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“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, dropping his hands to his sides. “If this has been going on for a while now, why have you kept it from me?”
“C’mon, man,” I sighed heavily. “You act like betraying you came easily or something. You trusted me with one of the most important people in your life, and…though I know how wrong I am, it was easier to betray you than lose her.” Staring him straight in the eye, I said, “I love her, Talon. Having always loved the special person that she is, it wasn’t all that hard to fall in love with her once feelings got introduced into the dynamic of our friendship. She’s an incredible girl, and even though it might cost me your friendship, I’ve never felt like this before. I’m ready to follow her anywhere, and I wouldn’t be risking our friendship and everything that we’ve been to each other if I wasn’t absolutely sure that Edie was it for me.”
After a very uncomfortable moment of silence, he asked, “And you’re certain that Edie feels the same way about you?”
“She says she does.’ I shrugged.
“So, the first guy that she kisses is going to be the only guy that she ever kisses?” he questioned. “You’re going to be the beginning and end of her life experiences?”
“Yes,” I answered, a little bite in my voice. “I’m all that she will ever fucking know, no matter how many times she runs out to change the world. No one else will ever touch that girl, Talon. Edie’s mine. Edie’s mine, and if that costs me your friendship, then…I’m not sure what I’ll do. However, I do know that giving her up isnotan option for me. It never will be.”
“You guys shouldn’t have lied to me,” he said, ignoring everything else. “You guys should have told me the second that you decided this.”
I nodded in acknowledgement. “I was a coward, and she was scared of letting you down.”
“Edie could never let me down,” he said, giving me some hope.
“I’ll let you convince her of that,” I drawled out.
Talon eyed me for a bit. “And what happens if it doesn’t work out?”
“That’s not happening,” I told him. “Over my dead body will it not work out between us.”
After another long stretch of silence, he finally said, “Lars, you and Hunter have been my best friends since I could walk. Hell, I know you guys as well as I know my sister.”
“Yeah, and?”
“Honestly, I can’t think of a better guy for my sister to end up with,” he said, surprising me. “I’ll always trust you with Edie, Lars. I just wish you guys would have trusted me enough to tell me the truth.”
“Tal-”
“Enough,” he said, throwing his hand up to stop me. “We’re good, Lars. We’ll always be good.”
Thankful enough for my knees to weaken, I said, “Thank you, Talon.”
~
Edie~
Iwas staring out of my bedroom window, Kenzlee and Mom catching up in the living room without me. When we’d left the Grants’ earlier, I’d known that Lars was going to talk to Talon about us, and I’d never felt so nervous in all my life. A part of me had wanted to tell Talon together, but there was no way that Lars would have gone for that. I wasn’t sure what it was about guys, but that sense of masculine power was a real thing for them.
When Mom, Kenzlee, and I had gotten home, I had immediately feigned a headache, needing a moment to gather my thoughts. If Talon ended up disapproving of my relationship with Lars, I was going to be devastated. Now that there was a real possibility that I might have to choose between Talon and Lars, I realized how unfair it’d been for me to ask Lars who he’d pick if put in the same position. If Talon disapproved of us, then there’d be no winners in this situation.
Suddenly, my quest for maturity and independence had turned into something deeper and way more complicated, and that seemed unfair. All I’d wanted was a boy to take me to the movies, but I’d ended up with Lars and a whole lot of heartache instead.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t forget or ignore the way that he made me feel, and it wasn’t the sex. Yeah, I was still reeling from the new experiences and complicated emotions that came with sex, but it was more than that. I felt Lars everywhere, and most importantly, I trusted him. I had trusted him as a little girl, and I trusted him now. He’d been family before what we were now, and how easy was it for a girl to lose herself to a boy that she trusted? Trust was everything in a relationship, and I’d had that with Lars even before we’d begun to date.
“You know, you could have told me.”
I whirled around, my hand on my chest, Talon’s surprise appearance stealing my breath. “Jesus Christ,” I rushed out breathlessly. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” he said as he walked further into my bedroom.
Letting out a calming breath, I said, “I see that Lars finally told you.”
“Why didn’tyoutell me, Edie?”
“Because Lars had insisted on being the one to tell you,” I semi-lied. “He was adamant about being a man and telling you face-to-face.”
