I have to work quickly. It’s Christmas Eve. How time flies when you’re happy…
He rustles on the bed behind me. I hear him curse, then answer.
There’s a beat of silence, and the next word coming from his mouth has me turning around.
“Matt?”
I look at Kaden. His brows are drawn together, and there’s a suspicious brightness in his eyes.
“Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, good to hear from you, man. Been too long. I know. Yes, I do know. Nothing to be sorry for. It did sound bad.” Then his frown deepens. “She did? When? I see. Well, okay then. Let me know when I can come up and see you. Yeah, Merry Christmas, bro.”
He disconnects the call, lets the phone drop on the bed, and looks up at me. Emotions war in his bright gaze. Happiness. Shock. Confusion. A tiny bit of anger.
Uh-oh.
“You called my brother?”
“He wouldn’t pick up when you called him. He didn’t know my number.” I shrug. “So he answered.”
“You told him you talked to Eva. To Eva!” He presses the heels of his palms into his eyes. “Jesus Christ, Hailey. Why?”
“Because I needed to know.”
“You didn’t trust me.”
“I didn’t know you!”
He rubs a hand over his face. “Fucking hell. I thought we said no secrets. You called him over a week ago. Why didn’t you say something?”
“I didn’t know if he’d call you.”
“That doesn’t matter. You should have told me.”
God, he’s right. I didn’t trust him when I asked Eva, and I didn’t make things any better by not telling him what I did. “I’m sorry. But I’m not sorry I called your brother. He needs you. And you need him. The rumors cost both of you a lot.”
“I know what this cost me. Dammit, how did you even get his phone number?”
I chew on my lip. “I, uh. I checked your contact list? Just that, I swear.”
He gets up and starts pulling on his clothes, his eyes not meeting mine. “I need to go.”
My heart is breaking. This is all my fault. “Please, Kaden. Don’t go. Let’s talk about this.”
“I need to think. Alone.” He pulls on his pants, his shirt, his socks and boots as I stand there helpless, wringing my hands. “Need to go.”
Tears track down my cheeks as he gets up and heads for the door.
“Will I see you again?” I ask.
He doesn’t reply. The door clicks shut.
After spending the rest of the day and the night pacing my room, I have to admit to myself that I made a mistake. A huge mistake. I should have told him. I thought it might be a nice surprise if his brother called him at long last. I never thought about how Kaden would feel about me going behind his back to ask questions and calling his brother.
I sometimes forget Kaden doesn’t know me well, either. He entrusted me with his secrets, his fantasies. His heart.
And I didn’t reciprocate. Even the thing about my job. Sure, he never asked outright what my job is, but he did ask what I was doing glued to my laptop and I’d avoided answering, telling him I was updating some stuff.
I’d held back. Partly because my fiancé’s betrayal had pushed me back behind my walls. And partly because I was wary of opening my heart to someone I was falling for.