Page 106 of Collateral Damage
A quiet moment passes. We let a few good waves go by, swimming underneath the big ones and popping up on the other side, shaking our hair free.
Finally, he turns, a troubled gaze traveling my face as if looking for confirmation that I’m safe to confide in. Why is he holding back? We’re twins, we’re supposed to tell each other everything, but we stopped doing that years ago. We both know it. We’re still close, but it’s not the same as when we were kids.
Maybe it’s because we learned to be hard on ourselves.
Maybe we understand the world better now.
Or maybe this is about Sybil—has she finally come between us?
I don’t want this to be our fate. I want our bond to be strong again.
“You can tell me,” I urge. “I would never judge you.”
But if he knew my past, would he judge me?The question pops into my head, reminding me of the traitor I am. He’d probably hate me for touching Sybil, let alone loving her.
“Okay,” he relents, tortured emotion pouring out like a storm splitting the sky on a hot summer’s day. “It’s Arden. I’m in love with her.”
I blink, but I manage to keep my mouth shut. We sit on our boards, floating on the water as the sun travels across the sky, and Ethan tells me more truths than he’s told me in years.
“Ardenis the one you’re hung up on.” I let out a little laugh. “This actually makes so much sense, but I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
He gives me an incredulous shrug. “I guess I was embarrassed. We had a secret fling, and it didn’t work out.”
Can’t say I’m surprised. I saw the way Arden looked at Ethan that summer. She was as obsessed with him as he was with her.
“Why didn’t it work out?” I ask.
He runs a hand through his hair, tossing the dark strands back. “I’m an idiot, and I didn’t tell her about her resemblance to Sybil. She found a picture of her on our last day together. Freaked out. I don’t blame her. She thought I was using her to get over Sybil.”
That sounds familiar. “And you weren’t?”
He shakes his head. “I got over Sybil before I met Arden, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. When Arden came into my life, there was no denying she was so much better suited for me than Sybil ever was.”
I can see that. Arden has a grounding energy to her not many people in our lives seem to possess. She’s quiet and sweet and is the type of girl who needs protection and kindness. She’s nothing like Sybil, who is as stubborn as a fucking mule.
“Why didn’t you tell Arden that?” I wonder aloud, and he groans.
“I almost did, but by then, Dad called me and told me the truth about her being Sybil’s cousin. I couldn’t believe it… but I also could. The resemblance is uncanny.”
I get it. We were both stunned to meet Arden… and confused as fuck.
“There Arden was, about to have a family—something she desperately wanted and never got to have. If I told Arden how I felt, there was a chance she’d choose me over them. I wasn’t going to be the one to take her dream away.”
Wow. My brother is definitely in love. Here I thought he was going to check on the house during the hurricane because he was worried about losing something tied to Mom. All along, he’d been hoping to get Arden alone.
If he had worked things out with Arden back then, she’d likely never been close to her family. I can’t believe Ethan never told me about any of this while it was happening, but do I really have room to judge? I’ve never told him about Sybil.
Maybe he wouldn’t care anymore, or maybe he’d care for years. He doesn’t mention it, but I know he took Arden’s virginity. He wouldn’t have done that without making sure he was over Sybil. Unlike me, he actually had some honor that summer.
“You’re still in love with her.” It’s not a question.
His jaw ticks. “I bared my soul to her, man.” Embarrassment laces his heartbreak. “I think she loves me, too, but she won’t consider dating me. She’s moved on and won’t forgive me, especially after the bullshit lawsuit.”
“Shit…” That lawsuit would’ve freaked anyone out, and Arden is a vulnerable soul. I’m sure it scared her.
Dad tried to sue her for trespassing at the Nantucket house after we’d told her to go home, but since the house had already been moved to mine and Ethan’s names, we stopped the lawsuit the second we found out about it. But we didn’t apologize to Arden. Didn’t say a damn thing. I forgot entirely after I let it go.
Of course, she’s not ready to do the same. She was eighteen when it happened, and a billionaire was suing her.
