Mom blanches. “Teagan, really?”

“He scares me, Mom. He was so controlling when we were together. Didn’t you see it? He told me what to wear, who I could be friends with, what parties I could go to. I loved him, and I had no idea how bad it was until I got away. When I went to college, I escaped him and that control, and I was so glad. But when I came home, he’d become like a son to you. I was forced to accept him back into my life. When I started dating Heath, I thought it’d be okay. If I was dating his friend he’d have to let me go, but he still found ways to manipulate me. To make Heath doubt me. And then when Heath died . . .” I squeeze my eyes shut. I don’t want to tell this story. Not here. Not now. “Please, don’t choose him over me.”

“I would never,” Mom whispers. “Oh, Teagan, why didn’t you say something?”

A sob lodges in my throat. Courage. “I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me. I was afraid you’d let him convince you I was crazy.”

“You’re my daughter,” she says, intensity vibrating through every whispered word. “We might not agree on everything, but I will always choose you.”

She pulls me into a hug—so tight and comforting that I regret every minute I didn’t trust her to take my side.

When she releases me, I scan the crowd to find Carter. He’s gone.

I turn to my sister. “I’m so sorry, Saanvi. You have no idea how sorry. For all of this.” Then I run from the reception, feeling every single pair of eyes on me as I chase after the man Sabrina has proven I don’t deserve.

Teagan

I’m somehow not surprised to find Carter in the empty office by Levi’s. I can’t believe it was only a week ago that we were tangled up together in here. It feels like decades have passed. Now, instead of two adults blurring the lines of their friendship for the first time, we’re two people who’ve shared a bed, secrets, and passion.

He’s sitting on the floor in the dark, arms folded on his knees. Through the light streaming in from the hallway, I can make out his grim expression, his tie askew, top button undone.

“I’m sorry,” I say as I step into the room. I grimace at how empty the words sound. My own words to Heath echo back to me. “Sorry isn’t enough. Sorry doesn’t erase your actions.”

“I specifically asked you,” he says. “I asked you if you cheated on Heath with him. You said no.”

“Because I didn’t cheat.” A sob tears from my throat.

“And yet Sabrina walked in on you two in Heath’s bed. Was she lying about that? Was she wrong about what she saw?” I’ve never heard his voice so raw, so full of pain.