Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73117 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73117 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry, Nika. So, so sorry. For everything. But especially for not being the man you deserve. I will sort it out for myself. And you know what?” Chris smiled. “Fuck him. Tell whoever you want. I will be. I’ll deal with the shame. I’m bringing this asshole down.”
He turned around and stormed off. My head fell backwards, and I sighed. The sheer adrenaline crash of jumping between two relationships so soon slammed into me again.
Adam closed the door, gathering me into his arms, kissing my neck, gluing me back together.
“Don’t beat yourself up about it, okay? You couldn’t have known,” he said. “Love is notoriously blind.”
“Weird thing is, I don’t think I was even in love with Chris.” I snorted into his chest. “I was just in love with the idea of forgetting Adam.”
“Well, that’s no longer necessary.”
An hour later, after Adam and I had reunited in the biblical sense and he’d had a shower, he retired to his bedroom while I worked in the living room with Betsy by my side. There was another knock on the door. I frowned at the British Blue.
“Today is just full of surprises, huh?”
I opened the door, and the minute I saw his face, I all but lost gravity.
Val.
“Where’s the fucker?” My brother shouldered his way inside. I closed the door behind him, scrambling to keep up with his pace. I didn’t have time to warn Adam about my conversation with Val. I was hoping to do it when he woke up.
“Val, what are you doing here?”
“Trying to figure out why every time I test you and Adam, you fail me. I told him I’m not okay with you being together. I told him a thousand times. Even when he begged me for permission to talk to you when he moved to L.A.”
He did that?
Val darted straight to Adam’s room. I followed him. He threw the door open.
“Hey, traitor.”
Adam was half-awake, perched on his side of the bed, scrolling through his phone. “Asshole. How can I help?” he asked nonchalantly.
“You can start by not putting your dirty hands on my sister.”
“Well,” Adam stood up, clad in nothing but his gray sweatpants, “anything other than that. I’m pretty attached to her.”
Val didn’t waste any time. He pushed Adam by the chest.
“You’re a shit best friend.”
“No.” Adam pushed him back, his face clouding with anger. “I’m the best fucking friend. I spent eleven years pining for a girl I loved just because your ass wasn’t ready to come to terms with the fact your sister and best friend were in love.”
“Ha.” Val threw his head back, laughing. “Love? You just wanted to get into her pants. Same as you did with the rest of the school.”
“You idiot.” Adam bared his teeth. “Every single girl I paid attention to since I was sixteen was to keep your ass pacified! I never wanted any of them. That’s why I never kept them.”
“Why should I believe you?” Val pushed Adam again. This time, Adam grabbed Val’s shirt, backing him all the way to the opposite wall until he slammed into it. I shrieked in horror as my boyfriend got into my brother’s face.
“Because it’s the goddamn truth! I’ve been hating your ass for years for putting me through this. When you called me about Nik needing a place to stay, I thought it was your olive branch. My goddamn green light. I thought you finally fucking realized you were wrong to keep us apart. Not some fucking test!”
Adam threw a punch in Val’s face. It wasn’t a solid one, but enough to send Val’s face crashing against the wall.
“You talk about betrayal? About being a good friend? You’re not a good friend or a good brother. You kept two people you so-call love apart, for no reason other than your goddamn prejudice. You enjoyed both worlds. You let us hang out together and get attached, but when we fell, you left us suspended in the fucking air, not letting us be us. So I’m truly sorry if you feel that I’m not up to par with the general quality of your friends.” Adam snorted bitterly. “But I’m done trying.”
Val’s face fell. I could practically see the moment he finally got it.
The damage he’d done.
“I gave up so much for you sometimes I can’t stand looking at your goddamn face. You really think I chose not to stay in contact with Nik for ten years because of some stupid fight? No. I did it because of you. Because I knew keeping in touch with her without having her would kill me. If this is what you call friendship, we’re done here, Val.”
Adam took a step back, striding to his living room. Val and I exchanged looks.
“Is it true?” he asked. My big brother, who loved me something fierce, had a coat of tears glossing his eyes, and in that moment I knew he finally saw what he’d been denying Adam and me. “Is it real?”