Page 26 of The Revenge You Seek

I gasp when his green eyes find mine once more.

My heart aches for the vulnerable boy I see hiding behind the king of football persona that everyone else sees.

“You were my best friend, Let, and… and…"

"And I left," I finish for him.

He laughs to himself. "Shit, that sounds like I blame you for chasing your dream. That's not what I meant at all."

"I know, Luc. I get what you mean. We lost touch. I'm sorry."

"Me too," he says sadly, standing from the chair and coming to sit beside me on the bed.

He reaches for my hand and threads our fingers together, staring down at them.

"What happened earlier, Let? What aren't you telling me?"

He looks up at me, his green eyes darkening around the edges in concern as he begs me to open up to him.

"N-nothing." It's not a lie, nothing did happen other than I freaked out and then he spent the entire class trying to get a rise out of me. He was right, it was just like high school all over again.

I let out a sigh. I thought all that shit was over the day we drove out of Harrow Creek in favor of Rosewood all those years ago. It seems fate had other ideas.

"Don't lie to me, Letty," Luca snaps, a hard edge to his voice. "You ran out of there terrified. What did that motherfucker do to you? Is he trying to get to me through you?"

I pull my hand from his and push from the bed so I can pace back and forth as I try to decide how much I'm willing to share right now. I already know I can't go the whole way because I fear it might send me straight back into the black hole that I've only recently managed to claw my way out of.

"I never… um…"Fuck.

I lift my hands to my hair and push it back from my face as I continue with my inner battle.

If Luca knows the kind of shit Kane has pulled over the years then he'll go after him, and I don't want to make the war that's already brewing between them any worse.

"Letty, just tell me."

I glance at my best friend as he rests his elbows on his knees, his dark hair falling down into his eyes, his teeth already deep into his bottom lip as he chews it while waiting for me.

Fuck it.

"I never told you everything about my time at Harrow Creek."

"Go on," he encourages, still watching my every move.

"Kane, he…" Out of the corner of my eye, I see Luca's entire body tense just at the mention of his name. "He hates me."

Luca's lips part to say something but only air rushes out.

He's silent for a few seconds as my words sink in.

"As in he avoided you at all costs, hates you, or he made your life hell, hates you."

I come to a stop in front of him.

"What do you think?"

"Fucking hell, Letty. Why didn't you ever tell me this? I'd have flattened the motherfucker for ever hurting you."

"That," I say, pointing at him. "That is the exact reason why I never told you."