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I wasn’t.
Which has always been the problem with my friendship with the twins. I forget how they knock me off balance and threaten me.
“Sorry. They dragged me there, but I-“
Ivy touches my shoulder as we reach the stairs while ignoring the curious glances of the few people around us.
“It’s fine. But you need to straighten your dress and finger comb your hair. You look like you just got fucked.”
There’s humor in her voice, but I can’t laugh with her. I’m too busy worrying about why we’re rushing downstairs.
Not only because of the man I’ll be standing next to for our parents’ bullshit spectacle, but also because of the two I left behind.
Rushing down the stairs, I remind myself over and over why what I did was stupid. Those whispers do nothing to ease the addiction, though.
They do nothing to soothe the pain in my heart.
Ezra wasn’t wrong to call me out for not following through with a promise I’d made to him ten years ago, but then it was the reason theyneededme that made it necessary for me to let them go.
I had no choice but to break my word, if for no other reason than to cling on to my sanity.
We’re outside, and Ivy is still tugging my clothes into place, her worried blue eyes catching mine as we approach the pavilion.
Taking our places, I stand facing her as she wipes at my smeared lipstick, a sigh leaking out of her because she’s put me together again as best as she can.
As soon as Mason steps up beside me, every muscle in my body tenses.
I make the mistake of looking at him to find only bitter contempt in his glacial blue stare.
So low that nobody but I can hear him, he comments, “I see it didn’t take long for you to slip into old habits.”
“Fuck off,” I answer, not in the mood for his shit.
He grins at that, his arm wrapping with mine as we give the audience time for photos. As soon as that’s done, we step away from each other.
“Can I expect to bail them out of jail again because of you?”
My fake smile wavers, but I refuse to let Mason see it. “I won’t be seeing them again.”
“Sure you won’t. Do me a favor and try not to cause problems. They’re just now recovering from the rest of the crap they’ve been through.”
The words are still whispering over his lips as my eyes cut to the house to watch Ezra and Damon walking out into the backyard.
“And what crap was that?”
I can’t stop staring as the twins take their place in the line spreading out on Mason’s side, the Inferno in place in support of him.
Mason blows out a breath, his attitude softening.
“We still don’t know. They wouldn’t tell any of us. Even after it stopped. I was hoping they might tell you.”
There is the problem that has plagued us from the beginning. The twins never told me either. I couldn’t be there for them when I didn’t know how to fix what was happening. Regardless of how much they may have needed me.
It’s one of the reasons why I broke my promise.
And why I couldn’t continue loving them while allowing them to shred my heart in the process.
It’s rare, but every once in a while, Mason and I find common ground. Sadly, it usually revolves around being left in the dark.