I’m about to follow after them and save Decker when Rhett appears. Like my night couldn’t get any more stressful.
“I thought you weren’t coming here tonight,” he says when he sees me.
“And I thought you were a faithful man.” I shrug, not offering him any further explanation. “I’m about to leave, though, don’t worry.”
“I’m not worrying, this is your family too,” he says, coming closer and looking down at me. “I’m sorry about before. I shouldn’t have been there with her. I fucked up, Cara.”
“Yes, you have. We can’t be together, Rhett. It’s just not what we both want, and not how I thought my life would be,” I admit, as we wrap our arms around each other. “And tonight you proved that you feel the same. We need to stop this cycle from continuing, and I’m not happy. I still love you, I always will. You were my best friend before we were lovers, and you will always be that to me.”
Breaking up with a man is easy.
Breaking up with your life-long best friend?
Not so much.
We always thought we’d be together forever. Maybe with so much pressure on us, we were doomed from the start.
But just because I came from this life doesn’t mean I’m supposed to end up with a Wind Dragon and all of the drama that comes with that. The other women seem to make it work, though, so maybe it’s just me and Rhett. We can’t seem to, but we can’t seem to fully let each other go, either.
Now is the time we need to.
He swallows and shakes his head. “This can’t be the end for us, Cara. You can’t give up that easily. No relationship is perfect. We can work on it.”
I don’t know why he’s still in denial about us when it’s his actions that have caused this. He might not say it, but with how he’s been acting, I know he doesn’t want to make this work. He just doesn’t want to let go of me either. I’m his safety net, and he doesn’t want to lose that. But that’s not a reason to stay with someone. I can still be there for him as a friend, just like I was before we got together as a couple.
“We can still be friends,” I say, wincing as I realize how cliché that sounds. “I’m still here for you, Rhett. We just aren’t working out. I need someone to put me first, someone who I can trust and rely on. Someone who wants to settle down, get married and have kids.”
He ducks his head, because he knows that he’s not there yet. He’s still planning MC world domination, or whatever they do. He doesn’t want to be at home with kids.
“I don’t want to fight with you anymore,” he murmurs. “We never used to fight.”
“I know.” Remembering Decker and how he’s probably being interrogated by Dad and Arrow, I kiss Rhett on the cheek. “Now you can live your life without worrying about me. Be president and enjoy all that comes with that.”
“I don’t want to give up on us, Cara. I have hope we’ll find a way back to each other.”
It sounds like a fairy tale, but I don’t know if I believe in fairy tales anymore.
I smile sadly and head back outside, where I see Decker sitting between both men. At least he’s unharmed. He doesn’t look uncomfortable either, so he must have won them over or he’s got a damn good poker face.
“What’s going on here?” I ask, pulling up a chair and joining them.
“Just having a friendly chat,” Decker replies, green eyes dancing with amusement. He runs his hand through his dark hair and winks at me. “They were telling me how your uncle Arrow here has been to prison for murder.”
“Let me guess and he’s not afraid to go back?” I add, smirking. Yeah, we’ve all heard Arrow tell this story to any man he wants to scare away from the women in the MC.
“Exactly,” Arrow adds in. “And Cara is a good woman. You won’t find any better.”
“I thought you were trying to scare me off her?” Decker points out.
“They want you to leave me alone but also to appreciate me,” I say, laughing.
Dad shakes his head at me. “My daughter can look after herself. She was raised like that, but the bottom line is if anything happens to her, we will kill you.”
“Good to know. And yes, I know she can look after herself. She already almost pulled a gun on me when we first met.”
Dad arches his brow at me, while Arrow just laughs, a deep, booming sound. “Well, then. We all know where we stand.”
I don’t know where the hell I stand.
“Why would you need to pull a gun, Cara?” Dad asks, suspicion racing in his gaze.
“Long story,” I admit, wishing we didn’t accidentally tell him that part. I give Decker a look and he mouths Sorry to me.
Dad seems to accept that for now, and we all continue with our conversation. They’re all giving Decker shit, but nothing has happened between us, and I literally just broke up with Rhett, so nothing will. At least not now.
Clover comes over and sits down on my lap. “You all right?”
I nod, and notice her watching Rhett coming outside to join everyone. “I’m fine.”
At least, I will be.
I feel sad, like I’ve failed somehow, and maybe a little disappointed. No one would have expected us to break up. But at the same time, I feel like this is the right thing to do.
Clover kisses my cheek and whispers in my ear, “I don’t know who to ask about first, Rhett or Decker.”
I laugh under my breath. “Neither is mine.”
“Seriously, though, what’s going on with you and Decker? You’ve been by his side all night. I can’t believe you two even know each other. Felix has always said he’s a good guy, but he’s also a bit of a player. So if you wanted to get under someone new, he’d definitely have the experience.”
I shake my head in amusement at her advice. “He’s a cool guy, we’re just chatting. Friends—I’m allowed to have ones with penises.”
She throws her hands up. “I’m just saying.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be Team Rhett? He’s your best friend, too.”
“Yeah, but I’ve been Team Rhett for years and after what he pulled tonight, I never should have been. What he did was wrong and I’m done defending him. All I want is for both of you to be happy, and right now, it’s obvious you are not happy with each other.”
She’s not wrong.
Although her added “right now” means that she might think that at some point we could work out. I’m not so sure. For me, I think it’s now or never, and with how things are panning out, it’s clear we are heading toward the never.