Page 25 of Cinder & Secrets (Ink & Ashes #2)

“Because it was just a few short months after Summer and Leo, and you were finally starting to find your footing again. I didn’t want to encroach on your friendship with Charlotte. I knew how badly you needed her.”

“What a load of horse shit,” she spits, surprising both me and Charlotte with her words. “Get out.” She turns toward Char, who rears back in confusion. “I need to speak to my brother... Alone.”

Understanding crosses Charlotte’s expression and she nods only once before slipping on her sandals and heading for the door, not once looking back at me as she does.

My sister waits until the door closes behind her before giving me her full attention.

“How could you?” She swipes angrily at the tear that sneaks past her lashes. “Charlotte?” She points toward the door she just exited through. “Of all the women in the world, it had to be her.”

“I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“Do you love her?”

“What? No.” I shake my head, but the word tastes bitter on my tongue, like my body knows it’s a lie even if my brain won’t accept it.

“So you’re just, what, using her for sex?”

“I’m not using her for anything. She’s the one who came onto me, not the other way around.”

“Oh, poor you. A beautiful girl came onto you.” She rolls her eyes, her hands fisted at her sides. “You lied to me.” The words are so soft on her lips I almost don’t hear them.

“I know...”

“You, River... The person I trusted more than anyone. You lied to me. Why?”

“I told you—”

“Don’t you dare blame this on Summer and Leo. How could you possibly think you’d be protecting me by doing the same thing they did?”

“This is not the same.”

“A lie is a lie, no matter the circumstances.”

“What do you want me to say, Lyric? That I met Char and I was instantly attracted to her? I was. Do you want me to tell you that we spent months talking, getting to know each other, and the more I learned, the more I wanted to know? That I tried to end it when I started to feel something... That she’s made it impossible for me to walk away?

” I run a frustrated hand through my hair. “Would any of that make it better?”

“Did you think I would care? Did you truly think I would stand in your way, to the point that you not only lied to me, but you convinced my best friend to lie to me too?”

“I just... After Leo, you were so... broken. I didn’t want to do anything to set back all the progress you had made.”

“You’re still lying.”

“No, I’m not.”

“This has nothing to do with me. And you know that, even if you haven’t admitted it to yourself yet.

This has everything to do with keeping a barrier between you and Char.

You used me as an excuse to keep her from getting too close.

You knew as long as there were lies between you that you’d be able to keep her at arm’s length. ”

“That’s not—” I open my mouth to argue but quickly snap it shut.

“You haven’t just been lying to me. You’ve also been lying to yourself. And for what? Because you’re scared of getting hurt.”

“I’m not scared...”

“Bullshit.” Her nostrils flare. “I know you, River. I know what Annie’s betrayal did to you, and I get it.

I’ve lived through it myself. But you can’t keep doing this.

You can’t keep putting up walls between you and other people because if you do, one day, you’re going to find yourself barricaded behind them with no means of escape.

” She blows out a breath. “Charlotte deserves better. And frankly, so do you.”

“I’m sorry,” I say the one thing I should have said the moment she appeared in the doorway.

“I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I broke your trust. And I’m even more sorry that I pulled Char into the lie.

Please don’t be upset with her. You mean so much to her, and the thought that I may have caused a rift.

.. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. ”

“Maybe you should have thought about that before you started fucking my best friend and lying to me about it.” She seethes. “Does anyone else know?”

“Know what?” I play dumb because I don’t want to answer the question. I don’t want to implicate anyone else because, at the end of the day, I’m the one to blame here, not anyone else.

“About you and Char.”

“Ly—”

“Who?” She reads me like an open book.

“Dalton... And Maisie.”

At the mention of Maisie, she draws back like I’ve physically slapped her across the face.

“Maisie knows?”

“She figured it out the night we were all at Mom and Dad’s for dinner, the week Char was visiting.”

She shakes her head, more tears filling her eyes as she realizes three of the people closest to her in her life have been lying to her. Guilt tears me open.

“I see.” She tries to hold on to a semblance of her composure.

“I’m so sorry, Lyric. Truly. I never meant for it to go this far.”

“Whether you meant for it to or not is irrelevant. You wanna know the sad thing? I would have supported this. I would have been happy for you. For Char.”

“I know.”

“Which is precisely why you didn’t tell me.” It’s not a question. “You’re going to break her heart. You know that, don’t you?”

“Charlotte is tougher than she looks.”

“She wants you to think that, but deep down, she’s just as fragile as the rest of us, maybe even more so.” She turns toward the door.

“What are you going to do?” I call to her back.

“Nothing. There’s nothing to be done.” She tugs open the door, turning to look at me over her shoulder. “Do not ever lie to me again.” It’s the last thing she says before she disappears into the hallway.