Even if it feels wrong.

“I didn’t want you to find out like this. I thought I could slip it into your dresser without you knowing it was me.”

“No. It can’t be you.” His eyes well as he shakes his head. “Tell me it wasn’t you.”

My bottom lip trembles. I don’t need to say anything else. My silence says it all. All I can do now is watch as Jaxon’s heart breaks.

Jaxon

“Get out.”

I thought I’d been hurt before. I thought I knew what deception felt like. My ex cheated on me with my brother. They’d lied to me about it for a long time.

Yet in comparison, this feels much, much worse.

I think I’m in shock. I’m not yelling at Raegan as she collects her clothes. I should be livid. I should be telling her what a conniving liar she is. Instead, I’m rooted to the floor, clutching the ring box, staring at the open drawer.

I stand there for a while. Long after Raegan walks into the hallway and slips out the front door.

How could she lie to me? I’d been so sure that Raegan didn’t steal the ring.

Why tonight? Why now, of all times, did she decide to give the ring back?

What else did she lie about? She told me she loved me. Was that a lie too? Was this all part of her plan?

I rub my forehead, the questions assaulting my brain. I don’t have any of the answers, and maybe I never will, but one thought sticks out among the rest: I don’t want this ring.

I throw my clothes back on and take the ring with me on my way out.

“Jaxon, what are you doing here?”

I drop a quick kiss to my mother’s cheek as I enter the house. “I need to talk to Dad.”

“He’s in his office. We just finished dinner. Are you hungry?”

“No,” I say over my shoulder as I stalk down the hallway. When I reach the office, I swing the door open without knocking.

“Jaxon.” My father looks at me over his glasses. “What are you doing here?”

I toss the ring box onto the desk in front of him. “I don’t want this.”

His eyebrows pinch together as he stares down at the box. “You found Nana’s ring.”

“You can give it to Josh if you want. Or keep it. I don’t give a fuck what you do with it. Just keep it away from me.”

“Jaxon, what’s going on?” Mom’s in the doorway behind me.

I stare at the floor when I say, “Raegan had the ring.”

“What do you mean she had it?” Dad asks.

I sigh, raking a hand through my hair. “She came over tonight. I found her trying to hide it in my dresser.”