Until Harry (20 page)

He tapped away on the screen, then lifted his arm and turned it to face me. “This is Kaden.”

I gasped and immediately snatched Kale’s phone from his hand, which he found amusing. “Oh, my God,” I gushed as I stared at the newborn baby in the picture. “He is beautiful, Kale. Just . . . oh, my God. He was perfect. I knew your baby would be perfect, but he really was.”

Kale nodded. “He was everything.”

“Little angel,” I whispered and stroked my pinkie over the picture of Kaden’s beautiful little face.

Kale watched me meeting his son, with joy.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” I said softly as I scrolled through the pictures and watched videos of Kaden at various stages through his short life.

Kale was silent for a long time, but he eventually said, “You were with me; just not in person.”

I looked up from his phone and found him watching me. He backed against the wall and had his hands jammed into the front pockets of his jeans. He seemed to be positioned that way a lot whenever he was in my presence. “Why didn’t you want me here?”
I a
sked, curious. “You told Harry not to tell me about Kaden’s
death. Why? I would have come home. I swear I woul
d have.”

He walked back over to me and kneeled before me, placing his hands on my thighs, sending my stomach into cartwheels. “
I k
now you would have come home,” he said firmly. “Trust me, Lane, G
od hims
elf wouldn’t have kept you away – and sweetheart, I
kno
w
that.”

I blinked. “Then why didn’t you want me here?”

“Because,” he began, “you would have dropped everything for me. I didn’t want to hurt you again because I knew deep down I would have been using you to mask the pain over losing Kaden, and you didn’t deserve that. I didn’t want to take advantage of your feelings for me, and I probably would have to make myself feel better at the time.”

I solemnly nodded. “I understand.”

“Do you?” Kale prompted. “Do you understand how much it hurt that I needed you, but I couldn’t have you?”

“Yeah, Kale, I understand exactly how much that hurts.”

He stared at me, his eyes swimming with different emotions. “I’m so sorry for hurting you,” he whispered.

I smiled and said lightly, “I hurt myself, Kale – you did nothing wrong.”

“But I did,” he pressed. “I could have gone after you and brought you home.”

“That wouldn’t have changed a thing, and you know it.”

He frowned and stood up, moving back across the room, where he began to pack my suitcase again. He was silent for a minute or two, and then he said, “I know, but sometimes I wish it could have been that simple.”

“Me too, pup.” I swallowed. “Me too.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Seven years ago (nineteen years old)

L
ane?” Lavender’s voice called through my bedroom door. “Are you alive in there?”

I groaned into my pillow as her voice wreaked havoc on my throbbing head.

“Stop screaming at me,” I rasped.

I heard Lavender’s chuckle as the door creaked open. It had been fixed years ago, but the squeaking noise never left after my father kicked the door in.

“I suppose asking how you’re feeling would be a stupid
question
?”

I grunted, my eyes still closed. “It’d be a
really
stupid question.”

I heard Lavender giggle as she crossed my room, her feet pattering across the floorboards. I momentarily wondered what she was doing, so I lazily lifted my eyelids, but I quickly squeezed both eyes shut when blinding light wreaked turmoil on my
retinas
.

“Bloody hell, Lav,” I whimpered, and pulling my pillow from behind my head, I plunged it over my face, coaxing my senses back into darkness.

“If it makes you feel any better,” she snickered, “you pulled one of the hottest lads I have
ever
seen last night, even if he is a bi
t weird.”

Though I didn’t forgive her morning wake-up call, I had to agree with her conclusion about last night’s escapades.

I smirked into my pillow. “He was a bit of all right, I guess.”

I chose to overlook the part about him being weird, because I couldn’t remember
that
much of what had happened to comment on it.

“You’re so full of it.” Lavender laughed as she climbed onto the end of my bed.

I smiled and slowly lifted my pillow from my face, wincing at the sunlight that filled my room. After a few moments of adjusting, my vision cleared and I stretched out my limbs.

“Did you wear protection?” Lavender asked, her tone very motherly.

I lifted my head and looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Don’t I always?”

She dead-panned, “Your reply makes you sound like a slut.”

I devilishly grinned. “I’ve slept with ten different lads over the last year and a half. I think that
does
make me a slut.”

“Hardly,” Lavender scoffed. “We both know you only get drunk and lost in the closest body because you feel rejected and hurt over Kale . . .
still
.”

My chest ached and my stomach lurched at the mention of h
is name.

“Not now, Lav,” I groaned, lying back down. “I’m too hung over for this conversation.”

“Tough,” my so-called friend chirped as she whacked both of my feet with her hands. “I’m getting fed up saying this to you, but here I go again. No matter how many people you have sex with, it will
never
erase your night with Kale. You can’t replace the person you want for life with the person you want for a night.”

I growled at Lavender.

“I’m nineteen and in university,” I argued. “Wasn’t it
you
who told me to play the field?”

“Play the field? Yes,” Lavender agreed, then narrowed her eyes. “Fuck every man in sight? No.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Give over. It’s not funny and you know it’s not,” she grumbled. “You don’t want to be
that
girl, do you? The woman who degrades herself with meaningless hook-ups and loses herself because she i
s sad?”

I hated when she got deep like this, especially when I felt lik
e shit.

I blinked. “I’m not sad.”

“Babe,” – she frowned – “yeah, you are.”

I looked up at my ceiling and grunted, “I knew I shouldn’t have come home this weekend.”

Lavender snorted. “We go to the same university and share an apartment. You can’t escape me.”

That was the sickening truth.

We both attended the University of York and lived in a student apartment close to campus. I studied English, and Lavender studied English in Education. After I got my Bachelor of Arts degree, I wanted to be a literary editor, and Lavender wanted to teach children. Her term was like mine, three years long, and she needed a Bachelor of Education degree to take the first step towards her dream job, and I was happy to take my steps right alongside her. We were in our first year of college life and loving every second of it.

I rolled my eyes at her. “Tell me something I
don’t
know.”

Lavender grinned. “Okay, Kale and your brothers are
downstairs
.”

I shot upright and quickly reached for my head when the room spun slightly. I closed my eyes, counted to ten and when I was sure I wasn’t going to vomit or pass out, I opened my eyes and narrowed them to slits.

“You lie!” I rumbled.

Lavender held up both of her hands in front of her chest. “I’m not – they’re downstairs eating. They didn’t know you would be home this weekend either.”

This couldn’t be happening.

“I can’t deal with my brothers when I’m hung over, and I can’t see Kale, knowing what I did last night with some stranger.”

Lavender raised a brow. “Why? I thought you didn’t care about him like that anymore.”

I gritted my teeth. “I don’t.”

“Come downstairs and prove it then,” she challenged.

I hated her.

“Fine,” I bit out, and shoved my duvet covers from my body.

Lavender made a show of covering her eyes. “I’m your best friend and room-mate, but I don’t need to see that bloody much of you.”

I looked down and saw that my bedtime crop top revealed one of my boobs, and my underwear had given me a wedgie.
I a
djusted my top and underwear, then laughed as I got to my feet. I got clean underwear from my chest of drawers, a pair of comfortable trousers and a plain bra and black tank top. I went into the bathroom and had a quick cloth wash before putting the fresh clothes on.

I washed my face clear of last night’s make-up, tied my hair up in a loose bun on top of my head and put my glasses on. I walked downstairs, letting Lavender lead the way.

“Did you wake her, Lavender?” Layton’s voice called out as she walked into the kitchen.

“Barely,” Lavender snorted. “I think she’s still drunk.”

“Great,” Lochlan grumbled, making me grin.

I walked into the kitchen and cleared my throat.

“There she is,” Kale announced, beaming as he stood up from his chair.

I groaned and placed a hand on my head.

“Not so loud,” I moaned.

He grinned as he approached me.

“Sorry,” he whispered before folding his arms around me, pulling me tightly against his warm body.

I missed hugging him, and I hated that.

“’S’okay,” I murmured.

Kale released me and returned to his seat while my mother gave me her usual morning hug and kiss on the cheek. She did this often when I was younger, but now that I was away at college, she made sure to do it every time I was home and came down for breakfast.

“I heard you getting sick this morning,” she said, frowning. “How much did you drink last night?”

Uh.

“Yeah, little sister,” Lochlan asked, “how much
did
you drink last night?”

I looked over at his grinning face and glared before I turned back to our mother.

“Not much. I just did too much dancing, I guess, and it made me sick.”

Lavender snorted, and my palm itched to smack her.

“What time did you get in?” my mother asked as I moved to the kitchen table and sat on the only seat available, between
Lavender
and Kale. “I didn’t look at the clock when I heard you in the
bathroom
.”

I blinked when I drew a blank at her question, then looked to Lavender, who laughed.

“I dropped her out of the taxi at half seven,” she said, shaking her head.

That late?
I cringed.

No wonder I had such a headache. I was nursing a hangover as well as running on next-to-zero sleep.

“Your brothers never came in that late,” my mother
commented
.

I rolled my eyes. “My brothers were never as cool as me.”

Said brothers snorted.

I grimaced as my mother set a plate of food in front of me.
I touched
my stomach and decided to wait a few minutes befo
re I tried to eat any
thing; I didn’t trust that I wouldn’t get si
ck again.

“What did you do last night?” Kale asked, happily eating the breakfast that my mother made.

“
Who
did she do last night is more like it,” Lavender mumbled as she reached for her orange juice.

It was loud enough for Kale and my bloody brothers to hear. Naturally, all three of their heads snapped in my direction, a sco
wl perfe
ctly in place on all of their faces, which caused me t
o laugh.

“She’s joking,” I said, and kicked Lavender under the table.

Three pairs of eyes landed on Lavender, who winced in pain from my kick but forced an innocent, and convincing, smile. “Of
course
I’m joking.”

My brothers stared at her for a few more seconds before they were appeased enough to go back to eating their breakfast. I
blew out a relieved breath
, then looked to Lavender and glared a
t her.

“Sorry,” she mouthed, but she had a grin on her face.

The evil twit.

I looked away from her and flinched when I looked at Kale and found his eyes on me. He’d watched my interaction with Lavender, and I could see that he thought her smile and defence were pure bullshit. He looked a little mad, but he had no right to be. He wasn’t my boyfriend, and over the past two years, he’d barely been my friend, so he shouldn’t care who I had sex with.

I hardly ever saw him anymore, and we only texted and spoke over the phone every so often. I knew that was to be expected with him living in London, but deep down I knew that we had drifted apart because we’d had sex, and he was still either ashamed or embarrassed about that, or probably both.

“Whatever,” I mumbled and looked down to my untouched plate of food.

I pushed it away, sighing.

“Not hungry?” Lavender asked as she dug into the food bef
ore her.

I shook my head. “My stomach is still unsettled.”

“I
told
you not to shoot sambuca,” she said, clucking her tongue.

I growled. “I’m aware you told me not to, thanks.”

Lavender smirked, clearly enjoying her sick form of torturin
g me.

“I’m just glad you didn’t shoot Jack Daniel’s when it was offered to you,” she mused. “I’d probably have to carry you home every time we go out, otherwise.”

I swallowed. “I’ll never drink Jack Daniel’s.”

“Why not?” Layton asked. “It’s not that bad. It’s Kale’s favourite drink.”

“Exactly,” I mumbled.

The smell and taste of Jack Daniel’s reminded me all too much
of my nigh
t with Kale, and Kale in general, so I steered well cle
ar of it.

I was glad when Lavender’s phone rang, putting the focus on her. She fumbled with the phone as she pulled it from her pocket.

“I’m sorry – I thought it was on silent. Uh, Lane, you’re callin
g me?”

My eyebrows rose in surprise. “I’m not. My phone is in my bag upstairs.”

Lavender turned her phone to face me, and I saw my name flashing across the screen. Without thinking, I took Lavender’s phone, answered it and put it to my ear.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Lavender?” a male voice asked.

“No,” I said. “This is Lane. Who are you, and how did you get my phone?”

The voice chuckled. “You left it in my apartment last night.”

I drew a blank.

“Your apartment?” I questioned. “I wasn’t in any apartment last night—”

“Yes,” Lavender whispered. “You were.”

I frowned at her. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she murmured. “Me, you, Daven and the hot lad you pulled went back to his place after the club closed for more drinks.”

I thought back to last night and began to remember what
Lavender
was talking about.

“Shit,” I mumbled, and moved the phone away from my mouth. “What was his name again?”

Lavender glanced in Kale’s direction and said, “Jensen.”

I could practically feel the glares of the males around the table, and I sensed the disappointment radiate from my mother in waves. I ignored them all and focused on my conversation with the lad on the phone.

“Can I have my phone back, Jensen?” I asked, politely.

He chuckled, again. “Of course, I was calling Lavender from your phone, because I didn’t have her number, so I could return it to you.”

That was . . . nice of him.

“What’s your address and I’ll—”

“Just text your info to Lavender’s phone, and I’ll get it later.”

When I feel human again.

“Okay, babe,” Jensen chirped.

I cringed. “Okay, bye.”

“Bye.”

I hung up and handed Lavender back her phone. She was looking at everyone in the room, and then looked at me like she thought they would kill me, which made me laugh.

“You think this is funny?” Lochlan growled. “You were with a lad last night, drunk off your head, you don’t remember it and now you’re laughing?”

I closed my mouth and just shrugged because I didn’t know what else to do.

“Those are the actions of a dirty tramp,” he scowled. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Mate,”
Kale glared. “Don’t fucking talk to her like that!”

I shared a surprised look with Lavender because Kale looked like he was ready to jump my brother for saying what he did to me, but my attention was forced away when Layton bellowed, “
Lochlan
!”

Lochlan looked at our brother. “You condone this shit?”

“No,” Layton growled, “but I’m not about to call her out in front of company. Don’t be an arsehole, and keep your comments to yourself. She isn’t a damn kid anymore.”