Mouth agape, my dad stares at me.
“Dude,” Cole comments. “Not cool.”
Jace pinches the bridge of his nose. “Why the hell did you do that?”
I shrug. “Because he pissed me off.”
Looking up at the sky, my dad sighs. “Bianca, sweetheart, you could have seriously hurt yourself and others.”
Batting my eyelashes, I put on my sweetest, most innocent face. “I’m sorry, Daddy. It will never happen again.”
My act works because he totally melts, and my brothers concede.
I can practically feel Oakley’s broody gaze boring holes into me.
Fortunately, the firefighters come to the rescue.
“The bathroom is destroyed, but the fire is out and everything else is intact.”
“Thank you,” my dad tells them. “I appreciate it.” He looks at Oakley. “I’ll be away on business this week, but I’ll hire a crew to rebuild the bathroom while I’m gone.” He takes out his phone. “In the meantime, you can take one of the spare bedrooms in the house.”
I can tell Oakley wants to argue, but he’s in no position to.
Turns out my plan worked even better than I expected.
Chapter 14
Bianca
I’m on edge as I walk into the little coffee shop on campus.
Dylan and Sawyer have been blowing up my phone begging me to meet them so we can talk, but I haven’t wanted to because I’ve been so angry.
I thought we were friends. Hell, more than friends.
I considered them my family and knowing they’ve been keeping this lie from me seriously hurts.
However, I’m willing to hear them out because I care about them and being on the outs sucks.
I find them sitting at a booth in the corner, looking as sad as I feel.
“Hey.”
Their faces perk up when they spot me.
“Hey.” Sawyer moves down, making room for me. “How are you?”
“Okay,” I lie.
The moment my butt hits the booth, Dylan pushes a steaming paper cup toward me. “We got you your favorite. Mocha macchiato with a splash of coconut milk.”
I eagerly take a sip. I might be mad at them, but not enough to turn down free caffeine.
Sawyer thrusts a small plate in my direction next, and I’d be lying if I said the yummy goodness on it didn’t make my stomach growl. “And a chocolate croissant.”
Bringing it to my mouth, I take a hearty bite and try not to moan because it tastes incredible.
However, there are more pressing issues at play.
I wipe the flakes off my mouth with a napkin. “Now that you’ve both softened me up with treats, why don’t you tell me the real reason you guys wanted to meet.”
I know why. I just want to hear them say it.
Sawyer’s face falls. “We’re sorry for lying to you.”
“Really sorry,” Dylan chimes in. “We honestly never meant to hurt you.”
I glare at her. “I take it your dad never went back to prison, did he?”
Guilt colors her pretty face. “No.” She slinks down in her seat. “Not to my knowledge anyway.”
My stare bounces between the two of them. “I know you love my brothers, but did it ever occur to either of you that keeping the truth from me would hurt me? Especially after we’ve grown so close.”
“Not really,” Sawyer says.
When my eyes turn hard, she quickly adds, “Not because we don’t care about you, but because we do. We thought we were doing the right thing. The doctors said not to push you and every time you found out something new that happened in your past, you were devastated.”
“It was hard watching you fall apart,” Dylan says. “So when Jace told us not to tell you about the accident in order to give you a fresh start and let you heal…we didn’t object. You didn’t need any more confusion in your life, you know?”
“I get that,” I whisper.
Yet, being left in the dark still infuriates me.
I take another sip of my drink. “Jace isn’t always right, though.”
Dylan gives me a small smile. “He isn’t. But he loves you, Bianca.”
“So does Cole.” Grabbing a napkin, Sawyer dabs her eyes with it. “We all do.”
Next thing I know, Sawyer’s a blubbering mess beside me.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the accident. I just didn’t want to cause you any more pain.”
Sawyer’s always been a softie, but seeing how distraught she is over this has me wanting to throw my arms around her.
Dylan’s face falls. “We were trying to protect you.” Reaching over the table, she squeezes Sawyer’s hand. “We hope you can forgive us.”
My heart sinks. Even though I’m still upset with them, I know their hearts were in the right place.
“I forgive you,” I tell them. “Just don’t lie to me again, okay?”
Dylan’s face lights up. “Deal.”
Sawyer blows her nose. Loudly. “I’m so sorry.”
I can’t help but laugh as I wrap her up in a hug. “God, you’re such a mush.”
She sniffles. “I hate knowing I hurt you.”
I pick up another napkin and wipe the mascara streaks staining her cheeks. “You didn’t do it on purpose.”
I’m taking another sip of my macchiato when the flashback I had last night flits through my head.
Now that we’ve made up, I’m really hoping they can fill in some gaps for me.
“So,” I begin after Sawyer’s settled down. “I’ve been having some flashbacks.”
Dylan and Sawyer exchange a glance.
“What kind of flashbacks?” Dylan questions.
I fiddle with the croissant on my plate. “Ones involving Oakley.”
It’s obvious I was obsessed with him even though he kept turning me down.
Nonetheless, I can’t help but wonder why we were in the car together.
Did I need him to save me from another cliff incident?
Were we driving to the store?
Running away together?
The last one is highly doubtful given he hated me and all, but still.
The possibilities are endless, and I can’t stand not knowing.
“Do you guys know why I was in the car with him that night?”
Sawyer shakes her head. “I have no idea.”
Dylan looks down at her coffee.
“Dylan?” I prompt. “What do you know?”
She blows out a heavy breath. “I care about you, Bianca, but it’s really not my place to tell you certain things.”
“What things?”
She closes her eyes. “Look, we weren’t friends then, so you never told me anything about your relationship with Oak, and he hasn’t told me all that much either.” Leaning back, she folds her arms. “But even if he did, it still wouldn’t be my place to spill. It’s his.”
“Well, it’s not like I can ask him anything since he refuses to talk to me,” I point out.
Frowning, she peers down at her coffee cup. “Maybe that’s for the best.”
I vehemently disagree.
“Or maybe you can persuade him to stop being so stubborn and speak to me?”