“I didn’t know if you’d want to hear it,” he admits. Sighing, he gestures to a fallen log nearby then takes a seat, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to give my legs a break, making sure to leave some distance between us. “Audrey was just a co-worker at first. I always liked when we had shifts together, and it wasn’t really anything more than that until she confessed she had a crush on me. I wasn’t sure if I felt the same, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to give it a try.”

He falls silent as other tourists traipse in front of us, and it reminds me that we’re still in public. Perhaps this isn’t the best time to be talking about this stuff, but it’s too late to stop.

“After a while, she introduced me to you,” he remarks, lips quirking upward slightly, and he peers at me out of the corner of his eye. “We got along instantly. I don’t know what it was, but I felt drawn to you. Then one night you went to this party and called me for a ride home. You were drunk out of your mind and you kissed me.”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I listen to the nearby sounds of laughter and bike tires gliding over the dirt. A gust of wind blows my hair into my face, and I take a steadying breath, pushing it behind my ear.

“I didn’t realize how I felt about you until then.” Parker sighs. “You told me that it was a mistake and to pretend it never happened, and I tried at first, but I just couldn’t let it go. It was all I could think about. I knew I couldn’t continue to be with Audrey knowing what happened and the way I felt.”

“But you’re still with her.”

He lets out a short, self-deprecating laugh. “I’m still with her,” he repeats, and the words sound bitter. “Because I’m a coward. I was going to do it but then you got into your accident, and I saw how much it affected her and I couldn’t. I wanted to be there for you too.”

I bite the inside of my cheek, feeling tense. Even when I was on the brink of death I was finding ways to ruin my sister’s life.

“When I heard what happened, heard that I might’ve lost you . . .” He trails off, shaking his head. “Though I suppose I lost you anyway.”

“Did I feel the same?”

He considers the question for a long time. “I don’t know,” he admits finally. “I wanted you to. But at the same time, I knew it was incredibly selfish to want that.”