I turn to her, my disappointment shining. She can’t ever take my side. “He’s kind. He cares about me. He would never hurt me. How is that against your beliefs?”
“He’s not one of us.”
“You mean he’s not kind and considerate? He doesn’t give back to the community? Because he does do that. Or let me point out the real reason. He’s not religious. Because in your eyes it seems that’s what makes a real man.”
“Bridget—”
“No! Admit it. Because he comes from a broken home, it makes him unworthy. Because he’s not a member of your church, it makes him unworthy. How about he loves me? How about he would lay his life down for me? What will ever be enough for you?”
“Hey, are you okay?”
I blink away the memory and look up at Hannah. “Yeah. Fine.” I peer down at the bag I’m working on and cringe.
“You sure? You’ve been mutilating that bow for about ten minutes now.
I rub out the tension in my forehead. “I’m sorry. I just have a lot on my mind right now.” I attempt to un-mangle the bow when Hannah pulls it from my grip.
“Okay, let’s give the poor bow a rest. You know you can talk to me, right?”
Not about this. “I know.” I grab some pink tissue paper and start stuffing the bags.
“Okay. Not sure what that bag did to you, but maybe ease up?”
I drop it. “Shit.”
“And now you’re cussing. That’s it. Spill. I won’t take ‘nothing’ for an answer.”
I’ve been fighting tooth and nail to keep down the hurt and anger. Pretend Chase Steinberg never walked into my life and stole my heart. Then mended it back together just to shatter it. I gave him a piece of me that didn’t belong to him. A piece that should have always been reserved for Jax. But I foolishly handed my heart over and he deceived me, destroying it all over again.
“Oh, Bridget.” Hannah wraps her arms around me, and I fall apart, the tears I’ve been holding back all week coming out in a pained sob. “Please tell me this doesn’t have anything to do with a specific someone who coerced me into giving him information?” I cry harder, which answers her question. “I’m going to murder him. I should’ve known better.”
“No, I’m the one to blame.” I pull away. “I know guys like him. I’m the one who should have seen the signs.”
“He didn’t do anything to you that warrants—”
“Like break my heart?”
She looks back at me with sad eyes. “Wow, I didn’t realize it was that serious.”
I didn’t realize it wasn’t. “I know. So stupid. Who falls in love with a player? I read the signs all wrong. I truly thought he was the one, ya know? Even after Jax. This guy came into my life, pulled me out of the darkness, brought happiness into my world…and I just don’t understand what went wrong. How was I so stupid? How did I believe the things he said? It was all fake, and I just don’t understand.”
“I’m sorry, Bridget. If I would have known his true intentions, I would have never gone along with it. He seemed so genuine, and different. He was changing, and I assumed it was because of you. I wouldn’t have guessed he was playing you. Can I ask what happened?”
I dread reliving that day over. “We were at his place and Kip came over—”
“Wait—Kip knows?”
“No. Chase was too scared to tell him. He asked me to hide in his room. So, I did. Well, his walls are super thin and I heard everything they said. Kipley was saying all these things about Chase. How he took a girl home from the bar just days before. Asking what the update was on another girl he was toying with. The worst thing was, Chase didn’t shut it down. He admitted to the girl and how her time was almost expired.” The tears fall once again.
“Oh, Bridge, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s mine.”
“You did nothing wrong here. He’s the jerk. When I tell Kip—”
I pull back. “Please don’t.”
“Kip is going to want to know this. What Chase did is not okay. He should know better. When Kip finds out—”
“I know. And that’s why you can’t tell him—”
“Tell him what?” I silently plead with Hannah as Kipley walks into the room. “Uh oh, why are you crying? Who do I have to murder?”
“It’s nothing. Just stupid boy drama.” Hannah looks at me, disappointed. She doesn’t like to lie, and I’m making her lie to her brother for me.
“Give me a name and address.”
“It’s nothing,” I speak up. “Really. I’ll be over it by tomorrow.”
Kipley peers down at me, his brows squeezing together. He takes a quick glance at Hannah for intel, before focusing back on me. “You look pretty upset for it to be nothing. You sure? I’ve got nothing on the books tonight. I could use the exercise of digging a large hole.”