Page 66 of Wild Lies

There’s nothing she can do.

I step back when she moves forward. “It’s too late. There’s nothing either of us can do. I just wish I’d never given my heart to you, never let you in and trusted that you’d be able to hold on to my secret.”

“Don’t say that. It was an honest mistake.”

“The only mistake was loving you.” My voice cracks on the word, and I swallow down the bile that rises in my throat from the lie before I force out my next words. “I don’t want to see you ever again, Chloe.”

Her muffled sobs follow me out the door, leaving me with an ache in my chest as if I’ve ripped my heart out and left it behind with her. I have no choice. How can I trust her after this?

42

CHLOE

I don’t know how much time has passed since the door closed behind Kade. The soft click as the lock fell into place was like a guillotine to my heart. He might as well have slammed the door.

With his words ringing in my ears, I fall to the floor, my legs giving out on me as tears stream down my cheeks. I’ve been in the same position, curled up with my legs against my chest as I’ve sobbed until my voice is hoarse.

It feels almost cruel that I found out that he loved me at the same time as he walked away. What’s worse is I have no idea how to fix it or if I even can. He looked so hurt and devastated. And I hate that he believes that posting that picture was something I did on purpose.

When my tears have dried up enough for me to see, I force myself to stand, walking into the room I’ve been using as a makeshift office. My laptop sits open on the small table in front of the window, my phone with its black screen next to it. I was editing pictures before he arrived.

I stare at the scene. It’s like the aftermath of a catastrophe. Everything is exactly how I left it, but nothing inside me will ever be the same.

A tear falls from the corner of my eye, and I swipe at it angrily. I know he wouldn’t lie to me, and yet I still need to see it on my page with my own eyes, to see if he was telling the truth. Crossing the room, I pick up my phone and open the app. For a second, I hope he’s wrong. That the picture isn’t there and that none of what just happened is real. Finding my profile, I scroll through the photos on the only post I’ve made since I arrived in Coldwater just over two weeks ago. Sure enough, there he is in all his raw beauty.

It’s the picture from the first night he took me to watch him at the rodeo. I’d been looking at it before I uploaded the other shots. I don’t know how it got included. It was an honest mistake.

A sob is ripped from my lips, hovering in the air as it mocks me. I can’t stay here. Not when everything about this town reminds me of him. Not when there’s even a remote possibility that I’ll see him.

But where will I go?

I’ve given up my place in Seattle. I moved my life here and I’m expected to start a new job next week. Hell, my landlord is his cousin. I’m a fucking fool, and I need to figure out a plan.

With tears streaming down my face, blurring my vision, I move through the apartment and into my bedroom. I cross the room to the closet, yanking out my suitcase and setting it on the bed before I haphazardly throw clothes inside.

There’s only one person I can call right now. Only one person I want. I dial Rachel’s number. She doesn’t answer the first time, and when I get her voicemail, I hang up and call again.

“Hello.” Her voice is groggy with sleep when she picks it up.

“Rach,” I sob, my voice cracking as relief washes through me.

“One second.” The sound of rustling sheets fills the quiet, and I sit on the edge of my bed, swiping at my wet cheeks. “What’s happened? Is it Mom and Dad?”

I try and fail to put my chaotic thoughts into order. “I’m sorry. I know it must be late there for you. Or early. I don’t know.”

She’s still on her honeymoon and fourteen hours ahead of me. “Chloe, it doesn’t matter. What’s wrong?”

I open my mouth, searching for the right words. When they don’t come, I decide to start at the beginning. At this point, I don’t care if she tells my parents, I don’t plan on ever seeing them again anyway. “The guy I came to your wedding with wasn’t really my boyfriend.”

“And you’ve called me at four in the morning to tell me this? Why?” She smothers a yawn.

Wiping under my chin with the back of my hand, I blow out a shuddered breath. “Kade told me a secret. One that he’s kept from his family for a year. And I accidentally posted a picture, and they saw it.”

“Okay.” Rachel drags the word out like she’s not quite understanding where I’m going, and really I can’t blame her. I’m all over the place, and a lot has happened in a really short time. “I’m assuming this isn’t a sexual thing. And I get that he’d be mad, but why are you so upset? If he wasn’t your boyfriend, then just move on. It’s not like you have to see him again.”

“Rach,” I whisper. “I fell in love with him and I got offered the job at Hartlands’, so I moved to Coldwater.”

Rachel lets out a strangled laugh of surprise. “I’m sorry, what?”