“You really think I fucking planned this?” Will asks quietly. “Come on, Sul. You know me better than that.”
“Obviously, I don’t know shit about you!” Sully jabs Will in the chest with his finger. “I trusted you. You’re supposed to be my best friend! What a fucking joke.”
I’m dimly aware of footsteps running up the stairs and loud, worried voices. Any second, our friends will stumble onto this awful, ugly little scene.
Will’s face is a mix of anger, hurt, and shame as Sully stares him down. He looks physically sick, and it’s killing me. I know how much Will’s struggled with all this. How much we both have.
I finally break free of Will’s hold. “Sully, stop. Please.” I try to pull him away from Will, but it’s useless. I’m not strong enough.
Thick veins stand out in my brother’s neck, and his face is beet red with anger. I’ve never seen him this enraged, and it’s terrifying. He glances in my direction, but I can tell he doesn’t really see me.
His gaze falls back on Will. “Tell me the truth. Did you fuck my sister?”
Dylan bursts into the room with Axel, Violet, and Peyton hot on his heels. Lilly hangs back near the doorway, studying the scene.
“What the fuck is going on up here?” Axel asks, looking between Sully and Will.
“I just found out that Maverick’s been doing a hell of a lot more than just hanging out with my sister over the past few days. They’ve got something going on.”
The group grows quiet, and Lilly’s mouth drops open.
Sully glances over at Will again. “You didn’t answer me. Did you fuck my sister?”
“You’re right, I didn’t answer you,” Will says coolly, meeting his eyes. “And I’m not going to, either.”
Sully turns away, but before I can blink, he whirls around and sucker punches Will right in the jaw.
“No!” I cry.
Will staggers backward from the sheer force of the blow and throws an arm up to block the next one. Sully grabs him by the shirt, and they fall to the floor. The room explodes into chaos as Dylan and Axel try to pull Sully away from Will.
Violet and Peyton lock their arms around my waist and drag me away from the fight. I scream for Sully to stop, but he’s too lost in his own anger to hear me. Tears stream down my face, and I thrash and struggle to get away from my friends.
“Hit me! Hit me, you fucking pussy!” Sully throws another punch. “Fucking fight back. Fight for your woman if she means that much to you.”
Though I’m traumatized from watching what’s happening in front of me, part of me wonders why Will isn’t fighting back. He’s trying to block Sully’s blows, but he hasn’t thrown a single punch. Will’s just as built as my brother, and they’re closely matched in size and weight. I’ve seen him fight during games a few times, and he can throw down with the best of them.
“I’m not gonna fucking hit you, Sully!” Will shouts. “I get it—you’re pissed. But I never meant for this to happen.”
Dylan and Axel finally manage to pull Sully off of Will. They hold his arms so he can’t attack again. Will slowly gets up off of the floor, rubbing his jaw. Blood’s flowing freely from his nose, and his right eye is already swelling closed. It’s ugly and awful, and I feel completely helpless.
“Fuck you and your shitty intentions.” Sully spits on the floor at Will’s feet as Axel and Dylan drag him further away. “You’re fucking dead to me, Maverick. Do you hear me? You’re dead.”
“No!” I gasp. “Sully, you don’t know what you’re saying!”
Sully’s gaze drifts back over to where I’m standing with Violet and Peyton. He glares at me in disgust before turning away. Right now, he looks so much like my father that it steals my breath away. I know that look all too well.
The guys lead Sully downstairs, and my friends finally release their hold on me. I let out a sob and run to Will, wrapping myself around him.
“Give us a minute,” Will says to them.
Violet nods before ushering Peyton and Lilly from the room.
“W-Will. I’m s-so sorry.” I can barely talk between sobs. I reach out and gently touch his swelling eye, and he winces.
“This isn’t your fault. It’s mine,” Will says, wiping the blood from his nose with the end of his t-shirt. “I’ve got to get out of here, Em. Now.”
I nod and suck in a deep breath. “Okay. I’m going with you.”
Chapter Twenty
WILL
Emmy stands in front of me with her arms wrapped around herself as tears stream down her face. I’ve been punched tonight more times than I care to admit, but seeing her devastated expression hurts just as much.
I shake my head. “No. Out of the question.”
“Yes,” she says stubbornly.
“You can’t come with me, Em,” I say softly. “Things are totally fucked up. Let’s not make it worse than it already is.”
“Why are you the one who has to leave? It’s your cottage! Kick him out.”
I sigh. “Come on, Sunshine. Legally, yeah, the cottage is mine. But this is our place, Em. The right thing to do in this situation is for me to leave. I’m not going to fuck up everyone else’s vacation over bullshit that’s not their fault.”
I peel the house key from my key ring and slip it into her pocket. “I trust you, sweetheart. Just make sure everything’s off and locked when you leave.”
“Please,” she begs, throwing her arms around me. “I can’t stay here with Sully. Not after this.”
I pull her close and hug her fiercely, afraid it’s the last time I’ll ever feel her in my arms. “If you go with me, it’s going to drive a wedge between you and Sully.”
“And you think one hasn’t already been driven?” she asks incredulously. “The way he spoke to me, and the things he said to you...” She shakes her head. “I can’t even believe this. He hit you. Look what he did to your face!”
“He’s hurting. He trusted me with you, and in his eyes, I committed the ultimate unforgivable sin.” I run my hands down my face and cringe at the pain. I can barely see out of my swollen eye.
“Why didn’t you fight back?” she whispers. “Why did you let Sully do this to you? You’re no coward. I’ve seen you fight on the ice. You’ve never, ever backed down from anyone. Not until tonight.” She gently runs a hand over my bruised jaw.
“Because I deserved this.” I don’t realize it until I say the words aloud, but deep down, that’s exactly how I feel. I fucking deserved his wrath, and I took the punishment.
“No, you didn’t deserve this,” she says adamantly. “Will, Sully is wrong.”
It might not make sense to Emmy, but it makes perfect sense to me. Explaining it won’t convince her to see things any differently. I release her and walk slowly across the hall to begin packing up my room.
“Maybe if we just let things cool down for a day or two,” she says, standing in the doorway. “Maybe he’ll see—”
“He won’t,” I interrupt. “That’s not going to happen.”
Fuck. This still doesn’t seem real to me. One tiny slip up—caressing her pretty face—has sealed my fate with my best friend. Sully means it when he says I’m dead to him.
My throat aches with unshed tears, because I’ve just lost another person that means the world to me. It feels just like losing my parents all over again, except this time, the person I lost hates me. It’s a horrible feeling.
“I have to go,” I choke out. “I’m sorry.” I brush a kiss against her forehead and go downstairs. She follows behind like I knew she would, begging me to change my mind.
“That’s it, keep walking,” Sully taunts as I pass through the living room.
When I meet Sully’s eyes, they’re full of hurt and anger. Fresh pain washes over me again, and I force one foot in front of the other. I need to get out of here.
Emmy whirls around to face Sully. “You know what? You shut up, Sully. If you knew anything about what I’ve been through lately, and how Will’s been th
ere for me, you wouldn’t be doing this.”
Sully opens his mouth to respond, but Axel stands and points his finger at him. “You’re going to do exactly what she says, Sully. Shut your fucking mouth.” He looks up. “Will, do you need anything?”
I pause at the front door and shoot Axel a grateful look. He’s the most easygoing guy in our group, but he’s made it clear he’s not putting up with any more bullshit tonight.
“No, man. It’s okay. I’ve got it.”
Emmy trails behind me as I walk out the front door. Sully tries to follow, but I see Dylan shove him back down onto the couch out of the corner of my eye. Dylan might not say much, but even Sully knows better than to push Dylan’s buttons. He’s one of the biggest guys on the team.
I take a deep breath and hurry toward my truck. The next few minutes are going to be brutal, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle it.
“Will, wait!”
Emmy has to jog to catch up with me. I throw my suitcase in the truck bed and turn around. Her eyes are red, and her face is puffy from crying. It completely wrecks me. Then again, I’m sure my face isn’t looking too hot either after the beat down I just took.
“Don’t leave like this. Please.”
“There’s not another way to leave, Em. You know I can’t stay after what went down.”
A few more tears escape and roll down her cheeks. “But we didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You didn’t. I did,” I say, brushing a tear away with my thumb.
“No! No matter what Sully feels, you didn’t do anything wrong. Neither of us did.”
“What happened in there tonight?” I gesture toward the cottage, “That’s a direct result of my bad decisions. I shouldn’t have kissed you, and I shouldn’t have had sex with you. I put us both in an impossible situation.”
“You didn’t do those things alone, Will. I was there, too. I had a choice. Besides, everyone knows now. It’s not like we have to hide what we did anymore. Sully will just have to get over it.”
I shake my head. “Jesus Christ. Don’t you get it? Em, none of this should ever have happened. It was all a mistake.”
“No.” She looks stricken. “No, it wasn’t.”
“Really? Because that mistake I supposedly didn’t make has just cost me my friendship with Sully. He feels that I fucked up, and nothing’s going to change that.”
“You still have me, Will. We can get through this together.”
I swallow and lean back against the truck. “Yeah, well that’s where you’re wrong. I don’t have you either.”
She takes a step back and stares up at me. “What? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You can’t pick sides, Emmy. Sully’s your family. If anyone knows the value of family and what it means to lose it, it’s me. I won’t let you take sides against your brother.”
She crosses her arms. “Well, it’s too late. I’ve already picked sides, and I choose you.”
I slam my hand against the side of the truck, and she jumps. I’m going to have to go to an ugly place to make her see things my way, and it’s going to destroy me. “You’re not listening to me.”
“Will—” she puts her hand on my arm, but I shrug it off.
“I told you from the beginning that it was just sex, Emmy. I told you that. It was fantastic sex, okay? But that’s all it was. And what, you’re just going to throw away your relationship with your brother over that? He was looking out for you up there. Maybe it seems fucked up, but he beat the shit out of me because he loves you.”
She blinks up at me, stunned. “But—”
“No. You’re the one who wanted to play this game. I told you not to confuse the friendship side of our relationship with the sexual side. They’re two entirely separate things. You knew the goddamn score.”
Emmy glances out over the lake. “I know what I wanted, Will,” she says quietly. “You don’t need to remind me, okay?”
“And I know what I wanted. I wanted to fuck you, and I did. You wanted the same thing. We were never going to have a relationship, do you understand? We were going to screw each other’s brains out and then move the hell on. We were never, ever going to be more than fuck buddies, Emmy. So your decision to choose my side over your brother’s? It’s really not worth it.”
Her face crumples and more tears roll down her cheeks. I shove my hands into my pockets to keep myself from reaching for her.
I fucking hate this, but being cruel is the only way to make what I’m about to do a little easier. She needs to hate me. I’m counting on it. Emmy needs her brother. Her relationship with her parents is fragile at best, and I won’t have them turn against each other over me.
And if I’m being completely honest, the need for that hate is two-fold. I’m in love with Emmy, but she was off limits to me forever. And I certainly can’t have her now that all this has blown up in our faces. I need to cut ties so I can try to get over her and move on. I had a taste of happiness with her, and I realize now how much I’ve been missing.
I want someone I can come home to after games. Someone to be silly with and cook with in my kitchen. Someone I can go out with and share good times with. Someone to take to my bed and make love with at night. I want to be happy again. Since my parents died, I’ve just been existing and not really living, and I can’t do it anymore. I need to feel alive again. Being with Emmy the past few days made me realize all of this.
And since I can’t have those things with her, then maybe I can have it with someone else someday. It might take a long time to get over her, but I have to try.
It hits me that I’m cutting off the last person left in the world who actually cares about me. After this, I’ll have no one left. I’m going to miss her so much; I’m honestly not even sure how I’ll cope.
“Why are you being like this?” she asks, her voice barely a whisper. “I get it, Will, we had sex, but I’m still your friend. You don’t have to be so cruel.”
“Sometimes the truth is cruel,” I shrug. “And about us being friends… I don’t think that’s a good idea anymore.”
She rears back like she’s been slapped. “What?”
“Our being friends is not a good idea. Not after all the shit that just went down.”
Emmy hangs her head for a moment and takes a few shallow breaths before looking back up at me. All traces of hurt on her face are gone. In its place, anger blazes deep and hot within those jade eyes.
“You fucking hypocrite,” she seethes. She steps forward and jabs her finger into my chest, and I let her angry words sink into my soul.
“You! You’re the one who made me promise that no matter what happens, we wouldn’t be without each other. That you couldn’t handle me not being in your life. What happened to that little speech, Will?”
“Things change,” I snap. “I never expected Sully to find out about us!”
She lets out a harsh laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, they do change. Just like I never expected—” She snaps her mouth closed and gives her head a shake. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. Not anymore.”
Seeing her come apart like this is simply too much to handle. I climb into the truck and start it up. She stands there with her arms wrapped around herself once again.
“I’m sorry,” I manage, struggling with the words. “For what it’s worth, Emmy, I’m really sorry.”
And I am. I’m so fucking sorry. I’m sorry for hurting her, and I’m sorry for leaving her like this. She deserves so much better.
Emmy lifts her head, and the sorrow I see on her face is like another punch to the gut. It knocks the wind right out of me.
“You know what, Will? For what it’s worth, I’m not. I’m not sorry, and I never will be.”
She turns and slowly walks back toward the cottage, looking small and fragile and alone. I’m close to diving out of the cab, dragging her into my arms and telling her how I feel about her. But it’s too far gone for that now, and it wouldn’t solve a damn thing.
&n
bsp; I have to get out of here before I completely fucking lose it. I throw the truck into drive and peel out of the parking space without looking back.
The only thing I can do is move forward without them. I have no other choice.
Chapter Twenty-One
EMMY
With a heavy heart, I turn and watch the taillights of Will’s truck disappear down the road into the darkness. Despite all of his protests, he’s taken a part of me with him whether he wanted to or not. Half of me is missing; my heart is shattered beyond repair.
I’m still not sure what just happened. His words were so cruel and cold. That wasn’t the Will I know. He’s never been anything but sweet to me. We’ve been friends since we were little and closer than ever these past three years. Hearing that he doesn’t want to be my friend anymore has left me devastated. I could have handled everything else, but not that.
I need him in my life. I’ll always need him.
Sully stands as I enter the cottage, but I’ve already decided that he’s not getting his say. He’s said enough.
“Not one word,” I snap at him. “You don’t know the extent of the damage that you’ve caused tonight.”
“That I’ve caused? You’re kidding me, right? He should never have touched you,” Sully snaps. “I trusted him to look out for you, and this is the shit he pulls?”
I close the door behind me and cross my arms.
“You’re my brother, Sully, but you need to realize that Will is not. He’s my friend. And I think we could’ve been much more, but you’ve totally destroyed any chance of that happening.”
Sully opens his mouth to speak, but I hold up a hand.
“Do you have any idea how happy I’ve been with Will these past few days? He’s been there for me through Mom and Dad’s divorce. He was there through all of my bullshit with school and my homesickness. He’s always been there for me, Sully.”
He doesn’t respond, so I continue. “That guy you hate so much right now? He was always looking out for me, long before anything ever happened between us.”
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