Page 97 of Love or Leave

She rubbed at the tightness in her chest.

"Why didn't you ask me?" Max asked.

She turned to her brother with a sigh. "Cooper was there. And Jalen. It was complicated."

He let out a sharp breath and opened his mouth to speak, but Willow cut him off before he could get a word out.

"Then what?" Willow asked.

"Out of nowhere, Antonio called. He didn't want to go to his parents' anniversary party alone, and he said he'd go to the concert if I went to the party, and obviously I agreed."

"But why didn't you just tell us?" Max asked.

Cara thought back to the conversation and wondered. "I wanted to, but he didn't want to. He probably already knew that I liked him." She squeezed her eyes shut at the memory of them playing cards together.

"So, in Montreal you two were…" Willow drifted off. "It progressed?"

Cara nodded.

"And the next morning, when we couldn't find you?"

Her belly knotted as she turned to her brother. "I was in his room."

Max stood with a shake of his head and paced the room. "He lied right to my face."

Cara winced. "Actually, he wanted to tell you right then. I made up the story about going out for a walk, and I asked him to lie and take you away, and then I snuck out of his room—"

"Yeah, got it," Max said, his eyes closed, waving at her to stop.

"Anyway, he came over on Thursday and wanted to talk and we kissed and that's when Adam and Ethan caught us. He asked me to be his girlfriend, and we planned to tell you, but then this morning…" She trailed off. She'd given enough information for both of them to work with.

Willow looked like she wanted to cry. "I feel so bad for him."

Max spun toward her, eyes wide. "Him?"

"He's been through a lot, and he finally seemed to turn things around, and then—boom." Willow made an explosion with her hands.

Cara's stomach lurched. She agreed. Probably because she loved Antonio. She didn't want him to suffer. The worst part about it was that she could really be herself with him. He'd seen her at her worst and at her best and everything in between. And he'd still said he loved her and wanted to be her boyfriend.

She never would have done some of those things in front of Cooper or Jalen. She thought back to the sidewalk in front of the concert when Antonio saw her yelling at Cooper.

"He probably wasn't expecting to fall in love with you," Willow said. "And it happened so quickly he probably didn't know what to do about it."

Cara shrugged. It didn't really matter. It was over.

"What are you going to do?" Max asked.

Cara rolled her neck and stood, making her way to the kettle to pour her tea. "Find someone who isn't married. It just sucks because…"

"What?" Max asked.

Tears pricked her eyes, but she held them off. "I thought he was perfect for me."

"We all think he is," Willow said.

Max scowled.

"Almost all of us," she said, glaring at Max. "Do you think you can forgive him?"

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