Page 23 of Wasted

She raised her shoulders. "I didn't feel right taking it. When I get back to Bridgewater, I'm going to sell it."

"Why?"

"I think it's time for a change. Nothing is holding me there anymore."

"But that's where your mom is buried."

She nodded. "My dad, too."

"Is that really what you want? To give up your family's land?"

"I don't really know what I want anymore."

Everything had always been so clear when we were growing up. We were going to move to Nashville. I was going to make it, and then when it was time, we'd buy our parent's land and combine them, and when I wasn't touring, that was where we'd raise our family. "It was never part of your plan to sell it..." Ipaused. "But I guess it was never part of our plan for you to marry my brother either."

"Cole." She exhaled slowly, her eyes searching mine. "I was actually kind of hoping we could talk."

"About?" I scratched at the label on my beer bottle.

"Us." She smiled softly. "The past."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Can we not?" My gaze flicked up to meet hers. "I just want to forget about the past and move on with my future."

"After what you said the other night, I think we should talk about it."

"I shouldn't have said that." I wasn't sure why I said it. Even though it was the truth, I'd never meant to say it out loud. I never wanted to be that vulnerable with her ever again, and yet I couldn't stop it from coming out.

"That's not the point," she insisted, leaning forward with an intensity that caught me off guard. "The tour is almost over, and I feel like you should know what really happened."

Anger raced through my veins. I didn't need her to give me all the details of how they fell for each other. "I know what really happened," I growled. "You left me for my brother. I don't need you to fill in all the details in between."

"But you don't under?—"

"Taylor," I snarled, slamming my beer bottle against the table. She flinched at the sharp sound. "There is no way for you to justify what you did, and there's no reason to unless you're hoping to get back together."

"What?" She shook her head. "No..."

"Good, because that will never happen. I'm not your second choice now that Caleb's dead. You made your choice, and now you have to live with that."

"That's the thing, Cole," she said. "You..."

"This conversation is over, Taylor." My phone buzzed against the glass table, drawing my attention. "I'm going to take this outside, and when I come back in, I hope you're gone." I pushed to my feet and snatched my phone off the table without giving her a second glance.

Shoving the sliding glass door open, I stepped outside, closing the door behind me as I pretended to answer the phone while I hit the 'end call' button in case she was watching, but she wasn't. Lifting from the couch, she pulled a white envelope from the waistband of her leggings and stared down at it for a long moment before dropping it on the table by my food and leaving my room.

Shoving my phone into my pocket, I opened the glass door and stepped inside. I already knew what she left behind. It was the letter I received from my brother after his death. I'd returned it several times because I had no intention of ever reading it. I picked up the letter with my family's logo on it, and my chest tightened with anger as I bunched the envelope in my hand.

"Fuck this." I stormed out of my room and pounded my fist against her door.

"What the..." The words died on her lips as she jerked the door open, her eyes widening at the sight of me.

"Why did you leave this?"

"Because it's addressed to you. It's your letter."

"Is this just a bunch of excuses for why he did what he did?"

"I don't know what that letter says. I didn't even know he wrote the letters until after he passed."

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