“That’s no excuse. No excuse at all.” Bree shook her head with an annoyed puff.
Kate explained quickly, “I know that now, yeah. But then… I thought I’d finally found the love of my life in a handsome college football player who was chasing me—me, the twenty-two-year-old virgin, the plain Jane for God’s sake. Anyway, it happened once again after we started sleeping together—that I know of anyway.”
She traced the trailing water droplets from her wine glass with her index finger, her mind back in New Jersey for a moment. She wanted to bury the bad memories away. John had left a trail of destruction in his wake, leaving Kate nothing but an empty shell.
His blatant rejection and betrayal still pained her, even after all these years. The first weeks after their breakup, she would only leave her apartment for work but nothing else. She’d felt so unworthy, alone, and lost. Thinking about her dark state of mind back then made her sad, even now.
But she wanted to open up to Bree, to have a friend who knew her like no other. Bree was such a feisty sweetheart, and Kate felt safe with her—safe enough to share more of her story with her. She righted her shoulders, took a deep breath, and continued.
“After that happened in the club, my sisters stayed the night and I confessed then why we’d broken up those first two times. Kayla and Errin were not only livid with John but were also upset with me for covering for him. They couldn’t understand why I went back to such a douchebag the first time, let alone the second.”
Bree gave her arm another reassuring squeeze, and Kate smiled softly. “I was in a bad place for a long time after that. Kayla was so worried for me that she even took me on a trip, just to get me out of my apartment.”
Kate snorted in realization that John never deserved her tears. Oh, how she wanted to go back in time and give the twenty-two-year-old Kate a firm kick in the butt when she first accepted John’s lies.
“It helped being away for a few weeks, away from everything that reminded me of him. After that, my sisters took me even more under their wings, and it brought us even closer than we already were. But it took a long time before I would even go on a date with a guy, let alone take the next step to open myself up to someone.”
Bree took a sip from Kate’s glass of wine since hers was already empty. Kate grinned knowingly at her friend, as she probably really needed the drink after her talk with Pops. Bree swallowed and said, “Okay, so after that asshole, being with a player like Donovan probably scares the shit out of you.”
“Bree….” Kate sighed. “I know I can’t trust him. He doesn’t even know what or who he wants, so how the heck am I supposed to know?”
“My thoughts exactly,” Bree whispered.