I moaned and rolled onto my side, but it didn’t help ease the pain. I’d been trying to do without my pain pills. I knew I’d never get cleared to return to my regular work as long as I was on opioids, so I didn’t get my prescription refilled when it ran out. I’d been doing fine. Until then.

I didn’t want to admit how difficult the day had been on me. With rushing around in the morning and forgetting my lunch, with sitting all day but also not being able to get up much. My leg was aching, and I needed my prescription refilled. The problem was, I was in too much pain to get in the car and drive to get it.

I called Jace first. He was always great for that sort of thing. I could always count on him to help me. But he didn’t answer. I sent a text:

Please call ASAP.

Even in response to that, nothing. I called for the third time and left a message explaining what I needed. He probably thought I wanted to talk. Normally, I might have, but I was in no position for serious conversation at the moment.

When Jace didn’t return my calls or texts and I saw that the time was getting late, I called Cooper.

“I’m so sorry,” I blurted when he answered.

“Why?”

I sighed. “I’m trying to give the newlyweds some time to themselves.” I couldn’t hide my groan.

“What’s wrong?”

“I need my prescription from the pharmacy, but I’m in too much pain to get it.”

“Which pharmacy? I’ll go right now.”

“Are you sure? Is Alexis okay with that?”

“Kylie,” he said. “Of course, she’s okay with it. You’re my sister.”

“And she’s your wife.”

“And you’re her sister-in-law. She likes having you around, you know. She misses her sister terribly. She likes spending time with you.”

“That’s nice to hear.” I’d never really thought she liked me much for some reason. Maybe I was seeing things wrong.

“I’ll be right there. Do you need anything else?”

“No, but thank you. Tell Alexis I said ‘hi.’”

In order to distract myself until he could get there, I thought about time. What time the call ended, how long it would take him to walk out to his car, to drive to the pharmacy, to wait in line. I visualized the whole thing, and I was pretty impressed when there was a knock at my door just about the time I’d pictured Cooper turning onto my street.

“Come in!” I called from the living room.

The door closed. Footsteps.

“Hey, sorry.”

“Jace?” I pushed up on my elbows to see over the couch. “Oh. Hi.”

“Hi. Were you not expecting me?”

“You didn’t call me back or text. I didn’t think you got my messages.”

“I did.” He opened the pharmacy bag and set the bottle in front of me. Then he set an iced coffee—toasted almond, my favorite flavor—beside it.

“Thank you, thank you.” I grabbed my phone to text Cooper, but I knew it was probably too late. Unless my earlier visualization was way off, he’d be walking in the door at any moment.

I swallowed a pill and took a long sip of the drink. I just had to wait for it to kick in.

“Why didn’t you answer my calls?” I asked. “Or my texts?”

He looked at me, then his gaze cut to the left, toward the door. I heard it open and the sound of footfalls followed. I hadn’t even texted Cooper yet.

“Hey, Coop!” I called out.

He walked into sight and looked flustered, red-faced with his hair tousled. “What the heck, Ky? I went over there and they said the prescription wasn’t there. You didn’t answer your phone, either. And this asshole is here?” He gestured toward Jace and glared at him.

What the hell? I wondered what was behind that stare of his.

I looked at them both. They were glaring at each other.

“Why are you even here?” Cooper demanded. “She’s my sister and I’ll take care of her.”

“Obviously.” Jace crossed his arms. “That’s why you were the one who brought her prescription.”

“I got there like two seconds after you did.”

“Okay, what the hell is going on?” I interjected. “What’s the deal with you two?”

Jace’s expression looked more like a warning. I didn’t understand any of it.

Jace got to his feet. He walked to me, bent to kiss my head, and let his hand rest on my shoulder as he said, “Call me or text if you need anything. I’ll have my phone by my side all night.”

“Thanks for everything,” I said.

He winked and bumped into Cooper’s shoulder hard on his way to the door. The door closed and Cooper punched his fist into his hand.

“Since when are you and Jace fighting?” I asked.

“I’m so sick of his crap.”

I laid my head back on the couch. The pill wasn’t kicking in yet, and I found it difficult to keep up with what he was saying.

“The way he treats women,” Cooper went on.

My stomach tightened. Did he know?

“The other day,” Cooper continued, “he tried to tell me that he’s in love. And also that he made a huge mistake the night of my wedding.”

“A mistake?”

“As usual, he can’t keep his dick in his pants.” He gritted his teeth and glared at the wall.

My stomach dropped. Jace was in love? Who was this woman? And now he was saying that sleeping with me was a huge mistake and not only that, but he cheated on her with me? How could this be possible?

“He’s always been a player, Ky. You know that.”

“Yeah,” I whispered. But I never thought he would drag me into his revolving door of women. I’d stupidly assumed that I was different. I was the one he grew up with, who he was close to. I was supposed to be the one he ended up with.

“You feeling any better?” he asked.

“I am. Finally. The pill is starting to kick in a little.” But my heart felt so much worse. Whatever I’d been hoping for with Jace had vanished in an instant. Not only was he with someone else, he was in love with someone else. Maybe he’d even get married. Have kids with her. I choked on my tears and looked away.

Jace had made me the other woman, and I felt sickened by it. I would never have willingly entered that position. He knew that and conveniently didn’t tell me about his true love, this wonderful woman who came to take his heart from me. But no. I never had his heart, did I? And now he’d forced me into this dark place in his life; this secret, shameful thing he’d done. This huge mistake. He’d never look at me the same again. And I could never face this new woman.