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Oh fuck!

So. Not. Good.

His eyes widened. The door flung open, slamming against the wall. His face blazed red as he glared at me in my boxers. His fists clenched beside his running shorts. “What the actual fuck? Are you fucking my sister?”

“Was.” I stormed past him and grabbed my cell phone off the nightstand. The icy, daggered glare Cole threw at me annihilated what was left of my shattered heart. As I headed for the doorway, I brushed against his shoulder. “Past tense. It’s over.”

I left, slamming the door behind me.

Chapter 32

TIA

“Lewis!” Cole yelled. Turning, he reached for the door handle. “Get your fucking ass back here. NOW!”

“Cole. Don’t,” I cried, clutching a pillow against my chest. Tears streamed down my cheeks. “Please. Let him go.”

Cole’s breath rasped in and out of his lungs. “Fuck.” He slapped the back of my bedroom door, then spun toward me. He rushed over to me and sat beside me on the bed. The confusion and hurt clouding his eyes ripped my rib cage in two. “What the hell is going on?”

My head ached. The stressful combination of my injury, work, and the texts Lewis had received had compounded, causing too many alarms to go off in my head. I refused to be blindsided again. Emilio had been texting Lewis, just like Michaela used to do with Rhett. She’d eventually weaved her way back into his life. Old feelings had never died. The temptation and their love had been too strong. Before Lewis did the same thing and shattered my heart, this had to end. “I don’t know where to begin. It was good but it all fell apart.”

“Clearly.” Sarcasm shot through his tone. “I’ll fucking kill him.”

“No.” I shook my head. “It’s not like that.”

“Then tell me what this is because my mind is spinning out of control. Did he hurt you?”

My chin quivered. Nausea flooded my gut. “No...I hurt him.” I’d hurt him before he hurt me. This pain now would save us from destroying each other in the future.

“Tia.” He wrapped his arms around me, letting me sob against his T-shirt.

“We didn’t want you to find out like this. We were going to tell everyone we were together, but it all turned into a hot mess...No, I’m, the mess.”

He rested his head against mine. He rubbed my arm, hard. The tension in each stroke, rough. “This is a problem, Tia. We don’t do problems, us or the band.”

“This isn’t a problem for the band. Lewis is devoted to you. He gave up his life to be here and loves playing with you guys. But his ex has been texting. He says it’s over. I want to believe him. I do. In my heart, I do. But school’s happening. My leg’s fucked again. Life is pulling us in different directions. It just got too complicated.”

“That’s why we have the dibs rule. Getting involved with someone close fucks things up.”

I sat upright. Fire shot through my veins. “Fuck the dibs rule, Cole. We’re adults. You can’t stop people from falling for each other. I left LA because of your stupid dibs rule.” Shit.

“What...what are you taking about?” Turmoil shot through his tone.

My heart shuddered, but it was so broken, there was nothing left of it that mattered. “I left because I loved Phil.”

“What?” he gaped.

“We were crazy about each other. But after he and Flint fought over Shelby and the dibs rule was set, he didn’t want to upset Flint or you or Slip. So when we got together in junior high, we kept it a secret. Then when you guys got signed, he changed. He became an addict, always in search of the next high. He wanted no ties. He chose music over me. Every post online of him causing havoc, making out with and fucking other girls tore my heart. I couldn’t stick around and watch that. I had to leave. Landing the role on Through The Smoke was perfect timing.”

Cole’s chest collapsed as his mouth struggled to form words. “You loved Phil?”

I wrapped my arms around myself, hoping it would contain the pain. “So fucking much. But in Chicago, I moved on. I loved my job. I made new friends. I stupidly fell for Rhett. But, like Phil, he loved something more than me. That just happened to be his ex-wife.”

A muscle in his jaw ticked. “And Lewis?”

“He’s...amazing.” Everything about Lewis made me want to unravel my soul and wrap myself around him. Everything from his good looks to his sense of humor to how he made me feel like anything was possible. It defied logic. “I came back here to be with you. I needed to sort out my life. Rebuild. I never expected Lewis to be part of that.”

“But he’s gay. Did he lie to us?”