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Jeremy laughed out loud. “Jesus! You really expect
me to believe that shit? You left because you were jealous of me?
Fine. Let’s say that’s true.” He laughed again, holding up his
hands. “But do you expect me to believe that you left Luke for that
reason? Because I know how much you loved him, so stop bullshitting
me.”

Fuck! I couldn’t believe he wanted to do get into
this now. Not with the asshole here ready to swoop in and play
hero.

“No. I guess...” She stumbled to get up, seeming
nervous. I felt bad for Jeremy. I felt horrible for Maggie.
Sometimes I even felt guilty that I knew the reason and he didn’t.
It put me in a horrible position, but I never broke my promises to
her, and I didn’t intend to start now. Max took her hand in his,
and I swallowed hard, watching them together. I pretended not to
notice, sipping my coffee.

“It’s okay, Maggie. I’m here. Maybe you should tell
him,” Max said, urging her to talk.

I swore I’d keep it under control, but at that
moment, I lost it.

“Why the fuck are you even here? This is a family
matter,” I yelled as I stood, getting into his face. My fist balled
at my side, ready to take a swing. He didn’t answer me but pulled
Maggie closer to him, away from me.

“Luke, stop.”

“No, Maggie. He needs to leave. This is going to be
a lot for Jer to take in. Loverboy needs to leave now if we’re
doing this.”

Max tugged her behind him after he noticed my
clenched fist. “I know what it is. So I’d like to stay for Maggie,”
Max said through clenched teeth.

I peered around him. “You told him? Jesus, Mags!”
Now I was furious with her for sharing something so personal with
him. I thought I was the only person she trusted with her deepest
secrets. I guess he meant more to her than I thought, but it still
didn’t change the fact that I wanted his ass out of my place.

Max tucked her back a little more so I couldn’t even
see her hiding behind him, like he was protecting her from me. And
that pissed me off even more. Did he really think I’d ever hurt
her? I stepped forward until we stood nose to nose, looking him
square in the face. “Dude, I’m giving you a heads-up for her, but
you have about ten seconds to get the fuck out of my apartment,” I
roared.

He didn’t move, but she did. She came around,
ducking to get in between us. She faced him, hands on his chest,
pushing him back from me. “He’s right. Could you go get some food
in town? Give me a couple hours.”

Max glared at me, then back down at her before
nodding. “Yeah, I’ll call you in a bit.” He leaned over to kiss her
on her mouth, but she turned her head slightly so he only got her
cheek.

I wanted to feel bad for the guy, but I didn’t. None
of this was his business. Hell, sometimes I didn’t think it was
mine, but I’d been apart of their lives for as long as I could
remember. So I felt like I belonged here. And I knew this wasn’t
going to be easy on Maggie. As pissed off as I was at her flaunting
this guy under my nose, I would never not be there for her. If she
suffered, then I’d suffered along with her.

Chapter 9

Maggie

I stood for several minutes with my arms
wrapped around myself, debating what I should say, but Jeremy shot
up from the stool, and he was angry.

“So, wait! Your new boyfriend of, what-a few
months-knows the big secret?” Then he turned his anger toward Luke.
“And you, you know too?” Luke nodded yes. Jeremy stared him down
for several seconds with fury in his eyes that I’d never seen on
him before.

“It was in his letter. Don’t be mad at him. I asked
him not to tell you,” I quickly interjected to stop him from doing
anything rash.

Jeremy stood stone-still watching me, then Luke,
then me again. And I could tell he felt betrayed. This went on for
a few heartbreaking moments until Luke stepped beside me. He rested
his arm over my shoulder, and nudged me toward Jeremy.

“It’s time, Blue. Tell him,” he whispered in my ear.
I flinched at his term of endearment.

Tears started to flow as I stared into Jeremy’s
eyes. “I don’t know how to.” I wasn’t sure if it was being caught
up in Luke’s special name for me, or because I had to finally tell
my brother the truth about his father.

Jeremy inched forward until he stood in front of me.
“Is it that bad?”

I nodded a second later. Luke massaged my shoulders.
“It’s okay, Mags. I’m here if you need me.”

He was being so sweet and loyal. I didn’t deserve
him. But I took it. If he only knew the real reason why I left, I
don’t think he’d be so forgiving. But, I couldn’t take causing him
any more pain, so I decided against it. That was a pain I planned
to take to the grave. What good would it do telling him now?

I sat down on the kitchen stool; the two of them
followed suit. “It’s about Dad.”

Jeremy’s eyes flitted over mine, then to Luke’s
briefly before coming back to mine. “What about Dad?”

I swallowed hard, blinking back tears. Luke grabbed
a Kleenex and handed it to me. “He wasn’t what you thought.”

“What? Like he wasn’t our real dad or
something?”

I shook my head, unable to speak. I glanced next to
me, to Luke who nodded slightly, urging me to keep going, but I
couldn’t. After a few quiet moments, Luke grabbed my hands. “Do you
want me to tell him, Maggie?”

I bit down on my lip, tasting the salt from my
tears. I wanted to collapse on the floor knowing that Jeremy’s
world was about to change with the truth.

Luke gave me one quick painful look, blew out a huge
breath and turned his eyes to Jeremy. “Your dad hurt her, Jer. She
didn’t want you to know that he did things to her. Unspeakable
things.” He peered back at me, but I couldn’t face Jeremy, so I
placed my hands over my eyes, crying into them.

I heard the chair scrape the floor. “What are you
talking about?” He came over to me and kneeled. “Maggie, is that
true? Did Dad hurt you?”

I still couldn’t chance seeing his expression, so I
slightly nodded my head.

“Are you sure? I mean...Dad? Are you positive?”

I could hear Luke sigh heavily next to me. “Maggie,
you need to talk to him. I don’t know everything, Blue.”

Jeremy pulled my hands away from my face, forcing me
to face him. I tried to turn away, but he grabbed my chin. I saw so
many emotions on his face: hurt, disbelief, sadness, anger. “What
did he do?”

“I can’t, Jer. Please don’t make me. It’s not
something I like to rehash, okay? It was bad, and I didn’t want you
to hate him. Trust me, I have enough hate for both of us.”

“Oh my God! That fucking prick. Why didn’t you tell
me?” he yelled, jumping up. “I would have killed him if I knew he
was touching you, hurting you. Why the fuck did you keep this
secret?” He started to pace, but then turned on Luke. “Did you know
the whole time? Did you?” he screamed.

Luke shook his head forcefully. “No, man. I didn’t
know back then. I found out when she left. It was all in the note.
I didn’t think it was my right to tell you. It wasn’t my
secret.”

“But, how could you have not searched for her?
Didn’t it hurt you? Christ, if he weren’t dead, I’d kill him right
now.”

I somehow found the strength to stand up and go to
him. “That’s why I didn’t tell you. I knew one of you would flip,
and maybe do something you’d pay for for the rest of your life. He
wasn’t worth it.”

Luke placed his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. “You know
how much it hurt me when she left. You saw me. Don’t ever think her
leaving didn’t hurt me,” Luke said. He turned to me, face pained.
“I’m sorry that you had to hear that again, but it’s the truth. I
know what you went through was horrible. I just wish I could’ve
protected you.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “You two need to
talk. Talk to him, Blue.” With that, Luke turned, grabbed his keys,
and took off. We followed him with our eyes, flinching when the
door slammed behind him.

Chapter 10

Luke

There was no way in hell I could stay in
there and watch the tears fall from her eyes. It hurt too damn
much. I wanted to be strong and be there for her, but in the end, I
wasn’t man enough to stick around for the tears. I bet that asshole
Max would’ve stayed. Just thinking about it almost had my car
turning back, but I kept driving the opposite way.

A half hour later, I ended up at this hole in the
wall we go to when we don’t want to deal with any girls, the kind
of place chicks don’t like. It definitely saw its fair share of
seedy characters. It was almost pitch black inside, a few little
windows allowing some light to filter through. It’s not known for
its ambiance. It’s known for getting shit-faced drunk and no one
giving a damn how the hell you’re getting home.

Three hours later, calling out of work, and after I
lost count of how many drinks, Dean showed up, swiping my keys from
the bar, placing them into his pocket.

“I had a feeling I’d find you here.” In reality it
wasn’t the greatest place to hide out. Dean and Jer knew all my
hiding places after Maggie left. Once my family left me too, I
practically lived here for two weeks straight. If they didn’t come
to take me home every night, I was pretty sure Marge, the
bartender/owner, would’ve just shoved me out the door at closing
time.

“She took off with Max for the rest of the
weekend.”

I chugged the rest of my beer. “Where’d they
go?”

“I don’t know. Mr. Knight In Shining Armor showed up
after she and Jeremy talked everything out. He thought it would be
best for them to get a room at a hotel rather than hang with us, I
guess.”

“Good.” I held my hand up for another. Marge brought
over two more beers, placing them in front of us.

“So, is this how it’s going to be again?” Dean
asked.

I grumbled. “No. I just couldn’t deal with seeing
her like that.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, man. So exposed, I guess.”

“Jer isn’t taking it well. He wanted to come find
you, but I wouldn’t let him. He’s probably had more than you to
drink today.”

“Did he tell you?”

“Yeah, man, he did, and it sucks that she went
through that. You know I love her like a little sister.”

“Yeah, I know. Sometimes I wish I looked at her like
that-like a sister.” I took a heavy swig, and then turned to Dean.
“I’m still in love with her,” I admitted.

He nodded in understanding. We both sat in silence,
drinking our beers. Finally, Dean

patted my shoulder, “You need to be there for
her.”

I harrumphed. “I hate myself for not knowing back
then. When I think about all the times she’d flinch when her dad
walked in the room, or how she tensed up-I still can’t believe I
didn’t pick up on anything. I couldn’t help her. I couldn’t fix
it.”

“Fix her now, Luke. Just take your time with her and
let it happen.”

I nodded, taking in everything he’d said.

He smiled. “Let’s go check on Jer now.”

I stumbled off the barstool after paying my tab.
Dean handed me my keys. “We’ll come back tomorrow for it.”

The next afternoon, we went back for my car, after
the Tylenol finally kicked in and I was able to get out of bed.

Work that night took my mind off Maggie. Somewhat.
Images of the two of them huddled up in some damn hotel room while
he had his way with her kept finding their way in. I’d never
screwed up so many drink orders in my life. The shot girl who I
liked to get together with when I needed to forget how much my life
sucked was working tonight. That was a bonus. And I figured, fuck
it. If Maggie had no problem running off with some guy, why should
I feel guilty? She sure as hell wasn’t. If she wanted to be
heartless, so could I. Once I’d made my decision it was final. I
hated running into someone else’s arms, but I would not let Maggie
take me down again.

Samantha ran her fingers down my face as I leaned
over the bar to hand off her shots. “My roommates are out for the
night. You want to come over?” she asked leaning in to bite my lip.
I groaned.

“You bet. I’ll be over when I get off.” She always
got off earlier than I did, so I hated to make her stick
around.

The whole night I was pumped about getting laid,
keeping my mind off Maggie. The old me was coming back. But by
closing time, Sam had been gone for two hours, and I had time to
think about it. And I didn’t want Sam, I wanted Maggie. I’d always
wanted Maggie. Instead of going off to have crazy, wild, Samantha
sex, because that’s how good she was, I went home like an asshole
to an empty bed. I guess I wasn’t so heartless after all.

Chapter 11

Maggie

Max dropped me off early Monday so he could
catch his flight back to New York. It still shocked me that he was
even able to spend the weekend, taking time off from work to do so.
Unfortunately, I was a frazzled mess the whole time, knowing how
this might affect Luke. Max picked up on it but never pushed me for
any answers why I was being so timid and disconnected.

Nervously, I stuck my key in the front door, unsure
of what to expect. When I walked in, I was faced with piles of
empty pizza boxes, beer bottles, and dirty clothes. I sighed
heavily, wondering what they’d been up to. Before I even thought
about anything else, I set my overnight bag down on the couch and
began to clean up. I’d only been here two weeks, and if this is
what it was like when I wasn’t here for one weekend, I could only
imagine what the last two years had been like.

“You don’t have to do that,” his voice boomed from
behind me. Slowly, I turned to see Luke staring at me from the
bathroom.

I shook him off. “It’s okay. I want to help.”

“Did you have a good weekend with Mark?” he asked
sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes at his obvious fumble in names.
“It’s Max.”