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“Yeah,” I say my brain racing so fast, I don’t know what to think.
“Who knew you were going to be there?” Jeremy asks.
I shrug. “I guess all the guys knew, and their wives, but none of them did this. I mean, it could have been anyone, right?” I won’t believe Harper was responsible for this. I can’t.
“I don’t know what to say, bud. I think you need to talk to her.”
I tug my phone from my pocket, and phone her. She doesn’t answer, and my heart stalls when three little dots appear.
“She’s texting,” I say to no one in particular as my heart pounds in my ears.
I fill my lungs and hold my breath as those three dots appear for what feels like a lifetime. Jesus, is she writing a book? Her message finally comes in, and air leaves my lungs in a whoosh.
* * *
Thanks for all you’ve done with Gavin. He’ll be in school soon, and you’ll be on the road, so we’ll be leaving the big brother program.
* * *
Formal. Curt. No mention of us, a future together—as a family—all the things I want. Nope, just a couple of words to effectively cut me out of their lives. “No fucking way,” I say around the lump in my throat. “Why is she doing this?”
“Because she got what she wanted from you, Liam. She won the goddamn lottery with you,” Jeremy points out. He huffs. “Why the hell do you look so shocked? This isn’t the first time a girl screwed you over.”
Won the lottery.
“She’s not like that,” I say, defending her through clenched teeth as old hurts surface. Harper knew who I really was. She saw and like the guy I was behind closed doors. I’m sure of it. She’d never sell me out…never.
He holds his phone up. “Who knew you were going to be in the mountains, outside on the deck having sex, for Christ’s sake?”
I tug on my hair, and try to wrap my brain around all this bullshit. “I didn’t even know I’d be having sex on the deck.”
“Did Harper? Did she ask to go outside?” I resist the urge to punch Jeremy in the face just to shut him up, to stop putting doubts in my brain.
“Yes, but…it’s not like that. She’s not like that.” I glance at my buddies. “Right? I mean you guys met her.”
“I met her,” Cole says. “I liked her a lot.”
“You don’t think she was behind this?”
“Liam—” he begins, a worried look on his face.
I shake my head and cut him off. “You’re all fucking wrong.”
Cole’s brow furrows. “You two need to talk. That’s all I was going to say. You love her. It’s easy to see, and you wouldn’t have fallen for her if deep inside you thought she could do something like this.”
“She was running out of here when I arrived, Cole,” Jeremy says, shaking his head at us like we’re idiots. “All her things in a bag. Why do you think she was in such a hurry?”
I glare at him. “Because she saw the pictures and thought the worst.” I exhale, and scrub my face. “I actually didn’t think she’d react that way. I thought she’d at least want to hear my side.” Then again, it doesn’t sound like Jeremy was particularly nice to her, going straight for the jugular by telling her I was using her.
“She didn’t hear you out because she was stabbing you in the back the whole time.” I open my mouth, about to protest. “I’m guessing she got a fair bit of bucks for this,” Jeremy says. “What did she need money for, Liam?” he asks.
I push to my feet. “I’m not listening to this shit anymore.”
I jump in my truck, and Cole slides into the passenger side without a word. He stays silent, as I drive the streets—not aimlessly though, my subconscious has a destination in mind. Beside me, Cole checks his phone and shoots off a text, no doubt letting Nina know his whereabouts. I cast him a quick glance. I want what he has. I want it so fucking bad that I can taste it, and no way is anyone going to take that away from me.
“What the hell are we doing here?” Cole asks when I pull into Randy’s Auto Repairs.
“Getting answers.” I curl my fingers into fists. “With these.”
