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My throat tightened, and I ignored the sting of tears in my eyes. Since I’d moved here, I’d felt like I’d come so far, yet here I was, vaulting back rock bottom again. I yanked a T-shirt over my head, my heart thump, thump, thumping so hard it deafened. I didn’t know what was worse—walking out there to find both Sam and Nina gone or walking out to find them still there.
I didn’t want to lose either, yet I had the feeling the moment I stepped through this door, I’d be down either my best friend, whom I’d known most of my life, or the woman I was falling for.
I sucked in a breath, slightly dizzy, aching like a motherfucker, and definitely discombobulated as I walked out of my room.
Sam was gone.
Nina sat on the couch, her gaze full of every ounce of accusation I’d expected. My stomach did a barrel roll. This morning wasn’t going the slightest way I’d thought it would—not with Sam bolting out the door and leaving me to deal with her sister. Tears glistened in Nina’s eyes, and I sagged onto the couch beside her.
Fuck, I was such a dick.
My eyes stung, but I refused to break down. Nina deserved this conversation, one I should’ve had with her before I started sleeping with her sister.
“How could you?” she said before I could say a word. “You know what Sam did to our family, how she left us. It’s bad enough that you never mentioned her once, but this?”
Irritation prickled through me, mixing into the soup of other emotions that was fast approaching full boil.
So many years of unanswered questions.
Sam might not be here now, but at least I knew why. That had been the unvarnished truth that night at the Rail Park.
“Yes, I absolutely should’ve mentioned her,” I said, my hands forming fists on my thighs. The slight sting in my palms kept me grounded as I stared at them. Looking up at Nina would break me, and I needed to get through this. “I’m sorry for that. I’m not sorry for associating with her, though. The only one who told me what happened back then was Sam—not your parents, and not you.”
A bitter laugh came from Nina. “And what bullshit did she feed you? A sob story about how terrible my parents were to her?”
My stomach twisted, and the first tendrils of doubt tried to take hold. I sucked in a sharp breath, remembering the way Sam had broken down, the tears glistening in her dark eyes. “Okay, I’m here now, Nina, and I’m listening. Tell me what happened.”
“She fell in with a bad crowd, started using drugs. And then she told Mom and Dad she didn’t want to see us anymore. Not either of them and not me. So fuck her. If she wants to throw away her family, fuck her.” There was a bite to Nina’s words of long-suffered wounds, but between both stories, only one was believable.
My mind reeled. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t placed the pieces together a lot earlier, but everything started to make sense. All I needed was a single answer to confirm my suspicions.
“Hey, Nina. Why don’t we ever go over to your folks’ place anymore?”
Her brows drew together. “What do you mean?”
“When we were younger, we were there all the time, and you used to invite me over to family parties and stuff. I know you don’t even go to a lot of them now, but junior year was when I noticed the shift,” I murmured, keeping my voice soft.
She glanced away. “I don’t see what this has to do with anything.”
“It’s the whole point.” My heart was thudding a thousand miles a minute. I needed her to see, to understand.
“My folks…aren’t the most tolerant people,” she said, refusing to look my way. “They’re still amazing parents, but I didn’t want them saying something rude around you about…well, you know.”
I swallowed hard. Yeah, I knew.
Unfortunately, Nina didn’t.
I reached over and clasped Nina’s hands in mind. “Nins. I get you’re hurt, and you have every right to be. I know you’re furious with me. However, I need you to think, really think about the situation between you, Sam, and your parents. Someone was lying to you, but not who you believed it was.”
Her mouth dropped open, but I pushed up from my seat on the couch. As much as I wanted to sit here and continue the conversation with Nina, a few things had become clear to me.
Most of all?
As much as I felt like I was about to hit rock bottom again, I still had a home to go back to.
Sam had lost the option.
“I never wanted to hurt you. You’re my best friend in the whole universe. The fierce to my cheer, the only person I’d let drive my car, mostly because you’re a better driver.” My chest squeezed tight, and I ignored the thickness in my throat. “When it comes to Sam, I’ve always been a little crazy. She was my first crush—my lesbian awakening, and a large part of why I started looking into MMA. And when I ran into her? Hell, I just lost my mind. I want to continue this conversation but with all three of us. If you need to leave, if you need time, I understand. But if you want to stay, I promise we’ll talk this through.”
