TEASE ( A Stepbrother Romance ) By Caitlin Daire

20

Chapter Twenty

Charlotte

My own shock was mirrored in Nicki's features, and her cheeks flushed a deep crimson. "Oh...I....um...I didn't realize it was you."

"Neither did I," I said, my voice stiff. I hadn't seen Nicki since what she'd done at the cabin party, and I hadn't exactly wanted to, either.

"I'll find another place to study," she said softly. She made to leave, then turned back to me. "Charlotte....I know you have no reason to believe a word that comes out of my mouth right now, but for what it's worth, I'm really sorry for what I did back in Silverton Falls."

I considered her words, my teeth set on edge. "Sorry because everyone took my side? Or are you genuinely sorry?"

She sighed. "Genuinely sorry. I've lost more than half my friends, even Amy and Talia, but I know that it's all my fault and I deserve it. I was really awful to you."

"Why did you do it?" I asked, folding my arms. I already knew why, I just wanted to hear her say it out loud.

Her gaze wavered, and then she looked into my eyes. "I liked Cade. I'd liked him for ages. I kept waiting for him to notice me, but he never did. Not as anything more than a friend, anyway. He was always off with some other girl. Then his last girlfriend Jenna cheated on him, and I thought that when they broke up, maybe it would finally be my chance. I thought if I started spending more time with him, then he'd finally notice me and realize he'd been wasting his time with all those other girls when I'd been right in front of him all along. But then you showed up, and after that, he was always talking about you, being a new family member and all."

"Uh-huh."

"I thought if I became friends with you, he'd see how much effort I was putting into helping you settle into town, and then he'd suddenly see me in a whole different light. I know it was pathetic."

"Yeah, it was."

She nodded, tears brimming in her eyes. "Then I saw how close you two were when we went to Silverton Falls, and something in me just snapped when I spoke to Blake and heard about that girl at the hotel. I know it's just a coincidence that you look similar to whoever she was, but I was drunk, and I was so mad."

I felt a pang of guilt. Even though what she'd done to humiliate me was awful, she hadn't exactly been entirely wrong about me and Cade. I was the girl at the hotel that night, and while we hadn't had sex at the point when Nicki said all those things about us at the cabin party, we'd gone and slept with each other only a few hours later.

"Anyway, I just wanted to say sorry. I've been meaning to call you and say it for weeks now, but I haven't had the guts," Nicki finished. "You don't have to forgive me, it's okay."

With that, she turned on her heel, and I called out to her. "Nicki...wait."

She spun around, and I asked her something that had been bothering me for a while now. "When you were acting like my friend....did you like me at all? Or was it all a show?"

"I liked you," she said. "You're funny and cool, and I really liked you as a person, even though I only tried to be your friend in the first place to suck up to Cade. But you're not pathetic. I didn't mean that when I said it. I was drunk and stupid."

I opened my mouth to reply and she held up a hand. "And yes, I know being drunk is no excuse. That's why I don't expect you to forgive me."

I sighed, her words flashing through my mind. I wanted to keep disliking her for what she'd done, but she seemed genuinely remorseful for her actions, and I wasn't sure I could hate her even if I tried. I mean, look how long I'd held onto my bitterness and hatred towards Cade in the past. Where had that ever gotten me? Nowhere, unless you counted an emotional place of unresolved issues and simmering anger.