Page 92 of Sweet Chaos
He just laughed and shook his head, putting his credit card back in his wallet and tucking it in his back pocket. Dylan grabbed the bags and slung an arm around my shoulder, pulling me in for a kiss before we pushed through the glass doors of the air-conditioned store and into the muggy evening.
“Fuck,” Dylan said under his breath, his arm falling from my shoulders and dropping to his side.
I looked up at his face first then followed his gaze and I froze. Not a sound came out of my mouth. My feet were rooted to the spot. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak.
I was barely breathing.
Dylan recovered first and stowed our bags in the back of his car then closed the hatch and returned to my side, jerking his chin at Sienna. “What are you doing here?”
That was his first question? What are you doing here?
I stared at my sister’s tear-stained face, her eyes red and puffy as if she’d been crying for hours. She was standing right in front of us and her BMW was parked at the gas pumps.
“What amIdoing here? I came to see my sister and I find…” She exhaled a shuddering breath and shook her head. “I can’t believe this.”
She was in shock. That made two of us.
I cleared my throat, forcing myself to speak. “I’m sorry, Sienna. I was going to…"
She ignored me, her gaze focused on Dylan. “My sister? Of all the girls you could have gone for, you went for my sister? Do you hate me that much, Dylan?”
He carved his hand through his hair and let out a breath. “I don’t hate you.”
“Are you trying to get revenge? Is that what this is?”
“No.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s not what this is.”
“Then tell me what this is. I came back here to see Scarlett because I needed someone to talk to who might understand. Instead, I find my sister and my ex-boyfriend… oh my God. I can’t…” She shook her head. “How could you do this to me?”
I didn’t know if that question was directed at Dylan or me. Either way, we’d both done this to her. I took a few steps closer, searching for the words, any words that would help this situation. But there were none.
“I’m so sorry, Sienna,” I said, trying again. “I was going to tell you next weekend. I never meant to—”
Her gaze swung to me. “You never meant to what? My God, Scar. Dylan wasn’t just some guy I hooked up with. Ilovedhim. And you knew that.”
“I know,” I said, my voice barely louder than a whisper. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head, and I knew that all the I’m sorry’s in the world weren’t going to mean a thing. “How long? How long have you been hiding this from me?”
I stared at my indigo blue toenails, wishing the ground would swallow me up. “Since January.”
“You were with him when you came to my engagement party?” she asked incredulously. I lifted my head, not bothering to explain that we hadn’t been together then. It was irrelevant. “You’ve been with him all this time and you never said a word to me? You know what’s funny. I was coming to see you because I thought we could talk. If anyone would understand, it would be you.”
“Understand what?”
“I left Chase.”
“What? But why?”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to marry my father. I don’t want to end up like my mother. And now my sister… betrayed me in the worst way. I thought you were the best one out of all of us. You broke away. Did your own thing.With my ex-boyfriend. My God. How stupid am I?” She laughed hollowly, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m so stupid.”
“Sienna. You’re not. This is all my fault and I don’t know how to…”
“It was my fault,” Dylan said, stepping up.
Sienna wiped her face and averted her head. “You know why I left Chase?” She focused her gaze on Dylan. He shook his head a little. “Because I don’t love him the way I loved you. Because I’ve been trying to get over you for years, but I still haven’t found a way to do that. I loved you, Dylan. So much it hurt. I loved you.So. Much.”
She was crying harder now. Instinctively, I moved closer and reached out to hug her. She held up her hands to ward me off and I took a step back.
