Page 48 of Crash into me
“No, Kate.” I inhale, steadying myself for her reaction. “I mean, I never forgot.”
“What?”
Brett shrugs. “How did Foster take it?”
“Wait! Foster?” Kate questions, not wanting to believe it.
“Yeah, a lot of shit happened at the party last night,” I tell her, not wanting to throw a million truths at her all at once. I don’t want to blanket the lies; I want to peel them away to start fresh.
So, I tell them everything.
I dive into each little detail of my lies. But my best friends are amazing, and it isn’t long before we’re back to normal.
“Oh, I stole her fiancé.” Brett grins, and Kate tilts her head.
“Huh?” She’s so confused. “Warren?” she asks. Luckily, I don’t have to lie to her anymore.
I roll my eyes playfully. “Brett had a secret of his own.”
“Seriously?” She looks him over, carefully slapping his chest. “Why didn’t you tell us!”
He shrugs his broad shoulders. “I was scared … I didn’t want to admit what I’ve always known about myself. I was worried about everything changing, and my parents …”
Now I understand why he protected Warren so quickly; he’s scared of his parents’ reactions just like Warren was. “Brett,” I begin with a frown, wrapping my arms around him, “we’re so proud of you.”
“We are! We love you,” Kate agrees. “But I totally thought you were into Skyler.”
He shakes his head. “I’m just happy I can be myself now.”
Me too, Brett. “What did your parents say?”
A wide grin graces his features. “They’re proud of me.” But then his lips turn downward. “I just feel so fucking bad for Warren.”
“So, you two are serious then?” I ask.
“Yeah.” He nods. “I think … I think I’m in love.” He pauses, grabbing my hand. “But I only started dating him because I knew you weren’t interested; I would never fucking betray you like that,” he promises.
“I should have known.” Kate narrows her eyes. “We’d be at the hospital every day and they would always leave within ten minutes of each other.”
“So that’s how you met,” I say, and Brett nods. “I’m so happy for you,” I tell him with as much power behind my voice as I can muster.
“It seems so dumb now.” He shrugs. “But I hated Foster because I thought I was in love with him … I wasn’t obviously.”
“Seriously? Is that why you didn’t want me to be with him?”
“Yeah, I mean it’s ancient history and I don’t feel anything like that for him now, but yeah.”
“He is droolworthy,” I admit.
We pile in for a hug, letting the tears fall in a safe circle and knowing we’ll always be there to protect each other.
I turn to Kate. “Any secrets from you?”
She laughs into my shoulder. “No, I’m the boring one.”
“So, are you and Foster back together?” Brett asks.
“No.” My admission surprises them both. “He broke up with me.”