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“I can’t tell if you’re really this stupid, or just naïve,” Jack retorted.
I wanted to throw my beer bottle at his big, fat head and then take a pair of scissors to his long hair. Even I remembered Jack’s ritual of not cutting his hair during the playoffs.Dick.
“Jack—” Luke began. His eyes, an enviable shade of bluish-green, looked discreetly towards Killian across the room. Thankfully, he wasn’t paying us any attention since he was in a heated discussion with the bartender.
“No, she fucked our friend over. She doesn’t get a second chance,” Jack snapped, then downed the rest of his beer.
“Did Peter tell you about thedealKillian was given?” Archer asked, using air quotes studying me and my reaction.
“Of course he did.” When Jack’s eyes flashed I knew there had to be something else going on. He pushed his seat back and before he could stand I put my hand on his arm. “Stop. Explain. I’m missing something and you need to tell me what it is.”
Luke stared at me for a second before asking, “What did Peter tell you?”
“That they signed Killian, too. He said Killian turned it down because he was jealous he wasn’t signed first.”
Jack slammed his hand down on the table making me jump. “And what did Killian say about it?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“Exactly.” Jack leaned in so close I could smell the beer on his breath. I forced myself not to react. His attempt at intimidatingme would not work. “He said nothing because they fucked him over and Peter lied to you.”
“Peter didn’t lie to me.” Peter might be a dick, but he wasn’t intentionally cruel. He’d been excited when they’d both been offered a contract.
But if what the guys were saying was true, then maybe it wasn’t as good as what Peter made it out to be?
“Always taking the golden boy’s side,” Jack growled. “I see nothing’s changed in all these years.”
“Shut up, Jack,” I spat. “I think the truth is somewhere in the middle.” And I’d get to the bottom of it. “Why didn’t Killian say anything?”
Luke leaned back in his chair. “He didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to hurt you or put you in the middle.”
“But … ” Pieces were falling into place and my heart hurt like someone had crushed me under a boulder. Back then, Killian hadn’t wanted to talk to me about the deal and he’d been so mad at Peter. I had brushed it all under the rug and hoped he’d come back to us after his anger settled. “So he walked away instead of talking to me.”
Somehow, that hurt even worse.
“What else was he supposed to do, Trissabelle?” Jack taunted. I hated the way my name sounded on his lips. “The dude was so fucking in love with you and you couldn’t see past your Peter love goggles. And Peter was too caught up in his ego he didn’t think about how Killian would react to a sub-par deal. So he decided it was better to just leave.”
My lungs seized, constricting so tight I struggled to draw in a full breath. The pieces that had been slowly falling into place clicked together to complete the puzzle I’d struggled to finish all this time.
My eyes darted between the three of them. “But he didn’t say … Why didn’t …Someone should have told me,” I responded lamely. “Why didn’t any of you tell me?”
“Would you have listened?” Luke asked, far more gently than I deserved.
“Killian must hate me,” I whispered past a tight throat. “So why is he helping me now?”
“You don’t know?” Archer asked. Maybe it was the sight of my tears or maybe he felt a shred of pity for me, but he didn’t sound as pissed off any more.
“He keeps saying it’s so he can help me.” I rubbed my hands over my chilled arms. “I was starting to think that maybe he might want something more than just getting back at Peter, but now I can see how much I hurt him, so that can’t possibly be right.”
“He wants you to be happy, Tris. It’s all he ever wanted. And he’s probably still in love with you.” Jack took a long swig from his bottle of beer. “Why? I have no fucking clue.”
Killian had been in love with me? And still might be?
How could he still love me after all that I did to hurt him? It had been unintentional, but pain was pain whether it was on purpose or not.
I’d made such a mess of things.
“He doesn’t believe you’ll ever be over Peter,” Luke revealed. “He’s not going to put himself out there, Tris. When you chose Peter, you destroyed him.” His words hit my heart with the crushing force of a sledgehammer.