Page 304 of Power Play

“How deep was this?”

I wiped at my face. “How deep was what?”

“You and Ryan.” Easton stepped closer. “How serious were you?”

The question didn’t make sense at first. He knew about us. He teased Ryan. He had seen us together in Chicago. All of them had watched how Ryan touched me and how I gravitated toward him in every room.

Then I looked at Bliss and saw the confusion beneath her fear. Aura remained beside the couch with her arms folded across herself, her attention moving between me and Easton.

The men knew, and my girls didn’t know enough.

“We knew enough to understand what Ryan felt,” Easton said. “The guys did. He talked to us because we’re his boys and the only family he has. I figured he told us more than you told the girls, but I didn’t know how much more.”

Bliss pulled away from me slowly. “What is he talking about?”

Aura’s brows drew together. “Cee?”

I couldn’t look at either of them.

The omission rose between us, ugly and undeniable. For months, I had disappeared into Ryan’s apartment. There had been late-night calls, studying, fights, apologies, poetry, mind-blowing sex, and nights spent with his body wrapped around mine. Bliss and Aura knew I had feelings for him. Since the Waffle House the previous weekend, they knew we were sleeping together. They understood my parents were the reason I remained terrified of anyone seeing too much.

They didn’t know the whole truth because I hadn’t trusted anyone with it.

Ryan had trusted the guys.

I had kept him hidden from everyone.

“I’m so sorry.”

Bliss’s hand fell from my shoulder. “For what?”

“Charm,” Aura said. “Tell us.”

“We’ve been together for a while.”

Bliss stared at me. “Together how?”

I pressed both hands against my mouth, but the truth had nowhere else to go. “We were together.”

“Dating?”

I nodded.

Aura’s arms dropped. “You were his girlfriend?”

The word tore something open inside me as I nodded again.

Briggs laughed once, and the sound contained nothing kind. “Not according to Ryan.”

I looked at him.

“He kept trying to lock it down, and you wouldn’t let him because you were scared of your parents and anybody who might judge you for being with a guy like him.”

Bliss covered her mouth. “Oh, Charm. You didn’t.”

“I love him.”

“That wasn’t what I asked.” Her voice remained calm, but tears finally gathered along her lashes. “How long?”