“Kaelin. Come on.” Avery detached herself from her new husband’s embrace, grabbed Kaelin’s hand and dragged her out of the room, up the stairs and into the bedroom where they’d stood yesterday, Avery in her beautiful wedding dress looking so shiny and happy, now all tear-streaked and anguished.

“Sit.” Avery pushed her to the bed. Kaelin lowered herself on shaky legs and stared at the rug on the floor.

“You were with Tyler and Nick Friday night?”

She lifted heavy eyes to look at Avery. The time for lies and secrets was over, apparently. Even Avery had confessed. “Yes,” she said. She lifted her chin, ready for Avery’s censure, her disapproval. But Avery just looked puzzled. “I was. It just happened. We’d gotten Scott and Hardeep back to their rooms. They were walking out with me and we stopped to sit in the lobby for a few minutes. We were talking and then I just…it was me.” She gave a short nod of her head. “It was me who instigated it, so don’t think badly of Tyler.”

“I…okay.”

“They kept saying how nice I was. And I was just sick of being nice and good and…boring. So I kissed them both. Things got carried away.” She closed her eyes, remembering just how far. Some things were going to be left to Avery’s imagination. “I spent all night with them.”

“Oh my god,” Avery breathed, fingertips on her lips, staring at Kaelin. “You wild woman, you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize!”

“But he’s your brother. Your younger brother.” She took a deep breath, ready to tell the rest. “I never told you about that summer. That summer we were talking about when I caught Nick and Tyler with Tracy.”

Avery pressed her lips together. “No.”

“Did you know about that? What she accused them of?”

“Yes. I knew it couldn’t be true. I knew my parents kicked him out.” Her voice wobbled. “And I knew he begged me never to tell you about it, because he didn’t want you to know.”

“I don’t understand that. And god, I wish you’d told me! I could have set your parents straight about that ten years ago, and maybe avoided that whole big mess.”

Avery bit down on her bottom lip. “Oh geez.”

“And why didn’t he want you to tell me? I don’t get it.”

“Kaelin, don’t you see?”

Kaelin shook her head, moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes. Her throat tightened up.

“He cared about you. I think he still does.”

Kaelin choked. “Yeah right! Cared enough about me to set that whole thing up so I’d see it and he didn’t have to tell me to get lost.” She bent her head. “I never realized he knew how I felt.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about it? About you and him.”

Kaelin didn’t look up, just stared down at her fingers clasped on her lap. “That was the summer you were dating Thomas Alsworth. You were crazy about him. You spent all your time with him and his friends.”

She heard Avery’s softly indrawn breath.

“It was okay,” she said, reaching for Avery’s hand. “I was happy for you. I just felt a little at loose ends. Home from college. I was working and looking after my dad, but we had that caregiver coming in sometimes and I had evenings and weekends with no studying. For some reason I ended up hanging around with Tyler and Nick. I’m not sure how it happened, mostly by accident, but they started including me in their plans. We went to the beach.” She paused. “We went to bush parties and drank beer and danced in the grass and skinny-dipped. I was doing things I’d never done before. It felt wild. Exciting. I thought they wanted me with them. I thought they were having fun too. And I also didn’t tell you because I didn’t think you’d be very happy about me…er…being with your little brother. He was two years younger than us.”

Avery released her hand and edged closer, slid her arm around Kaelin’s shoulders.

“One night Tyler and I were alone for a while and…he kissed me.”

That kiss, although not her first, had been the hottest, most intensely erotic kiss of her life. Until this weekend. She’d been burning up, melting down, on fire for him.

“I was so silly. He was so cool and popular. So many girls were after him. And I thought that was maybe the start of…something. But then the next night I came here to get those books from your room and…well, you know now what I found.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know, but I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“I knew he could be a little mean, like, teasing mean. He made fun of me all the time, you know? But to deliberately hurt me like that.” She shook her head.

“You heard why he did it.”

“Yeah. To get rid of me.”

Avery shifted on the bed, and turned Kaelin by her shoulders to face to her. “That’s not exactly what he said. He said it was because he didn’t think he was good enough for you.”

“He never said that.” Had he? It was all kind of fuzzy and mixed up.

“He said he’s not worth it. You know what he’s like.”

Kaelin gazed at her friend in puzzlement, thinking back. “He said that’s why I shouldn’t have told his parents about it. Oh, I don’t understand him! He’s so damn complicated!”

She pressed her hands to her burning eyes.

“Yes, he is,” Avery agreed. “But I love him. I would so like him to be happy.”

“He and Nick…” She shot a sideways glance at Avery.

“Are they together?” Avery asked in a low voice.

“Sort of. I think you need to hear about that from him.”

“‘Sort of.’ Another complication. It figures.” She shook her head. “But I really think he has feelings for you, Kaelin.”

Kaelin’s head throbbed. “I need to go home. I need to think about this. I’m not sure what I’ve done. I may have just done myself out of a job. If word about all this gets out…”

“My parents aren’t ones to spread gossip,” Avery said quietly. “You know what they’re like. They’re not going to want anyone to know about this, any more than you do.”

“Well, they may not, but I don’t think the guy working the front desk at the hotel has any compunction about gossiping apparently. And if Brent hears about that…”

“Brent?” Avery frowned. “I thought you weren’t seeing him anymore.”

“I’m not.” She told Avery about him pulling her over the morning before, and how he’d seen her and jumped to the conclusion—accurately—that she hadn’t been home that night.

“Oh. Well.” Avery nibbled a fingernail.

“You know what? Truthfully? I don’t care. I don’t care anymore. It doesn’t matter.”

“Remember you could still come to Los Angeles.”

“Yeah.” Kaelin nodded. Leaving Mapleglen was becoming more appealing.

“Or you could go to Chicago.”

Her eyes flew open and her gaze clashed with Avery’s. “Chicago?”

Avery nodded, watching her.

“Why would I go there? Tyler and Nick don’t want me. Didn’t you hear him? He was so pissed off at me, now, and ten years ago when I cramped his style…”

“Was he pissed off at you Friday night?”

Kaelin shifted back. “Um…no.”

“Was he pissed off at you Saturday? After?”

Kaelin shook her head. “Not until I followed him up to the hotel room after your mom asked him to leave the wedding.”

“Why was he angry then?”

“I don’t know! Maybe he was just taking his anger at your mom out on me! But it seemed like he was pissed off because I’d come up to their room with them, again.”

“I see.” Avery tapped her bottom lip with one finger. “He was probably worried about you and your reputation again.”

Kaelin tipped her head to one side. “I suppose.”

“Think about it,” Avery said. “Think about him and think about going to Chicago.” She rose to her feet and moved to the dresser. She poked around in some things she’d left there yesterday then held up a small card in two fingers. “You don’t have to move there. I know that’s a big step. But you’re on vacation for the next two weeks. Why not go visit and see him and talk about stuff and see what happens? I really think he does care, Kaelin. Yeah, he was angry, but I think you can figure out why.” She walked over and handed Kaelin the card. It was Tyler’s business card, with his home address written on the back.