Page 113 of Forbidden to Fall

I didn’t respond because I wasn’t sure how to.

Had James made a couple of questionable decisions? Sure.

Was he the villain my brother and my parents and the town thought him, deserving of eight years of exile?

Absolutely not.

I pulled back and stood up. “We have to tell Ryan.”

His head was shaking before I’d finished.

“It’s not fair to you, James.” I was fired up on his behalf.

Ryan got the girl James had always wanted.

Ryan hurt that girl by kissing the very person she was insecure about.

Ryan was too scared to tell her.

Lily asked James.

James told her the truth.

Lily kissed James.

James kissed her back.

Lily let James take the fall because she was too scared to tell Ryan the truth.

There were plenty of bad decisions to go around, but if I had to choose a victim here, it was James.

“Why won’t you tell them?” I asked.

He searched my face. “Do you really want that? Think about it, Sadie.”

I did.

I thought about the truth of the man I loved being out there. Of people apologizing and treating him kindly.

But then I thought about who would tell Ryan.

James?

Ryan would never believe him.

Me?

He’d think I’d been fooled by James into believing a lie.

Even if he did believe it, then what? We’d light off a grenade in Ryan’s marriage and hope that learning that his wife kissed his best friend somehow led him to being happy I’d chosen his ex-best friend as my boyfriend?

“No,” I agreed softly. I didn’t want that.

I hated that I agreed with him—that the little hope I’d had of resolving this impossible situation was gone. Again.

We both sighed.

“Back to square one,” James said.