He’s sitting on the floor in the dark, arms folded on his knees. Through the light streaming in from the hallway, I can make out his grim expression, his tie askew, top button undone.

“I’m sorry,” I say as I step into the room. I grimace at how empty the words sound. My own words to Heath echo back to me. “Sorry isn’t enough. Sorry doesn’t erase your actions.”

“I specifically asked you,” he says. “I asked you if you cheated on Heath with him. You said no.”

“Because I didn’t cheat.” A sob tears from my throat.

“And yet Sabrina walked in on you two in Heath’s bed. Was she lying about that? Was she wrong about what she saw?” I’ve never heard his voice so raw, so full of pain.

I squeeze my eyes shut. “She isn’t lying, but she doesn’t understand what happened.”

“I’m guessing only you, Rich, and Heath know that. Because I certainly don’t see you trying to tell me the whole story.” He drags a hand through his thick hair, making a mess of it. “I’m done, Teagan.”

Oh God. After all this time. I thought I could run from the truth. That I’d be safe from it. But now Carter’s walking away.

“I don’t like being lied to, and I’m shit at lying. So maybe I should’ve never agreed to this.” He pushes off the floor and past me. Leaving. Leaving. He stops in the doorway, gripping the frame. “I believed you when you said you were scared of Rich, but you waited until I wasn’t around and met with him. I believed you when you said you didn’t cheat on Heath, but you don’t deny what Sabrina saw. You aren’t who I thought you were. If you’re not someone I can believe, I don’t know how to do this.”

Carter

“Stop.”

I squeeze the doorframe harder. I need to get the fuck out of here. Looking at her hurts too much.

She takes my shoulder and turns me to face her. “You want the truth?”

I want you. But I want you to want me enough to show me your whole self. Ugly insides and all. But I’m too raw to put that out there, and I already know there are parts of herself she’s not willing to share. So instead I ask, “Whose truth?”

She shakes her head. “Isn’t there only one?”

I wanted to tell her about Isaiah. I wanted to tell her how good it feels to know I’m doing something for him. I wanted to kiss and make up and start something real. And instead I’ve found myself in the middle of a disaster created by years of omission, lies, and . . . God knows what else. “This has all happened really fast, Teagan.” I swallow hard. “Last week, I didn’t want to be close to anyone, and then this week . . . It’s been a lot. For both of us. I think it’s a good idea if we both figure out our own shit before we try to figure out if we can work together.”

She opens her mouth, then closes it again. “Okay. I understand. I’m sorry. For everything.”

Walking away is hard, but what’s harder is seeing Rich right outside the back door, his smirking face all the proof I need that he was waiting there for me. “If you don’t believe Sabrina, I have the proof right here.” He grins and waves his phone at me. “Do you have any idea how hot it is to have a woman want you so much she lets you take her in her boyfriend’s bed while he watches?”

I catch a glimpse of the photo on the screen—bare flesh and hands, Teagan’s dark hair. I pull my gaze away and my arm back. Maybe I should be a bigger man, but throwing the punch isn’t hard, and the flare of pain as my fist connects with Rich’s jaw is the best thing I’ve felt in a long time.

Teagan

I don’t know how long I sit on the floor alone in that dark office. I thought the tears would come when Carter walked away, or when I looked out to the parking lot and watched him drive off. They didn’t. I feel too empty to cry. Too shell-shocked from the last twenty-four hours. I can’t cry, but I can’t return to the reception either. All I wanted was to make it through this weekend while staying safe from Rich and keeping my secrets from my family. And I failed. I failed and ruined Saanvi’s wedding in the process.

There’s a knock on the open door. “Someone wants to talk to you,” Molly says softly.

I look up and see a beautiful bride step into the room in her white lace dress. “Saanvi?”

“Would you two like to talk in my office?” Molly asks. “It might be more comfortable.”

Saanvi shakes her head. “No. We’re fine.” She hoists up her skirt and lowers herself to the floor in front of me, then smiles up at Molly. “Could you close the door, please?”

Tags: Lexi Ryan Boys of Jackson Harbor Romance
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