Page 22 of Cinder & Secrets (Ink & Ashes #2)

Charlotte

“I’ve missed this,” Lyric announces, fluffing the pillow under her head, the three of us sprawled out on a pile of blankets with Maisie’s laptop on a chair at our feet playing a movie I’ve never seen before— Something Borrowed .

Basically, it’s about a girl who’s in love with her best friend’s fiancé and then the two start sleeping together behind her back. The entire concept of the movie makes me kinda nauseous, if I’m being honest. I hate cheaters.

Even still, there’s a hint of familiarity in the story.

A woman lying to her best friend, hiding a relationship she knows will hurt her. It’s not the same, of course, as me and River. He’s not her fiancé but her brother, but the lying part, yeah, that I can relate to more than I like.

“Me too,” Maisie agrees, popping a few pieces of popcorn into her mouth.

“We should make this a weekly tradition. We get together and just hang out like this. In our jammies. Totally low-key.”

“I’m game.” I smile when Lyric’s head lulls in my direction.

“Me too,” Maisie says again, this time around a mouthful of popcorn.

We fall silent again, spending the next thirty minutes watching the end of the movie. While I still hate the premise, I feel a little more satisfied with the overall movie when everyone involved gets a happily ever after. Well, everyone except the friendship that ends up shattered to pieces.

“Is it just me or was that ending sad?” Lyric huffs, sitting up to shut the movie off.

“At least the right girl ended up with the guy,” Maisie says.

“Yeah, but the whole best friend aspect. Her sleeping with the other girl’s fiancé.” Lyric shakes her head. “And then for their lifelong friendship to just end over some guy.”

“But he wasn’t just some guy,” Maisie argues. “He was the love of Rachel’s life and Darcy was a twat who was cheating on him anyway.”

“I just don’t get how friends can do that to one another.”

It takes me way longer than it should to realize that Lyric has been through something very similar, having caught her best friend in bed with her boyfriend of four years.

Weirdly, River also caught his girlfriend having sex with one of his friends. Not sure what they’re putting in the water down there in North Carolina, but I want no part of it.

“You’re thinking about Leo and Summer.” It’s Maisie who finally broaches the subject, a tenderness in her voice that she reserves for very delicate situations.

Lyric nods softly.

“I mean, I’m over it, of course. I’m so in love with Kai I could burst at the seams. In that way, I’m even grateful.

Because if they hadn’t done what they did, I never would have ended up here.

I never would have met Kai... Or either of you.

” Her gaze bounces between the two of us.

“But when I think back to what happened... I just wish Summer had told me she was in love with Leo. Maybe it wouldn’t have been easy to accept, but at least then we could have tried to salvage our friendship.

But instead, she lied and betrayed me in a way that was utterly unforgivable.

I think more than anything, that’s what makes me the most sad, that I can’t forgive her.

That years of friendship are just... gone. ”

“Sometimes it’s for the best,” Maisie reassures her. “Anyone who would do that to you wasn’t a true friend to begin with.” When Maisie’s eyes dart to me, the nauseous pit in my stomach opens even further, the pizza and popcorn I ate earlier stirring uncomfortably.

There’s nothing accusatory in her gaze, but it’s unsettling just the same.

“I think everything happens for a reason,” I chime in.

And I really do. Because if Summer and Leo hadn’t chased Lyric out of North Carolina, not only would I have never met her, I also would have never met her brother.

“Me too,” Lyric agrees. “Like fate knows exactly what it’s doing.

Even when it feels like your life is crumbling down around you, there’s always a purpose.

Something greater you’re being called toward.

Like Mac.” She turns to Maisie for a brief moment before her gaze slips to mine.

“Or Conner. Even though it sucks that neither of them realized what incredible women you are and how insanely stupid they are for letting you slip through their fingers, at the end of the day, it’s because something better awaits you both. I truly believe that.”

My stomach twists again, this time so violently I have to grit my teeth closed and take a few deep breaths through my nose to keep myself from actually puking.

I told Lyric that Conner and I decided we were better off friends and left it at that.

I didn’t want to lie to her any more than I already was and keeping up the Conner charade just felt.

.. wrong. The only reason I even told her that in the first place was because we lived together and it was better than refusing to tell them who I was spending every night on the phone texting with.

That only made them want to know more. Once I said it was Conner, they both stopped asking.

So in a way, it did exactly what I needed it to.

Now that she’s living with Kai, I don’t need a cover.

Especially given that Maisie already knows the truth.

“You’re both going to find someone who makes you feel the way Kai makes me feel.

Like I can’t breathe in his presence. Like when he walks into a room, the whole world stops.

He touches me and I’m lost to the sea. He is the moon, the stars, the sun—my entire universe.

And I love him so deeply that sometimes it scares me. ”

“Rub it in, why don’t you.” Maisie snorts out a laugh.

“I’m not...”

“Relax, Lyric. I’m kidding.” Maisie jabs an elbow gently into Lyric’s side. “We are both insanely happy for you. Aren’t we, Char?”

“Insanely.” I nod in agreement.

“It’s so crazy to me that it’s only been a year since I walked into that party with Char and saw Kai sitting on that couch.

I can still see him in perfect detail, long legs stretched out in front of him, a look of indifference on his face.

The way his eyes flared just slightly when they met mine the first time.

It feels like a lifetime ago. So much has happened since then. ”

“I know what you mean.” Maisie rolls to her side to face Lyric, who’s sitting up against the wall in between the two of us. “I mean, not about Kai but about last year feeling an eternity away. This time last year I had a slight obsession with Macallan.”

“Slight?” I bark out a laugh, earning me a narrowed glare from Mais.

“Fine. I was borderline insane over him. Now I daydream about running him over with a car. Or pushing him headfirst down a flight of stairs. Or—”

“We get the idea.” Lyric giggles. “Things change so quickly that sometimes it’s hard to comprehend.”

“That they do,” I find myself saying without really meaning to.

But they do. In the last couple of months, River and I have gone from texting each other to not speaking at all, to screwing each other’s brains out every chance we get. Honestly, the whole thing has kind of given me whiplash, though I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

“Promise me something.” Lyric’s gaze bounces back and forth between the two of us.

“Promise me that we won’t ever let anything come between us.

That no matter how many things change, or how much time passes, we will still be this close years from now.

That we will always be truthful with one another and will never let someone or something come between us. ”

“I promise.” Maisie is the first to speak.

My heart thunders in my chest because what she’s asking me not to do, I’ve already done. I’ve already broken the trust between us. She just doesn’t know it yet, and the thought makes me physically ill.

“Yeah, me too.” I swallow back the bile that leaches to the inside of my throat like thick tar threatening to suffocate me.

The truth... It’s there on the tip of my tongue, begging to be set free, only when I open my mouth, it’s not words that come out.

“Shit.” I throw myself upright, managing to snag the plastic trash can next to my desk before the contents of my stomach start spewing out.

“What the...” Maisie jumps up like she’s afraid I might get vomit on her.

“Char, are you okay?” Lyric touches my back, but another round of retching makes it impossible to answer her. “Has she been sick?”

I can only assume she’s asking Maisie.

“Not that I’m aware of.” Her answer comes seconds later.

I continue to throw up until my stomach is empty and my head is pounding from the strain. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and straighten, looking at Lyric, who’s still next to me, then at Mais, who’s standing above me, a bottle of water extended in my direction.

“Are you okay?” Lyric asks again.

“I... I think so.” My throat feels like I’ve swallowed battery acid. I take the bottle of water from Maisie. As desperate as I feel for a drink, I’m too afraid to put anything else in my stomach until I’m certain it’s not going to come back up.

“Have you been feeling sick at all before just now?” I realize Lyric’s hand is still on my back, rubbing gently.

“I’ve felt a little sick to my stomach since the pizza,” I admit, though something deep down tells me it’s not the pizza that made me sick, but my guilt.

“Is there anything I can get you?”

“No.” I push the trash can away before slowly rising to my feet. “I just...” My stomach rolls again. “I’m gonna go rinse this out and brush my teeth,” I tell them, snagging the trashcan off the floor before making a beeline for the hallway where the bathroom sits.

It takes me a few minutes, but eventually, I feel well enough to head back into the bedroom. When I reenter, Maisie and Lyric are cleaning up, both turning toward me as I enter.

“Any better?” It’s Lyric who asks.

“Much.” I let out a slow breath. “Guess the pizza didn’t sit right for whatever reason.”

“That happened to me one time when I ate sushi,” Maisie interjects. “Haven’t been able to eat it since. Every time I even think about it, I feel like I’m going to hurl.”

“Well, I hope that’s not the case here because I love pizza.” I pout. “Sorry to put a damper on the evening.”

“You didn’t.” Lyric crosses the small space, coming to a stop directly in front of me. “Are you sure you’re okay? I mean, really sure?” The way she looks at me instantly puts me on edge.

“Yeah. Why?” I try to keep the defensiveness from my voice, but a small sliver slips through anyway. What is she asking me... Really? Does she suspect I’ve been hiding something? Fear snakes up my back, coiling tightly around my spine.

“You just... You seem a little... Not yourself. I want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I am.” I manage a softer tone this time around.

“Okay, well, if you ever need anything, like to talk or whatever, you know you can call me, right?”

“Of course I do.”

“I know I’m preoccupied with Kai, but that doesn’t mean I’m not here if you need me.”

I realize this is more about her guilt than my own. She’s afraid she’s being a bad friend. She has no idea what a bad friend is. It’s something I’m becoming well versed in, as ashamed as I am for it.

“Lyric. I know,” I reassure her more forcefully. “And I promise, I’m fine. I mean, other than I just threw up all my insides and am already somehow failing Calculus, which is kinda stressing me out.”

“You’re failing Calc?” Maisie injects from the other side of the room. “Why didn’t you say anything? You know I’m incredible with math. I could have helped you.”

“I didn’t want to bother you. You’re so busy with soccer, and you have your own classes to worry about.”

Maisie is the busiest person I know. She’s on an athletic scholarship, so she has to maintain good grades on top of practice, which she has nearly every day, and when she’s not practicing, she usually has games. And somehow, she still never misses a social engagement. She’s like a freaking machine.

Meanwhile, I have no job. No sport. No extracurricular activity to speak of.

And yet I’m still over here failing math simply because I can’t stop daydreaming about a certain pair of hunter-green eyes and the man they belong to long enough to focus on anything.

The only reason I’m not failing all my other classes is because they’re easy enough to skirt by.

Math, on the other hand, has never been my strong suit.

“You could never bother me. If you need help, say so, and I’ll help.”

“I’m not the best with math, but I’m sure Kai would be able to help if Maisie can’t. I’m not exaggerating when I say that man is a freaking genius. At this point, I’m purposely trying to find a single thing he doesn’t excel at.”

“Must be nice to be him,” I grumble, half laughter, half groan.

“Don’t fail because you’re too stubborn to ask for help.” Maisie gives me a pointed look.

“It’s fine. I’ll figure it out,” I promise. “And if I can’t, I promise to ask for help,” I add, mainly just to appease them. “Now if you two don’t mind, I think I’d like to lie down. I don’t actively feel like I’m going to puke at the moment, but I’m still not feeling great.”

“Of course.” Lyric drops into the chair next to me and slides on her shoes, a pair of baby blue Converse that matches her top perfectly. “Kai is expecting me home soon anyway.”

“I have a ton of homework,” Maisie adds, both trying to make me feel less guilty for cutting our evening short, no doubt.

“We can do dinner later this week if you’re feeling better,” Lyric tells me as she stands.

“I’d like that.” I nod.

“At the risk that you actually have a stomach bug, I’m not going to hug you,” she tells me with a smile. “But I love you and I’ll see you later.” She turns to Mais. “As for you, I’m going to be at your game on Saturday, and I expect to see at least one goal scored by my favorite player.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Maisie smiles.

“Love you, girls.” Lyric moves toward the door.

“Love you too,” I say, climbing up into my bed.

“Love you,” Mais calls after her seconds before the door shuts.

“You all right up there, Char?” Maisie asks as I roll over, trying to get comfortable.

“I’ll live.”

It’s the last thing I remember saying before I doze off a few short minutes later.