Meeeeeeeeeooooooooooowwwwwwww.

“Ugh, no. Go away,” Mekena moaned, covering her eyes as she turned over. Her head was pounding, and automatically, she felt as if she was going to puke. Plus, her ankle was throbbing with pain. The last thing she wanted to do was get up and feed Mr. Right, but apparently, her sweet boy didn’t get that memo.

Meeeeoooowwwwww.

His cries, she could ignore, and he must have known that because soon he started to bat her in the back of the head with his paw. His nails dug into her head and caught her hair, pulling it. Hard.

“Mister! No, sir! That hurts,” she complained, turning over to meet her cat full on. He didn’t seem impressed, nor did he seem to care as she glared back at him. “I don’t feel good. Go find a mouse and eat that.”

That was apparently not an option, and he smacked her once more, his meowing coming out with more gusto than before.

“You’re killing me,” she moaned, kicking the blankets off and reaching for the glass of water she had sitting on the table by her bed. As she drank, her head felt as if it was about to explode, and she wanted to die. But then pain shot up her leg, and she became convinced that dying was a good idea. As she reached down, rubbing her ankle, she noticed it was swollen but seemed okay.

Meeeoooowww.

“Yeah, yeah, give me a minute,” she demanded, getting some aspirin and popping those. Closing her eyes, she moaned loudly as she stretched her arms up, wishing like hell she had skipped those last shots of whiskey with Jace and Avery. She wasn’t going to make it today. It was that simple. She had to have breakfast with her parents and then do a test shoot with Libby followed by the rehearsal tonight. Type-A Lucy had decided to have the rehearsal the day before the dinner since she wanted a whole day before the wedding to adjust in case everything didn’t go exactly as she wanted. Benji had just smiled and indulged her. Right now, Mekena was grateful it wouldn’t be another late night with free-flowing alcohol.

Today was already going to be long, and being hungover while she did it was not the smartest move on her part.

“Oh, crap,” she muttered because then she remembered she had agreed to talk to Markus after everything. “Fuck me,” she cried, falling back and covering her face as her memories came back to her at full force. The pain in her ankle now had an explanation, and crap, she'd kissed him. Like, really kissed him, and it felt so damn good.

What an idiot!

She was never drinking again.

No, she’d be an overweight cat lady who ate lots of snacks and became completely unsociable. That would be her life because she was positively losing it. She had one goal—she had to steer clear of him, it was that simple—but somehow, she had not only not steered clear, she’d kissed him. Like a dipshit. How could she have agreed to speak to him? Though, as soon as she thought it, she knew why. She wanted to know what he had to say. She wanted to know what he meant last night when he said she still mattered.

Did he still care for her? Did he want her back? Could she take him back? What the hell? Why was she thinking about any of this? He cheated! She wasn’t getting back with him. For the rest of their relationship, she would always fear he would cheat on her again. No, she would be setting them up for failure. It would be asinine of her.

Yet she could still feel his lips.

The thickness of them consuming her own as she held him, needing to drink from his amazing mouth.

God, she was in trouble. So much trouble.

Meeeeoooowww.

“Fucking hell!” she complained, standing up and wobbling a bit on her way to get her bathrobe. Throwing it on, she glared at Mr. Right. “You are spoiled.”

He just looked at her as though that wasn’t an untrue statement while she rolled her eyes, staggering out of the room to the kitchen to get her spoiled cat some food. But what she found wasn’t food, it was better. Markus at the stove, cooking bacon.

Shirtless.

“Oh, hey,” he said, wiping his hand on a towel, but that wasn’t what she was looking at. No, she was looking at the thick, rippling muscles of his chest and abs and the way his shorts hung low on his hips, showing the V of his groin. She had to make herself look away as he asked, “Am I in your way?”

“No.” She went around him and grabbed a can of cat food out of the cabinet. “You should put a shirt on before you burn your skin with bacon grease.”

He scoffed. “I feel if I am going to eat it, I should be brave when I cook it since it’s so bad for me and all. I’m basically a warrior. Drogo, if you will.”

She snorted as she opened the can. “Drogo? You aim high, my friend,” she said, speaking of the famous and very hot Khal Drogo of the Dothraki on Game of Thrones, a show they had regularly watched together. It had always been one of her favorite nights. They binged with Jace and Avery, eating crappy food and vegging out on the couch. It was a blast. “You’re more of a Jaime Lannister.”

“Whoa, I don’t sleep with my sister,” he yelled and she laughed.

“True, then a Robb Stark. Promised to one, but sleeps with another,” she said, and as soon as she did, she wished she hadn’t. It was rude and uncalled for, especially when he was being nice to her. If anything, it just reiterated that she couldn’t even be with him. He would always be labeled a cheater in her eyes. The guy who broke her heart. Clearing her throat, she lowered the plate to Mr. Right and then cleaned her hands in the sink as the awkward silence filled the room. Though, Mr. Right didn’t care. He ate very happily as Mekena tried to figure out how she was going to get out of there.

Deciding there was no way out, she just turned to walk away as he asked, “Are we still good for tonight after the rehearsal?”

She wasn’t sure why he wanted to speak to her. She was being a bitch, but there was so much hope in his eyes. He needed this…and maybe she did too. “Um, yeah, I guess.”

He nodded slowly, his eyes meeting hers. She had hurt him with that comment, she could see it in his eyes, and that pained her. “I think we need to clear the air.”

Her brows came together. “It’s pretty cut-and-dried, don’t you think?”

“No, it’s not. Not even a little.”

She could only blink as his eyes burned into hers. “Oh.”

“Yeah, and I’d like a chance to explain myself, something I should have done two years ago.”

“Oh,” she said once more as her mind went crazy with what in the world he was going to say. She decided she had no choice; she had to speak to him. “Okay, I’ll meet you here afterward.”

“Cool, thanks,” he said softly, and her heart just ached. She was still being a bitch, yet he thanked her for agreeing to talk to him? Shaking her head, she went to walk away once more, but his voice stopped her. “Like I said last night, you won’t regret it.”

Looking at the back of his head, she sucked in a deep breath. “What’s your endgame, Markus?”

He didn’t turn as he flipped his bacon. “What do you mean?”

Walking to the counter, she leaned her hip to it, looking up at the side of his face. “We haven’t talked to or seen each other in over a year. I wouldn’t even speak to you unless I was screaming, and now we’re going to talk. Okay, so we talk. What do you want after that?”

He looked at her, his eyes narrowing. “What do you want?”

“Closure,” she said simply.

“That’s it?”

She hesitated because she honestly didn’t know what she wanted. She should only want the closure, but a part of her…wanted more. Fuck, no! She wanted closure! “Yes.”

“Then that’s what we’ll get.”

She eyed him. “But is that what you want?”

Meeting her gaze, he shrugged. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I hurt you. I want to make it right, and I want us to move on. I want us to be happy, because from what I can tell, you haven’t been happy. And I know I haven’t either.”

She didn’t know what to say. How did he know she wasn’t happy? He didn’t know anything about her. The only way he would was if Avery had told him, but Mekena knew Avery wouldn’t do that to her. So how? Was she that transparent? That pathetic? She wasn’t sure, but she was pretty sure she didn’t even know herself any longer because, within seconds, her mouth was moving without her consent. “I’m sorry I kissed you last night. I’m sure that was a little confusing.”

He smiled, his eyes darkening as he took the bacon out of the skillet and put it onto a paper towel by the stove. “Don’t ever apologize for kissing me, sweetheart, especially when we both enjoyed it.”

Her eyes darkened then as her mouth quirked at the side. She didn’t know what he was up to, but it blew her mind how easy it was between them. When she let it be easy… She didn’t allow it that much for obvious and good reasons because it was too painful. She turned, heading toward her room. “I’ll see you tonight, then,” she said when she paused in the doorway.

Turning and leaning against the counter, he took a bite of his bacon and nodded. “Tonight. Have a good day.”

“You too,” she answered before entering her room and shutting the door by leaning against it.

She begged her head to stop swirling, but there was no sign of that happening anytime in the future.

Not when Markus Reeves was playing at her heartstrings.

And to think, she had to go deal with her parents next.

Awesome.

 

 

“He wants to talk.”

Avery giggled into the phone, and Mekena rolled her eyes as she drove to her parents’ house. It was early and she was tired, but she had promised, so she was going. Plus, she’d get to see Libby and drive her back to the estate for the test shoot. It was all for the best, but she wasn’t sure if her sister would be at the house. She couldn’t face her sister, not now. Not when she’d agreed to talk to Markus. It was just a nasty reminder, one she didn’t want at that moment. “I need support here.”

“So talk to him. What’s the big deal? You’ve wanted to know why, here is your opportunity.”

Mekena groaned. “I kissed him last night.”

Avery’s gasp filled the line as Mekena rolled her eyes again. “You little minx! Get it, girl! Did it go down?”

“What in the world? No! I kissed him, and he told me we couldn’t do that because I was drunk,” she said, and the regret still stung a little.

“Of course he did, he wouldn’t do that to you. He didn’t want you to regret it.”

“I know, but I accused him of not wanting me, and then I did this thing where I cried that he didn’t want to fuck me or kiss me. And I asked why I wasn’t enough.”

Her voice trailed off as Avery gasped again. “You didn’t!”

“I did, it was pathetic and, I swear, so dramatic.”

“Ew, that blows balls.”

“Big donkey ones.”

“Agreed, so y’all are talking tonight?”

“Yeah, after the rehearsal.”

“Cool.”

“Though, I don’t know what we could have to talk about. It’s all pretty much in your face what happened.”

“I think you’ll think differently once y’all talk.”

Mekena paused. “Wait, what? You know what he wants to talk to me about?” Avery hissed out a curse, and Mekena waited. “Don’t hold out on me, Sinclair.”

Avery laughed. “Shit, yeah, I do, but I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“’Cause I promised Jace.”

“You suck!”

“I know, but really, I think you’ll want to hear it all. From him.”

Shaking her head, Mekena pulled onto her parents’ road. “I asked him what his endgame was. He said whatever I want.”

“So the ball is in your court?”

“Or better yet, the puck is in my zone.”

“Exactly,” Avery laughed. “Do you think you can forgive him?”

“I don’t know,” she said truthfully. “And as pathetic as I sound, I sort of want to. I miss him.”

“I know.”

“Am I dumb for that?”

“I don’t know,” Avery said honestly. “To me, Markus has turned out to be great, but he didn’t do to me what he did to you.”

It worried her. She didn’t want to be that girl who forgave and forgot the actions of a cheating bastard. She had always heard once a cheater, always a cheater, but that didn’t seem right with Markus. Was she blinded by her love for him? Was she that girl?

“I’m scared, Avery,” she whispered, her heart aching in her chest.

“I know, but I guess…just follow your heart.”

“It leads to him, though.”

“Then what else can you do?”

“Run?”

“You’ve done that. God put y’all together this week for a reason. Maybe roll with it?”

Mekena smiled. “Or I could run.”

“Yeah, but do you really want to do that?”

“No,” she answered, knowing she wouldn’t.

“I guess there’s only one option.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” she agreed, pulling into her parents’ drive. She sighed in annoyance because she had to park in the back since everyone else was taking up the rest of the driveway. “But hey, I’m here. I’ll see you later.”

“All right, have fun.”

“Yeah, we’ll see how that goes. Bye,” she said, hanging up and then tucking her phone into her purse after parking the car. She checked her makeup before she got out, taking her purse with her. Her heart was beating a little out of control, and she chalked it up to the fact that she was constantly thinking about Markus. Almost two years had passed, and she had done so well to ignore her wandering thoughts. But now…now, she couldn’t ignore them if she tried. He was front and center, and she didn’t know how to handle that. Reaching for the front door, she opened it and then realized why her heart was beating so hard.

Skylar was there.

As her sister’s eyes met hers, narrowing as a grin pulled at her lips, Mekena had half a mind to turn around and leave. But her mother grabbed her, hugging her tightly.

“Hey, baby.”

“Hey, Mom,” she said tightly, glaring at her sister. “Why is she here?”

“She’s staying here and wanted to join us.”

Mekena gave her mother a dubious look. “I don’t want to be anywhere near her.”

“I know, but we want to talk this out.”

Mekena’s face scrunched up. “What? There is nothing to talk about.”

“Sure, there is,” her mother said as her father filled the dining room doorframe.

“Come on, Kennie. I want this over. I want both my babies in the same room together.”

Skylar looked at her, and all Mekena could do was shake her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“Yes, you can,” he demanded, bringing her into the kitchen and sitting her in the chair across from Skylar. “This is getting old. We want it like old times, when we could all be in the same room.”

Libby came into the room just as Mekena looked over. “I didn’t know this was the plan,” she said, answering Mekena’s unspoken question as to why the hell she hadn’t warned her.

“You could have sent a text.”

“I did.”

Mekena looked at her phone, and there was a message. Fuck. “Well, great.”

“Please, let’s try,” her father said, sitting down and taking both their hands in his. “Look at each other, you’re sisters.”

Mekena looked over at Skylar, and her sister’s face made her skin crawl. “This is a waste of time. I have nothing to say to her.”

“Well, I have a lot to say to you,” Skylar said, and Mekena’s body went rigid with anger. “I’m sorry, Kennie.”

“Don’t call me that,” she demanded, her eyes in slits. “It’s Mekena to you.”

Skylar glared back, her smile dropping. “I did it for you. I couldn’t have you wasting your life on scum. You have to understand that. He wasn’t good enough for you.”

“What bullshit! If that were the case, then you should have let me find that out myself and not sleep with him yourself.”

“He didn’t deserve you!”

“Again, that’s my job to decide, not yours, and you shouldn’t have slept with him to prove it.”

“I don’t regret what I did. I did it for you—”

“Don’t use me as an excuse for your whorishness. Everyone knows you’re a slut and that you fuck anything. You just couldn’t handle that I found someone who made me happy and that person wasn’t you. You were mad that I had it all—I was happy, I had a great life going for me and a great guy who cared for me, and you had to ruin it. You’ve always been jealous of me!”

Skylar laughed. “Um, other way around, kiddo. I don’t care one bit what you do.”

“You’re right, I wanted to be you. I wanted to be beautiful and witty, and I did everything I could to be like you, but it didn’t work. So I was me and I was happy, and you hated it because I wasn’t up your ass.”

“You know nothing!”

“I know everything! I know you slept with a guy I really cared for, whom I could have loved, and then you tried to say you did it for me. Um, no, you did it because you’re selfish and you were horny.”

“Okay, that’s enough. We’re supposed to be working this out,” her father said, but Mekena shook her head.

“Dad, there is no working this out. She slept with my boyfriend, she broke my heart, and because of that, she’ll never be anything more than a sister I don’t speak to,” Mekena yelled, and then she looked to Libby. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Oh, let me get my things,” she said, running off as Mekena looked back to her parents’ and stood.

“If you’re siding with her, then I’m done with all of you. She broke my heart, and I can never forgive that.” Looking to her sister, she held her gaze. “I will always love you because you are my sister, and if you ever need help, I’ll be there. But other than that, I have nothing to say to you.”

“Mekena, she is trying,” her father yelled, but she shook her head.

“No, she’s doing what y’all want. I haven’t heard from her in well over a year. I haven’t seen her, nor has she reached out to me at all. She doesn’t want to apologize except when you guys make her. Which is fine, she’s not sorry. She did it because she wanted to, because she wanted to hurt me, whatever. I’m done.”

“That’s not true,” Skylar complained, but Mekena shook her head.

“It’s not? Then why haven’t I heard from you other than when I come into this house?” she asked, and Skylar promptly looked away. “Because you’re only doing this to appease them. Not to own up to what you did to me. To really apologize from your heart and whatever.” Mekena’s voice broke as her eyes filled with tears. “What, did they said they’d let you stay here if you made things right with me?”

“Skylar! Tell her that’s not true,” her mother yelled, but when Mekena met her sister’s gaze, Skylar only shrugged.

“I mean, it isn’t. I don’t know. It was so long ago, I’m over it.”

Tears started rolling down Mekena’s cheeks from the outright dismissal by her older sister. The person she had idolized for so long. She hadn’t wanted to accept that her sister did it to hurt her. She’d hoped there was some other excuse, but Skylar wasn’t saying anything. She didn’t blame Markus, nothing. She knew what she did, and she didn’t care. That hurt. It hurt more than Mekena could ever express.

“And this is why I have nothing more to say,” she said definitively, shaking her head. “Don’t y’all dare do this to me again, or you’ll never see me again.” Wiping her face, she walked toward the back door since it was the closest exit. “Tell Libby I’m outside.”

“Mekena, wait, please,” her father tried, but she slammed the door, leaning her head against it as her parents began to yell at Skylar. “How could you do this to her?”

“I didn’t do it to hurt her. I did it for her!”

“Skylar, this is disgusting! She’s broken from it.”

“She’ll get over it! It’s just some guy.”

But it wasn’t some guy.

It was the guy.

Mekena’s heart was in her throat. Her chest was seizing as the tears fell quickly down her face. She hadn’t wanted to do this. She was fine thinking that her sister loved her and hadn’t wanted to hurt her, but standing there, looking at her, Mekena knew that wasn’t true. Skylar did it because she wanted to, not for Mekena’s sake, and that hurt even more. Why was everyone out to hurt her?

Wiping her face, she took in a deep breath as her lip wobbled. She hated crying over it. She wanted to be strong. She wanted not to worry about it, let it go, but it was still like it happened yesterday and it was gutting her. All over again.

When she heard the front doorbell ring through the back door, she stood up straighter and decided she needed to go. No telling who that was, and she wouldn’t put it past her mother to call their pastor in to do a prayer meeting for them or something crazy. Sending a quick text to Libby that she was driving herself, she started around the house. But she came to a halt when she heard his voice.

“I need to speak to you.”

Markus?

 

 

Standing in front of the girl who ruined everything, Markus thought he would feel something more. He thought he would feel hatred, anger toward Skylar Preston, but he felt nothing. As he looked into her eyes, he couldn’t believe the person who was standing in front of him, and he felt sorry for her. She didn’t look the way he remembered. She looked like she was on something, drugs or whatever. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she was skinnier than he remembered. No longer muscular like she used to be. He wouldn’t make assumptions, but it was obvious this wasn’t the girl he had known.

She wore tight shorts and an even tighter crop top, her breasts flattened under the shirt. She was basically showing off the cow and serving the milk in the back, but Markus wanted none of it. Not when he kept thinking about Mekena. She had left that morning in a cute little dress that covered almost every inch of her, and that had turned him on more than all the skin in front of him now.

Looking uncertain and a bit surprised, Skylar shook her head. “Um. This isn’t really a good time.”

“I don’t care. I need to talk to you,” he said, and he meant it.

He had seen her house as he passed by, and it was on impulse that he told Jace to stop. He hadn’t meant to come here. He hadn’t meant to have it out with her right here, but if he planned to come clean to Mekena tonight, he needed to bury all his demons so he would be ready to fight to get her back.

Rolling her eyes, Skylar reached for the door, but her mother stopped her and yelled, “We aren’t done, Skylar! You need to fix this.”

“I hear you, Mom. I’m coming, hold on. Five minutes,” she yelled back, shutting the door and walking past him down the stairs, looking around as he followed her into the yard. He wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but her brows pulled together before she shook her head, looking back at him. She wasn’t her carefree self; she seemed a little on edge. He figured it had something to do with all the yelling he’d heard.

“What couldn’t wait? I haven’t seen you in, like, ever. Why are you here?” she snapped, and he figured his drug assumption was on point.

Already annoyed, he hooked his thumb behind him to where Jace was waiting in the car. “Jace bought a four-wheeler for his niece, and we were driving back through the neighborhood when I remembered y’all living here. I actually didn’t think you’d be here, but then I saw your car and I thought maybe I’d try,” he explained, his heart beating out of his chest. He wasn’t scared of her; she couldn’t hurt him when he was in his right mind. But, still, she made him nervous. He didn’t fully expect her to own up to everything, but he wanted her to hear from his lips that she’d hurt him. That she’d hurt Mekena, and for that, he would forever hold her responsible.

“Okay, well, you got me. So, what’s up?” she said, once more looking around, and he glanced in the direction she was looking but saw nothing. He wasn’t sure what she was doing, but he couldn’t keep Jace waiting long. This would be quick and easy.

Well, he hoped it would be easy.

“I wanted to talk to you about that night.”

Her brows drew together, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “What night?”

“That night,” he said, emphasizing the words. “The night we apparently slept together.”

Her eyes widened a bit, but not in surprise, almost in annoyance. “Oh, what about it?”

He hated how callous she was. How it didn’t matter to her one bit. But when he thought of it, he felt so unclean. “I wanted to let you know that you really hurt me. I know we weren’t that close of friends, but, still, I really didn’t think you’d do that to me.”

“What did I do?” she asked condescendingly.

He glared at her. “A couple days after that night, I had a pop-up drug test and I tested positive for Xanax, but I don’t take them. I almost lost my scholarship, but thankfully, I had a great coach who fought for me. But you did cause me to lose Mekena. Someone I truly cared for. Maybe even loved. But you didn’t let that be. You had to drug me up and take advantage of the situation.”

Rolling her eyes, she laughed. “I asked if you wanted something to make the party feel better, and you said—”

“I did not. I would never. I don’t do that shit because I care about my career, so that’s straight bullshit. And I would never sleep with you in my right mind. That wasn’t fair.”

“Wow, how nice of you to say,” she snapped back.

“I didn’t want you. I wanted Mekena.”

“So what? You weren’t good enough.”

“Who are you to say that?” He fought back, his eyes narrowing. “You don’t drug someone and sleep with them to prove that!”

She laughed soullessly. “You act like we really did it. I sucked you hard, tried to fuck you, but you couldn’t stay hard, so it’s whatever. You wanted it.”

His mouth actually dropped open. “If I couldn’t stay hard, didn’t you know that meant I didn’t want it?”

“You didn’t know what you wanted. You were high out of your mind.”

“Because of you!” he yelled, his nails biting into his palms. “Because you drugged me, because you took advantage of me, and made me feel worthless. I have gone over a year blaming myself for what happened, when, really, it was all you.”

“So what?” she laughed. “It’s college, this shit happens. You’re fine. Big career in the NHL and all that jazz.”

“But I don’t have Mekena,” he said, his eyes welling up with tears as his chest ached with the pain of a thousand armies dying on the battlefield. “I lost her, and you know what, I think I’m the most mad at you for hurting her. I couldn’t care less that you caused me all kinds of pain, caused me to be a little unsure of myself, to question my sanity and my worth. But I can’t forgive you for making that girl feel self-conscious, for questioning her worth. She is amazing, she is the nicest person I’ve ever met, and damn it, I love her. I love her so much that, for the first time in my life, I want to punch a woman in the damn face. I want to smack that smug look off your face,” he said, his whole body shaking as she just shook her head, chuckling a bit.

“But you won’t.”

“You’re right, because I’m a good man, a man who was good for Mekena, who would have done right by her.”

“No, you would have gone off into the NHL and fucked someone else. I saved her the heartache.”

He took a step toward her, but she stood tall, her face unmoving as he sneered, “If that’s what you have to tell yourself to live with what you’ve done, then say it all you want. But that isn’t the fucking truth. I wouldn’t have done that!”

“Yet, you went to your room with me,” she pointed out, and he shook his head.

“I don’t even remember anything about that night. Nothing. Which is all your and your drugs’ fault.”

She shrugged, clearly bored with him, and that made him even angrier. “Are you done?”

“Why? Can you answer that for me? Honestly, why?”

“I already said why. You weren’t good enough for her.”

“How do you know? Was I mean to you? Her? Tell me.”

She was completely over talking to him, but he had to know. “I know Mekena. She needs some ugly bookworm loser who grovels at her feet. You’re not that guy. You’re too hot, have a great future in front of you, and have girls fighting for you.”

“Though my eyes were only on your sister, and the fact that you think she didn’t deserve someone like me is sickening. She deserves the world, and I would have given it to her.”

“You’re insane to think you’re even an ounce of good enough for her.”

“I don’t think that I am, but I would have tried.”

“You would have failed.”

Shaking his head, he looked at her, really looked at her. He decided she was basically dog shit. “I thought you’d actually apologize, but I can tell you don’t care. You care about no one but yourself. Everyone knows you’ve been jealous of Mekena. She wasn’t the little sister who chased you around, begging for your advice. She had someone, and you couldn’t stand it because no one wanted you!”

That’s when her hand came crashing into his face. He closed his eyes as his cheek stung, and he slowly counted to five. He wouldn’t lose it. He’d keep it together. She wasn’t worth it.

“I don’t want anyone. I never did because men do nothing but hurt you, and I refused to let my sister go through the same thing.”

He met her angry gaze. “She wouldn’t have. I would have done right by her, but you took that chance away from me. Because of that, we’re done.”

“Great,” she said, turning and reaching for the door. “Have a good life.”

“Oh, I will, but we all know you won’t,” he spat back at her as he turned, heading for the truck, but as he reached it, Jace rolled the window down, pointing behind him. “I’m done.”

“Yeah, but, bro, behind you.”

Confused, Markus turned to see Mekena standing beside the house, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Holy shit,” he muttered, and his heart sank into the acid of his stomach as his eyes met hers. They just stood there, staring at each other, and he wondered how much she had heard. He wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t know if he should go to her. But apparently, his legs had a mind of their own, and they started for her as she started for him, wiping her face.

“Wow,” she said through her tears, and he figured she had heard everything.

He nodded. “I wanted to tell you myself. I didn’t want you to find out like that.”

Slowly shaking her head, she looked down to the ground and then just turned, heading into the house.

“Mekena?”

But she didn’t answer him. She just went into the house, slamming the door and shaking the windows.

“Well, fuck,” he muttered, turning back to Jace. “Should I go in there?”

“And do what?”

“I don’t know.”

“Exactly, let her cool off…or kill her sister. Who knows? Come on, you’ll see her later.”

Nodding, he looked back at the house, considering following her. But what would he do in there? Probably make matters worse. No, she needed time to think this through, and Jace was right, he’d see her later.

So he left.

And while the weight on his chest from the guilt of what had happened was gone, the worry of not knowing what would happen with Mekena took its place.

Which was much, much worse.