“You were never a game.”
“Right… So pretending to be someone you’re not—”
“I am Full Throttle. Nothing I ever told you was a lie.”
“How did you know it was me on the forum?”
“I’ll tell you after you calm down.”
“Tristian…”
Backed into a corner, he admitted, “I snuck into your room one night. You left your laptop open while you were in the shower, and I saw it on your browser history.”
“Wow.” I couldn’t breathe. “You broke into my room before I even knew who you were?! What kind of bullshit is that?”
“I just… I just wanted to know who you were. I swear I didn’t think this would happen between us.”
“Why did you continue lying?”
“I didn’t want to lose that part of you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Belle, whether you want to admit it or not, the way you speak to Chase is different than the way you talk to me.”
“That’s not true.”
“You’re honest with him. You don’t hold back. The way you’d talk about your life or me, it was the only way I knew how you felt about me this entire time.”
“I can’t believe you’re trying to justify this! You lied to me! I told you things in confidence! The amount of torment I’ve had over Chase and you, feeling bad every day because I couldn’t stop talking to Chase. I couldn’t just cut him out of my life. The turmoil of feeling like I was doing something bad. When all along, it was you! I didn’t have to feel bad about anything because I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
“Don’t try to act all innocent. You lied to me too, but you don’t see me losing my shit about it.”
I jerked back. “Lied to you? When did I ever lie to you?”
“You’ve been keeping your little talks to yourself. Not once have you ever mentioned you had feelings for another guy!”
“Feelings for another guy?!” I repeated, getting angrier. “Which was you all along! How dare you throw that in my face? I fell in love with you twice!”
“Exactly! We’re in love. That’s all that matters now, kitten.”
“I can’t ever trust you again, Tristian. If we don’t have trust, then we don’t have anything.”
“Bull-fucking-shit. This isn’t that big of a deal.”
“Why tell me at all? Why not just let Chase disappear?”
“I couldn’t keep it from you anymore. It was tearing me up inside. I want you. All of you. I’m sick of competing with him. With me.”
“Oh, you mean the guilt of lying to me? That’s tearing you up? I could see why that would upset you. Poor Chase or Tristian or Full Throttle! Whoever you’re calling yourself these days!”
I turned around to leave, but he yanked me back to him.
In a stern tone, he bit, “Don’t walk away from me.”
“I can’t even look at you. I’m so beyond mad at you right now. I can’t believe you’d do this to me. The deceit has replaced all the love I have for you.”
“Kitten, I’m sorry about hiding the truth from you, but I never meant to hurt you. Now look at where we are.” He gestured around the open space. “I’m here. With you. On Montgomery territory. After decades of dealing with a bullshit rivalry that has absolutely nothing to do with us! We’re together, and I don’t think that would have happened if it wasn’t for Full Throttle.”