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Garrett shrugged. “We partied hard, and everyone was there to hook up or get wasted.”
He had brushed off the few who had teased or made comments, dismissing the old rivalry as ancient history but obviously not strongly enough.
“I guess I was too focused on spending time with you to care or notice that people still thought of us that way.”
She tilted her head. “When did things change?”
He smiled, but it was tight. “When you got a boyfriend, at the start of your senior year of college.”
Emma’s lips parted.
“I know how that sounds.” Garrett wasn’t proud of himself, but he’d do it again.
Her lip twitched. “Like you were jealous.”
“Oh, I was,” he freely admitted. “But I guess I did a decent job ofhiding it, because when the two of you started having problems—rather quickly I want to add—you confided in me.”
The corners of her lips twitched. “Did you tell me to break up with him?”
He nodded, his heart picking up at the confession he was about to make. “Not straight out and not right away. But I had plans for us, and he was in the way.”
Her eyes widened apprehensively. “What did you do?”
“Nothing overt,” he promised her. “I didn’t sabotage your relationship. But the guy was… difficult. He made your life harder instead of easier. It wasn’t hard to identify and exploit the cracks in your relationship.”
Her head tilted up as she examined the ceiling for a minute. “His name was Edward. I don’t know much about him, aside from what my mom told me.”
Garrett knew everything there was to know about Edward McNair thanks to the extensive background check his PI had done. But he stuck to what she had told him all those years ago.
“He was from an old Southern Baptist family. Eddie wanted to be a lawyer. You met him in your Econ class. You said he had good manners and always looked you in the eye when he spoke to you, instead of your chest.”
“Huh.” She considered that a moment. “That must be why he got so offended when my mom implied he’d hit it and quit it.”
“She did?”
Emma nodded. “In those exact words. She called him when I was in the hospital, expecting him to rush to my side. But he didn’t. She’s badmouthed him ever since.”
Even if they hadn’t been intimate, Edward had completely shut her out after the accident. Even if she hadn’t been his anymore, Garrett thought that was pretty fucked up.
So much for so-called Southern manners.
“I was in my first year at HBS and was helping you with your application, including steering you toward an internship I knew the admissions committeewould love.”
Emma sucked in a breath, flushing. “I got into Harvard Business School. My mom showed me the letter.”
“Yeah.” He’d nearly burst with pride and relief. They were going to be at the same school again. Only this time she would be in her early twenties, and a peer.
“Most of it would be paid by scholarships and financial aid. But you were worried about the cost of living. Only a third of students get on-campus housing and you were stressing out about having to rent a room in such an expensive city. That’s when I mentioned my spare room.”
Emma leaned forward. “You wanted us to move in together?”
“I did,” he said, not bothering to hide the possessiveness he felt. “Like I said, I had big plans for us.”
She froze and her skin flushed, this time with true heat. The air pulsed with unspoken need.
Garrett had to fight the urge to reach for her. They needed to get through this. He wouldn’t be worthy of her touch until she knew everything. And forgave him.
“And then it happened,” he ground out.