Page 240 of A Taste of Vanilla
“Don’t do that,” she whispers.
My chest aches. “Do what?”
“Be good at apologizing. I want to be mad.”
“You can still be mad.”
“I know.”
“You should be.”
She looks away, tears spilling despite her obvious attempt to prevent them.
I hate myself. A lot.
“I’m sorry,” I say again. “Not because we got caught. We should never have made you feel foolish for trusting us.”
She presses her lips together.
“I’m sorry, too,” Warren says softly.
Marley turns on him. “Are you?”
He squares his shoulders. “Yes.”
“For what?”
He pauses.
“For lying by omission,” he says.
I close my eyes.
Oh, Warren.
Marley laughs again, sharp and disbelieving. “Lying by omission.”
“That’s what it was.”
“That’s what you call it when you don’t want to feel guilty.”
He flinches.
And as much as I want to protect him, I don’t. Marley needs this moment much more than Warren needs to be protected from shame.
Marley steps closer to him.
“You came back into my life,” she says.
Warren goes still.
“You came back,” she repeats, her voice shaking. “After years of being the person who left and checked in and sent money and showed up when things were already on fire. You came back and immediately created a secret with my best friend.”
“Marley—”
“No.” Her voice cracks. “You don’t get to make that sound reasonable.”
His mouth closes.
