Page 159 of All This Time

“No. You know I can’t stand that social media crap.”

“Well, after you punched Fletcher in the bridal suite, Fletcher got in a fight with his dad in the parking lot of the winery. Luke said some nasty things to him, and Fletcher gave him a taste of his own medicine.”

“Jesus Christ. How come he never said anything?”

“Because it’s not that simple. Fletcher buried it, like a lot of people do, especially when the person hurting you is supposed to love you.”

“But he told you?”

“Not by choice. But after the second time he ended up in my room with an injury, I started to put two and two together. It took a while for him to actually admit what was going on, and then he made me promise not to tell anyone.”

Rhonan’s still processing, his hands curled into fists.

“And,” I add quietly, “most of it happened after Luke had been drinking. I don’t know if you ever noticed, but that man’s never far from a bottle. The whole reason they moved here was because he got fired from his previous job because he showed up intoxicated.”

“Jesus. And you’ve known all this time?”

I nod. “I have.”

“So you two have been sneaking around since then?”

I laugh. “God, no. If you hadn’t noticed, over the past twelve years, Fletcher hasn’t exactly been my favorite person.”

“I mean, I thought he just annoyed you. He can be a cocky motherfucker sometimes.”

Yes, he can, especially in the bedroom.

“Oh, I’m aware. But I avoided him because the night Mom died, I told him how I felt about him at that party, and he didn’t have anything to say in response. In fact, he avoided me the rest of the night. And when I went looking for him, I thought I caught him with another girl.”

I shake my head. “Turns out I was wrong. But at the time? It wrecked me.”

Rhonan stands from the couch, pacing back and forth. “So, you had feelings for him, but he didn’t feel the same way?”

“Actually, he did, but he didn’t act on them because he didn’t want to betray you.” Rhonan freezes. “Yeah, that little pact you four made is another reason it’s taken twelve years for us to figure our shit out,” I say, arching a brow at my brother.

“Laney. I—”

I hold my hand up. “I don’t care anymore. I just want you to know that Fletcher honored your stupid pact rather than act on his feelings toward me because that’s how much your friendship means to him.”

Rhonan begins pacing again.

“I know this may be hard for you to hear right now, but I love him, Rhonan.” Our eyes meet. “I always have. And he loves me too. We just want to be together, and we will, no matter how you feel about it. I’m hoping that you can be supportive, but if you can’t, I’m still going to be with him. You’re the one that gets to decide what our relationship and your friendship with him will look like moving forward.”

My brother drops back down onto the couch, resting his head against the cushions behind him. “This is a lot to take in.”

“I know, and trust me, the last thing we wanted was for you to find out the way you did. We had planned to tell you after the wedding, but…”

He turns his head toward me. “I can’t believe his dad used to hit him, and I never put it together. All his bruises…” He rubs his forehead. “Fuck, I’m a shitty friend. It’s just… When I saw you two together… I thought you were just a casual thing to him, and I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“There has never been anything casual between me and Fletcher Adams.”

Rhonan goes silent for a while. Finally, he turns to me and asks, “You really love him?”

I cover my heart with my hand. “I do. He’s the only man I’ve ever loved. In fact, when things ended with Spencer, I wasn’t nearly as devastated as I was the night I told Fletcher how I felt about him. But he needs his friends right now more than anything.” I prepare to tell him the rest of what’s transpired. “People recorded the fight between him and his dad. It’s all over the internet, like I said, but there’s more.”

“What?”

“That night after the wedding, Luke got into a car accident. He ended up in the hospital. He’s alive, and the couple he hit are too, but in critical condition.” Our gazes meet again. “They have two children—two kids that could have lost their parents.” A sob crawls up my throat before I can stop it.