She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Yeah, I’m sure that was enough to get my brother sniffing around your pussy again, but it doesn’t work with me.”

I would love to explain to her why I made the choices I did, but I know they won’t offer her any comfort, and I can’t bring myself to share those things with her before I’ve shared them with Kai. As much as I adore Kylie, it would be wrong of me to come clean to her first.

“I get it. I do. I don’t say I’m sorry because I expect you to forgive me. I would like you to, but I realize that’s not even possible without an explanation.”

“Which you’re not willing to give,” she interrupts.

“Not yet.”

“Right. Everything on your time.”

“I want to make things right with you.”

“Did you know Tylah and I had a huge fight that ended our friendship my junior year of high school?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t because you left without ever looking back.”

I looked back. At times it felt like all I did was look back on my old life and wish I’d never left it, but I thought I was doing the right thing.

“I never ever forgot about you. I thought about you so many times.”

“And yet you never reached out. Do you know how much that hurt? I don’t know why you and Kai broke up. He never gave us the details, but I didn’t realize he and I were a package deal. I would’ve never turned my back on you just because you and my brother were over, no matter what the circumstances were. But you, you just took off and left us all guessing. At least Kai got the benefit of an official breakup. We never heard from you again.”

“You’re right. That was shitty of me and I regret it every single day.”

“Good. Was it worth it?”

“Was what worth it?”

“The fame and fortune you left us for.”

Fuck, of course she thinks I left because I valued money and fame over her. I haven’t given her a reason to think otherwise. “It wasn’t about that. There was so much more going on.”

She waves her hand in dismissal. “Was it worth it?”

I let out a heavy sigh. “No.”

She nods and wipes a rogue tear from her eye. “Good. Listen, for some reason my brother wants you in his life again and that’s fine. I won’t stand in your way. But if you hurt him again, you and I will have a serious problem.”

“I don’t want to hurt either one of you ever again.”