“You can’t just leave Emmett, sweetie. He loves you, and you love him. How do you think this is making him feel? Y’all are all happy, then the prick calls you, and you just up and leave? Even if it is just for answers, you have to think about how that would make you feel, if it were reversed,” Alison added.

“Oh God, it’s even worse than all of that,” I cried.

“What on earth could even come close to making this situation worse?” Tamron sighed.

My head fell forward into my hands. “They’re brothers. Alec and Emmett. They’re brothers.”

“Oh my God,” they said in unison.

I pulled into my parents’ driveway and put my car in park. I sat there for a few minutes before going inside. I wanted to see Mom and Dad, but I wasn’t sure how they would feel about me coming back to talk to Alec. The abrupt way I’d left after that party had worried them, and even though I never told them how Alec had stomped on my heart, they knew it had gone down badly.

Tamron and Alison didn’t understand. They tried, but their anger at Alec clouded their judgment. Or maybe it was my judgment being clouded by my own broken heart. I went inside and saw Mom and Dad sitting on the couch, cuddled into each other’s arms. Their love always seemed easy and perfect. I suddenly thought of Emmett and felt my smile broaden at our love. That thought, however, was ruined by a flash of him sitting against the wall in his bedroom after I hung up from talking to Alec.

“Hey, Princess,” Dad said.

Mom gasped. “Oh my gosh, sweetheart. We didn’t know you were coming! I would have put a lasagna in the oven and made a streusel.”

“It’s okay. It was a last minute trip. No worries.”

“Well, do you want some coffee? Your mom got one of those fandangled espresso machines.”

I smiled at my dad; he was a regular cup of black coffee—plain, no foo foo stuff type of guy.

“No, thank you. I’m really tired, Dad. If it’s okay, I’m . . . just going to head upstairs, take a shower, and go to bed.”

Dad looked at me with a scrunched brow.

“Okay, Princess,” he muttered hesitantly. “We’ll see you in the morning. I have to be in to the office early, but your mom will be here.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” Mom said as she got up to give me a hug and kiss.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Dad asked.

“Yeah. Just tired. We’ll talk in the morning.”

I headed up stairs and into my room. As I stripped my clothes off, I decided I was too exhausted for a shower and would take it in the morning. I dropped onto my bed, falling fast asleep as my head nestled into my pillow.

The next morning I called my boss, Mr. Jackson, and apologized for leaving without any kind of notice. I explained that something had happened and I had to come back home to Georgia. He was as sweet as ever and wished me well, said he would hold my job for me as long as he could. He even said if my stay ended up being longer and I needed a job reference, he would be happy to help me. I made a mental note to send him a thank you card with a couple fancy bookmarks I’d made. I really loved working there.

Alec called to confirm we were still on for breakfast at Reveille Café in the morning. The drive wasn’t far from my parents’ house, so I arrived early and ordered my favorite, white elephant latte, while I waited for Alec to arrive.

I was looking down when I sensed him walk in, and I immediately flashed back to the last time I’d seen him, walking into that bedroom with the slutty skank. My chest tightened, and I felt flushed. I wasn’t sure I could do this.

I couldn’t breathe. I stood with my hand held over my mouth and grabbed my purse to leave. I couldn’t go through with it. This was too hard, too much had happened, and I didn’t think I could handle sitting across from him without losing it.

Before I could step away from the table, his warm hand wrapped around my elbow. He pulled me close, and as much as I wanted to resist, as much as I wanted to fight his hold on me, I couldn’t. His embrace stole what little breath I had left.

“Samone, it’s okay. Please don’t go. Just give me a chance to apologize, a chance to explain,” he pleaded.

Looking up at him, I nodded. It was all I could do. As always in our relationship, I was mesmerized by his intense stare, those crystal blue eyes piercing my heart.

“Okay, Alec, okay,” I murmured.

We sat across from each other in silence. I was anxious and uncomfortable being near him and just wanted to get it over with, so I decided to break the silence.

“Okay, Alec. Let’s talk.”

“Hi.” He smiled. “How are you?”

“Well, I’m here and clearly you can tell this isn’t easy for me, so can we skip the pleasantries and get right into your explanation, please?”

Alec cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Samone. I’m so sorry. You’ll never know how deeply sorry I am. There isn’t any excuse in the world for what I did at that party, for how badly I hurt you.”

I felt an instant pain in my heart and tightness in my throat as unbidden images of that night flashed through my mind. I must have worn that pain clear as day across my face, because Alec reached across the table and tried to take my hands, but I pulled back as if his touch had burned me, and laid my hands clenched together in my lap. Looking up, I saw pain skitter across his face, as well.

“All I can say right now is, something happened . . . or, changed for me, and I had to break up with you. We just couldn’t be together. I needed time alone to process it all. I know I ignored the multitude of text messages you sent me, but you have to know how each one pierced my heart.”

I let out a sarcastic laugh. “Really? I have to know that, huh? Well, actually no, Alec, I didn’t realize my unanswered texts and ignored phone calls had any effect on you whatsoever. I’ve never been hurt by anyone in my life, as deeply as I was by you.”

“If I’d known you were going to move away and go to Auburn, I can assure you, it would’ve gone down differently.”

“Really? How could you have even expected me to stay here? You put me through hell, Alec! There was no way I could stay and go to Kennesaw State,” my voice shook.

“I was so devastated, I couldn’t even take a steady breath until I crossed over the state line into Alabama.”

“Hurting you that night at Peter’s party was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But that was the only way to make you stop hoping we could get back together.”

I felt like I was going to puke. “It sure didn’t look hard,” I seethed then chuckled as I glared daggers at him. “Well, I’m pretty sure it was hard.”

At the very least, he had the good grace to look ashamed.

“Samone, tell me now, if I hadn’t done that, would you have walked away?” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done, and I can’t take it back. Believe me, if I could, I would erase all the pain I have caused you. Please, just tell me it’s not too late for us. Please say we can start over.”

I laughed. I tried not to, I really did, but I laughed. “Alec, we can never start over and forget what happened. You broke my heart and shattered my soul. About the only thing we can do is talk about it, so tell me what happened. Why did you feel you had to go to such extremes to hurt me and push me away? Then . . . maybe we can move forward, but we can never start over. What you did will always be a part of our history . . . a part of who we are as friends. But, God help me, a part of me still loves you, and I’m willing to try and forgive you. I just need to know why.”