Secrets And Lies

Chapter 17: Homecoming

Ryan

       I was slipping my heels on when there was a knock at my door, followed by Quade saying, "Foster's downstairs." He cleared his throat. "I wanted to make sure you girls were decent before I let him in."

       "We are more than decent; we are fabulous," Taylor sang, applying a coat of candy pink lip gloss that matched the color of her strapless high low dress.

       Quade opened the door, his eyes lingering on Taylor. She gave him a megawatt smile. "How do I look?" She straightened and did a quick spin. My brother swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing before he forced his eyes to mine.

    I gave him a sad smile. His eyes widened in realization. Crap, Sloane hadn't told him that she told me yet.

"Shit." He scrubbed his face.

"What?" Taylor's lip poked out in a pout.

"Sorry, not you." he tore his eyes away from me and fixed a fake smile on his lips. "You look nice, Taylor."

"Thank you. Only You can pull off the casual look to a semiformal" Taylor gestured to Quade's attire of a white button-up shirt and dark jeans.

"Err, thanks." He awkwardly looked down at his shirt, rolling the sleeves up.

"I'm going  to go check on Foster." She side-stepped Quade and disappeared out the open door.

I quickly crossed to the door and closed it.

"You know..." Quade sat down on the bed, resting his elbow on his thighs, his face in his hands. "I can't believe Sloane told you."

"Don't be mad at her. She only told me because I was worried about you and she wanted me to stop trying to get you to spend more time with Taylor. I didn't know what was going on. I just knew something wasn't right." I sat down beside him. "I'm sorry that you felt that you couldn't tell me."

"I'm not mad." He sat up a little straighter. "It just changes the dynamics. It's already hard to be around Taylor as it is. I didn't want it to be strained between you too. She's your best friend."

"Our best friend," I corrected.

"Right. Think about it, Ry. If you knew, you would have done what you could to steer her away from Foster. I mean, I want to be with her, I always have, but it doesn't matter if I am the only one who has feelings. Taylor's happy with him. As much as I hate it, he's a good guy. She needs a good guy."

"So are you, Quade."

"No, Ry, I'm really not. Every girl I slept with wasn't who I wanted to be with."

"You're not a bad person because of that. You were honest with the girls from the beginning, right?"

"Yeah." He hung his head.

"Yes, it was the wrong thing to do, but that doesn't make you a bad person. Stupid maybe."

Quade chuckled, deep and genuine.

"Look at how you have been there for me. And I want to be there for you. You would do anything for the people you care about. Even if that means stepping back from Taylor, and I only want you to be able to confide in me when it gets to hard."

"She deserves to be happy."

"I know it kills you that it's not with you. A bad person wouldn't care. They would go after what they wanted, no matter who it hurt."  My mind unintentionally drifted to the faceless shadow. 

I shook my head. This was supposed to be a happy night. I was going to make sure he wasn't brooding all night.

"Hey, Quade."