“You think?” Candace mumbled.
Willa shot Candace a look that said zip it, then focused on me. “Luke showed up at the bed and breakfast this morning?”
“Yes, he checked in while I was out on a run.”
“Then you found out he was there, and Kyle showed up…why did Kyle show up?” Willa asked.
Kyle frowned. “To wish her a happy birthday! Geesh, I’m not that much of a dick. Plus, I wanted to see if Joanne had made any of those lavender cookies she puts out every day.”
I slowly turned and glared at him. “You stopped by looking for cookies?”
“And to wish you happy birthday, darling.”
Willa cleared her throat. “And while Kyle was there, what prompted you to…kiss him? I’m guessing Luke was there to witness said kiss?”
Kyle and I both nodded.
“I panicked, okay?” I said. “He was there, standing in front of me, and all these emotions and memories came flooding back and I wasn’t ready to face him. So when Kyle walked in, I said he was my boyfriend.”
“Holy shit, this is better than a book,” Candace said to Greer.
Hudson nodded. “I wish I’d brought my notebook, dammit.”
I shot Hudson a look, and he held up his hands. “I’m kidding. Sorta.”
“Brighton,” Willa said in that mom voice she’d perfected. “What were you thinking? Now you’ve dragged Kyle into this.”
Candace lifted her hand. “By the way, how was the kiss? Curious minds want to know.”
Abby and Bella both giggled and looked at me. Everyone was looking at me, including Kyle, who wore a smirk as he waited for my answer.
My head pounded. I wanted to rewind the clock and start this day over.
“The crowd is waiting,” Hunter said with a laugh.
I stalled, hoping the waitress would walk up with our food. After one quick glance around the restaurant, I let go of that dream.
Kyle cleared his throat, and I turned to look at him. Through gritted teeth, I forced a smile, looked down at the table, and said, “It was a good kiss.”
“Tongue?” Bishop asked, and Abby hit him on the shoulder.
I felt my neck go hot and then my cheeks.
Bella sucked in a breath while Willa stared at me. When I looked at Greer, she looked like she might throw up. Candace smirked, and Hudson, Aiden, and Hunter all waited for my reply.
“Yes. Tongue,” I blurted out. “We had to make it believable!”
Kyle let out a dramatic sigh. “It was a sacrifice, but I was willing to do it for a friend.”
I nearly growled as I shot him a dirty look and whispered, “I really hate you.”
He winked. The bastard actually winked.
“Can we all agree that I made a poor decision?” I raised my wine glass when I saw the waitress. “Another one, please!”
She nodded and spun around to head to the bar.
“Which one?” Abby asked.
I felt my entire body go stiff and a cold sensation rush through my veins. “What do you mean, which one?”
She wasn’t pulling any punches, and I wasn’t sure if it was her pregnancy hormones or what. But she said without a bit of malice in her voice, “The pretending Kyle was your boyfriend, or the one where you told Luke to leave?”
A sudden sting of unshed tears made me blink rapidly. I had to force my throat to swallow the sob lodged there. Abby wasn’t being unkind; she didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She was being honest.
I felt Kyle reach for my hand and give it a squeeze. I pushed down my emotions and was about to put a fake smile on my face when something inside of me cracked.
I realized then that these were my friends. My people. My tribe. I had spent the last year keeping a huge part of my life a secret from them—and I was tired of doing it. I was tired of always having my shit together, or at least acting like I did.
My mouth opened, and what came out next should have surprised me, but it didn’t. “Both,” I answered softly as a single tear slipped free and ran down my cheek.
Bree
After everyone at the table saw that tear, Hunter and Bishop offered to rough up Luke. Kyle said he’d arrest him on set for some made-up offense that would embarrass him and be in the tabloids before his fingerprints dried. Hudson declared he would name his next fictional villain Luke—and kill him off. I had the best friends.
Abby, Bella, Willa, Greer, and Candace all took turns hugging me and telling me it would be okay. Our food came, and I smiled and said we needed a change of topic. So, Greer asked Bella and Abby how they were feeling. Baby shower talk started, as well as a discussion about whether we should have Greer’s bachelorette party before Abby got too big to grind on a male stripper, which Bishop didn’t think was funny.