I did. I remembered vividly. It was mortifying for me to watch. They were going at it. Their navy ties were pulled away from their necks; blood and grass stained their white shirts and khakis. My stomach was in knots.
Christian was my boyfriend at the time, but I wasn’t worried about him at all. I was worried about Eric. He was hurting, and there was nothing I could do to make it stop. And that was the start of me shutting off my feelings.
“Yeah, I remember. You gave up in the end.”
Christian remembered the fight correctly. Eric did give up after we locked eyes. Something passed between us. Hurt? Sadness? I never did decipher what it was, because by that time, I’d pushed him so far out of my life it was like looking at a stranger.
“You and everyone else thought that was our fight to the top. Who wanted to be the almighty king of English Prep. Eric or Christian?”
I heard a faint snicker, which likely came from Ollie.
“I wasn’t fighting to become the stupid fucking king, Christian.”
Christian’s voice wavered. “Then why were you?”
Eric’s laugh was cynical. “I threw the first punch because I was so fucking sick of seeing you and Madeline together. I was so sick of hearing how you fucked her like she was nothing to you.” There was a pause, and I was at the edge of the bed, eager to hear more. “I fucking had her first, and then she shut me out and somehow fell right in your arms, and you didn’t care about her at all. You didn’t even ask the important shit! Like why she never invited you to her house! Why you never met her father! Why she was so fucking standoffish to every single person she’d ever come into contact with.”
Oh my God. This was bad. This was so bad. I felt so incredibly small hearing him talk like that. I hurt him when I shut him out. I hurt him even more when I dated his best friend.
I fucked Eric up. Me. I did that.
Christian was absolutely right. I was no good for Eric.
The first time I shut him out was because I was selfish—only worried about myself. This time? I’d be the selfless one. I was all wrong for Eric. And eventually, he’d see that.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Eric
My fists opened and closed a thousand times as I stood staring at my two best friends with their slacked jaws and wide eyes. Ollie was bouncing his eyes back and forth between Christian and me, likely wondering which of us was going to throw the first punch.
I couldn’t help myself from shouting. “So you’re going to stand there and tell me she’s no good for me? Well, then what the fuck were you to her for all those years? Huh?”
Red began to paint the corners of my eyes. The room was closing in. I was fucking pissed, and it was mostly irrational because Christian and Madeline both were nothing more than fuck buddies with a loose title, but still, the thought of her being so fragile and breakable was in the forefront of my mind.
Madeline hid some serious fucking shit. But no one even dared to dig a little, not even her boyfriend at the time.
“I never said I was good for her. We all know I was f
ucked up before Hayley.” He looked concerned, his dark brows crowding together as he walked around the living room, stepping over Madeline’s bra with his hands on his hips. “So, what? What’s so wrong with her life then?”
I paused, glancing at the steps that led upstairs to where she was sleeping. If there was one thing I knew about her, it was that she wanted to keep things private. It was the whole reason she’d been so detached.
“Just know you aren’t the only one with skeletons in your closet, okay? And back the fuck off. You had your chance with her. You don’t get to ask those questions anymore.”
Christian’s jaw ticked as he glared at me. Ollie stood up, half coming in between us. But after a few passing seconds, Christian’s face relaxed like something came over him. “You know very well I’m not acting this way because I care about Madeline, Eric. Don’t get jealous. I care about you, Eric. You are my—" He glanced at Ollie before shaking his head. “Our best friend. We just want you to be smart. You’ve been distant, and for a while there, you drank yourself into a fucking coma at every party.”
I sighed, glancing away. Yeah, well. Shit happens.
“I don’t approve of you and Madeline because I think she’s sketchy. I think she’ll fuck you over eventually. It’s what she does. I’ve seen her do it to many, many people.”
His words were digging himself into a bigger hole, but I still couldn’t fathom telling him what I knew. What she was going through.
“People change,” Ollie’s voice barely registered. “You did.” He was looking at Christian with his brows raised to his hairline. “And not to pick sides or anything, but it’s been proven to us, time and time again, that we don’t always know what goes on behind closed doors.” He shrugged. “Take my girlfriend, for example.”
We all stopped and stared at each other, a trio of brothers at a loss for words. Christian eventually dropped his gaze and backed away. He gave me one more glance before turning around and stalking off to the front door. “You better watch her, Eric. She has sharp claws.” Before he left my house, he stopped with one foot out the door. “And if I knew she was yours first, I would have never fucking touched her. You know that, right?” He glanced back at me, and for the first time in all of our lives, I saw a sliver of remorse in his eye.
I nodded. “It’s true what they say, you know.”