“The two have nothing to do with each other, Lola. I was attracted to you from that first day, but I didn’t know you enough to confide in you.” My hand wraps around her waist, and I chance pulling her body closer to mine. “When we had sex, I thought it was a hot hookup with a pain in the ass I was working with. Not defiling a fucking virgin.”
She shoves me away with her hand on my chest. “Fuck you and your defiling. Fine. I didn’t tell you about being a virgin because I wanted you in that moment and I didn’t want to have a very awkward, very personal conversation. And you didn’t tell me you were Penelope’s brother for pretty much the same reason.”
This has to be a trick leading to my downfall. “Yes.”
She doesn’t cross the threshold of my house, but she’s right at the line as she edges closer to my body. “But every time after? After we told each other so many personal things and shared our bodies with each other? You still didn’t tell me.”
“I was trying to find a way.”
“Yeah, well sticking your dick in me was definitely not it.”
I cringe, knowing everything we had, whatever it was, is now gone. She isn’t going to look at me the same way.
“It was sex, Lola. It had nothing to do with the fact that I’m related to Penelope.”
“Even you don’t believe that, Hayden. You know it was a betrayal. Every touch. Every kiss. Every single pleasure filled moan . . .” Her eyes are deadly serious, and I feel a loss greater than any I've ever experienced. “It was all a lie.”
“Lola, you’re a smart woman. Come inside and we can talk about it. I’ll tell you everything.” I reach for her hand, and again, she pulls away from me.
“No.” She raises her hands, and I see tears in her eyes that threaten to kill me. “I need . . .” She puffs angry air from her mouth, and I see her shoulders tremble with anger and sadness. Her eyes linger on my swelling left eye. “I have to go.”
“Don’t.” I’ve never begged anyone in my life, but I hear it in my voice. That’s exactly what I'm doing.
But it doesn’t work. She turns and leaves, her heels clicking on my driveway as she runs to her car.
I watch her leave, wondering if this is the last time I’ll ever see her. I’ve had so many people leave in my life. I’ve left a lot of people behind.
But it’s never felt as bad as this.
I’m so angry I'm shaking as I pull into my drive, not even pulling into the garage. I climb out of my car and walk into the back of my house.
I should be surprised to see Penelope and Linc right outside of my property line on the beach, sitting together in the sand and looking out at the ocean.
Penelope must hear me approach because she turns. “Lola. Thank fuck. What is going on?”
She stands and so does Linc, both coming closer to me. I feel numb as I look at my best friend and see the worry on her face.
Linc looks worried as he looks me over, and I tuck my hand behind my back. I can’t believe I hit him. I’ve never hit anyone in my life. “Lols, what’s up? We’ve been worried.”
“We were about to send a fucking search party after you. You looked crazed when you left.” Penelope takes my non-swollen hand in hers. “What’s going on?”
“He’s your brother,” I blurt out without even thinking in my still numb state.
“What?” Her eyes search mine. “I don’t have a fucking brother.”
My entire body feels heavy, but especially my head as it droops, my eyes taking in the sand below my feet. “You do. Hayden.”
“Your client?” I hear Linc’s booming voice, but I don’t lift my eyes.
“What the hell are you talking about, Lola? I don’t have a fucking brother.”
My eyes lift to meet hers, which is a daunting task. “You do. He admitted it tonight.”
“He’s a fucking liar. Do you really think I wouldn’t have told you if I had a brother?”
Linc wraps a protective arm around her shoulder. “It’s okay, P. Calm down.”
“No.” She turns to me. “He’s a liar. There’s no way. Why do you even think that?”
“He’s from Kansas City.”
She scoffs. “A lot of people are from Kansas City, and a lot of them move here. We did.”
“He had a rough childhood.”
She laughs angrily, folding her arms. “Oh, well. You didn’t mention that. He comes from a shit childhood? Then we must be related.”
“P . . .” Linc’s tone is careful but still a plea to calm down.
Her eyes meet mine. “I’m an only child. And thank god, because my mother was awful. You really think I wouldn’t know if I had a sibling?”
“Your nose. The bump.” I nod my head toward her face. “He has it. And the little golden flakes in your eyes. He has them too.”
“Big deal.”
My eyes move to Linc’s, and I see him processing the information. “It is a big deal. He told me you’re his sister. He admitted it tonight.”
“And you just automatically believe him?”
“I . . .” I don’t know what to believe.
She’s angry, and I can’t blame her. Penelope grew up in hell. Her mother was terrible and treated her so awfully that Penelope never had a good experience with her actual blood-related family.
“I’m going home. I’m glad you’re okay, but he is not my brother.”
Linc looks sympathetically at me as she takes off toward their house, and I nod at him to follow her, which he does.
I go back to my patio and take a seat, staring at the ocean, seriously feeling pain in my hand now.
When I hit him, he looked hurt but not physically, and I feel sick.
“You’re home.”
I turn when I see Asher come out of the door that I didn’t even hear open. He takes a seat next to me, and I barely move. “I am.”
“Good. They were all losing their fucking minds.”
“I didn’t mean to scare anyone.”
He laughs. “I wasn’t scared. Maybe scared for whoever you were going after.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “You still hate me?”
I lay my head on his shoulder, and he doesn’t push me away. “I can’t believe you talked her into leaving, but I'm glad Baz has a safe place to live.”
“You really think you guys had a healthy arrangement?”
“It was ours to figure out, Lola. At least I had Baz there with me.”
I know how much he loves Baz. And I know it ripped his heart out when Viv moved. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not.” I turn to look at his face, and he isn’t joking. But he isn’t all that angry either. “You want to fix everything, Lola. You always have. You’ve put your own life on hold, trying to fix all of us, and it isn’t your place.”
I swallow, my throat feeling dry. “I wasn’t there when I should have been.”
“You mean when you were a teenager? And when you were in college? It wasn’t your place to fix us then either.”
“You guys are my life.”