Sunlight

Chapter Three

Here's Where The Story Ends // The Sundays

Present Day

Pete

As I pull my car around the curve, the place I've been dreading comes into view. The infamous cabin of Salt Creek. I park along the side of the house–next to Matt's minivan of all things. He's gone full on girl dad mode since he and Hannah had their daughter, Honor. With a deep sigh and every regret I've ever had, I look up at the place I've spent the last three years trying to forget. Memories of my last time here roll past. My last few times, actually. It seems like every time I'm here something life changing happens. Hopefully the life that gets changed on this trip isn't mine.

It's Jeff's turn to make a life altering decision. He's getting married this week, finally, after a 3 year engagement. I guess the last time we were all here, a personal low point in my life, his future was irrevocably altered. He proposed to his soon-to-be wife, Alison, during the Moonlight festival. He's always been overly attached to this mountain resort town. His family is close friends with the owner, which tracks considering Jeff's dad is a billionaire. Leo seems to know just about everyone in Fallbrook Hills and the surrounding areas, including mountain communities it would seem.

When Jeff told me they were planning a destination wedding, I figured he'd put his dad's wallet to good use and splurge. But Jeff's never been one to wield his dad's cash as if it were his own. He worked hard to buy a junker car like an average high school kid, then proceeded to earn a full scholarship for football rather than ride his dad's ticket to some snooty ivy league university. It figures Jeff would pick a local community for his big day rather than some exotic spot. But I wish he'd picked any place in the world other than Salt Creek. An island in the Caribbean. A cruise to Alaska. Fucking Siberia. Anything other than the one place on Earth that holds all of my regrets.

Well, most of them.

The ones that keep me up at night, anyway.

I grab my bag from the backseat and steel myself to face my past. I haven't seen most of these people in three years. I get together with Jeff and Matt a few times a year for a guys night. They've become domesticated since they wifed up. Technically, Jeff doesn't have a wife, yet, but he's been attached to Alison at the hip since they met. Completely gone for her. It's my luck that he was blinded by love at the exact time in history when love almost destroyed our friendship.

Kissing his sister is the worst thing I could have done. Jeff is the best guy I know. Betraying him like that eats me alive. I've been waiting for the bomb to drop for the last three years, but it never has. After my last encounter with Kyra, I figured she would tell him everything.

But she didn't.

I haven't seen her since.

Transferred to a school out of state and never looked back. Not physically. But my mind is never too far from that kiss.

I take the steps to the porch two at a time, ready to get this over with. The door is unlocked so I step inside to find the guys hanging out in the living room congregated around Matt and his little girl.

"Hey, Pete! You made it!" Jeff leaps up from the couch and grabs me in a bear hug. "It's been too long."

I nod and pat his back with my free hand. "Yeah." It's been too long for a huge reason, but I keep that to myself.

"Pay up," Geo says to Micah while punching him in the shoulder.

"Can't believe you showed your face," Micah grumbles as he pulls twenty bucks out of his wallet. "I was sure you'd bail."

I'm frozen in place, jaw dropped at how little they think of me. "You all figured I'd no-show to Jeff's wedding?"

"Nah. I figured you'd barrel in at the last minute. Just in time for vows. But I gotta say, I didn't see you spending a whole week with us." Micah shakes his head. "What was your excuse last time we all came up here? You had a cold?"