’t you?”
“Why does it feel like you’re saying goodbye to me?”
“The picture on my nightstand.”
I sucked in a breath, waiting on his every word.
“I loved that dress on you. I was with Cade when he bought it for your birthday. I was the one who picked it out for you.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, remembering, “Oh my God. That was taken on my sixteenth birthday. How did I forget that?”
“When you came out of the bathroom wearing it, I had to get a picture of us, but I never thought Cade would jump in it. I played it off like it wasn’t a big deal. I perfected it over the years. I never let you see what I didn’t want you to. It’s the only way I survived us.”
“Adrian, please…” I begged for I don’t know what.
The truth beneath his lies?
“I kept that picture for one reason and one reason only.”
This blast exploded right in my face when he added, “It was the moment I realized I was in love with you, and always had been.”
I fell back onto the floor, unable to handle the impact of his blow.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be the man you needed me to be until now.”
I watched as he stood tall, looming over my small frame like a dark shadow when he was supposed to be the light.
With each step that brought him closer to the door, I felt a little more of myself disappear. I thought he was going to leave me. I never expected how he’d betray me this time…
It wasn’t through his lies or actions.
It wasn’t through the women in his life.
It wasn’t through our past or future.
His purgatory came in the form of my biggest demon.
Adrian opened the door, and I came face to face with…
His brother.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Paige
Seeing Cade for the first time in over a decade immediately had tears streaming down my face. My best friend grew up. No longer the nineteen-year-old boy standing before me. In his place stood a man, who looked handsome as ever.
I saw every smile we ever shared.
Every laugh.
Every time he told me he loved me, and I was his best friend for life. No matter what…
It was me and him.
The memories of our past fell on top of my head like the rain of a thunderstorm, destroying everything in its path.
I tried to stay in the moment, the present, but my mind wouldn’t let go of the past. Not when the both of them were standing in front of me for the first time since Cade found out the truth about us. They were standing a few feet apart, the same way they were now.
