Solace In The Silence ✓✓

chapter 15

EVEN THOUGH IT didn't take a genius to put two and two together, when I heard the words spoken, it was still a total shock to me.

I couldn't believe that the real reason Jake had called it quits with his ex-girlfriend had more to do with the fact that she'd been two-timing him than it did with my long standing theory that he'd wanted a taste of the single life before he graduated from college. The more I thought about it, the more conflicted I became about the whole thing.

Keeping my voice level, I said, "Did you just say what I think—"
"She cheated on him," Angie repeated, her features tight with unspoken emotion. "And it wasn't just the one time. She cheated on him for months."
It was stupid, really, that even in that moment, after everything, I still felt the sting of betrayal, clawing its way up my throat, at the realization that Jake hadn't trusted me enough to tell me himself. Especially because, now that the words were out there, I knew I shouldn't have been all that surprised.

If he talked to me about things more, maybe I wouldn't have been forced to walk away.
It was hard, because aside from those familiar, impenetrable walls that shielded him, there had been a handful of times over the years where he'd let his guard down around me.

When Elvis died, Jake had been the only person who hadn't sounded generic and painfully rehearsed, like a sympathy card. Instead, he'd hooked an arm around my waist and held me against him at my brother's funeral, knowing that was the type of support I needed. And how, holed up in his room together—right after he'd made the decision to end his relationship with Sera—Jake had actually cried in front of me, his shoulders shaking softly.

Despite the fact that he'd withheld the reason why he'd called it off with her, it was the first, and only time, I'd seen him so vulnerable.

Those were the reasons why I'd sat tight, hoping maybe that guy would make a more permanent appearance. Or that the appeal to be a party playboy would gradually fade, that his defensive nature wasn't due to trust issues.

Until now, I'd been under the impression their split was mutual—that they'd both been unhappy—because Jake had never corrected me otherwise.

No matter how frantically my mind raced to come to terms with the piece of information that had fallen into my lap, disbelief still trickled in. There was a ghost of a chance Sera had been unfaithful—I mean, what girl would cheat when she had Jake?—and worse yet, that my best friend had known about it for over a year.

Confusion and anger swirled inside me, every muscle locking up as I stared at Angie, as I processed everything. She lowered the shopping bag to the ground, her wide, puppy-dog eyes pleading with me to understand.

"You knew the entire time why he ended it with her?" I asked, and a strange pressure clamped down on my chest.

There had never been secrets between Angie and me before, and the knowledge that she'd been dishonest suspended uncomfortably between us. The memory of all those times I'd asked her if she knew why he'd broken up with Sera was like an icepick chipping away at my frozen heart, because she'd lied to me every single time.

Angie stepped in front of me, raising her palms. "I couldn't tell you! Come on, Bess . It wasn't my place. He's my brother, and I... I just couldn't. I'm sorry."

I'm your best friend! I wanted to say. And you knew how I felt about him, how long I'd agonized over their relationship. I stayed silent, though, because it was a moot point. I knew, deep down, that she was right, so right. There were things Elvis and I had shared when he was alive that I would never tell another soul. I would always keep his secrets, especially now that he was gone, and I knew more than anyone that the invisible ties that connected siblings were unbreakable. That admission caused a sharp, tingling pain to spread behind my ribs.