Page 128 of The One
“Trista’s back at work, which tells me you’re no longer having her follow Lainey,” Rowan said.
“You’re correct,” I replied.
Ridge eyed me with a smile. “Are you going to tell us what you and Lainey talked about?”
“I never said we talked.”
“You don’t have to,” Rowan responded. “We can see it in your face. Besides, isn’t that where you ran off to the last time we were discussing her?”
It had only been days ago when they were drilling me about Lainey and I rushed out of the office to go to our old high school.
It felt like a goddamn lifetime.
“I told her”—I took a long, deep inhale—“everything.”
“Everything, everything?” Ridge asked. When I nodded, he added, “Oh shit.”
“And?” Rowan leaned on her desk. “How did she take it?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“Did she hear you out?” Rowan pushed.
“Yes.”
“Did she tell you to fuck off and storm out?” Rowan continued.
“No.”
“Rhett …” She flattened her hands against her desk and pounded them down a few times. “Talk to us. You’re giving us nothing.”
I shifted in my seat, unable to sit still. I had all this pent-up energy, and I didn’t know what to do with it. “She listened to everything I told her. She didn’t fight me. She didn’t tell me I was wrong or that this was my opinion and she believed otherwise. She wanted to hear it, and she was ready to.”
“Wow,” Rowan whispered.
“I didn’t hold back, Row. I told her I’d never stopped loving her. That I’d thought of her every day for the last fifteen years. When she left that track—she was walking at our old high school—she knew exactly where I stood and how I felt.”
“Fuck. You went all in.” Ridge clasped my arm. “I’m proud of you.”
Rowan nodded. “Me too.”
“I’ve stayed silent for far too long,” I admitted.
“Fifteen years too long,” Rowan offered.
“Holding in those secrets did nothing to fucking help me. They gave me nightmares when I actually did fall asleep. They put me in the worst headspace.” I dragged my fingers through the side of my hair. “No more. I’m done with that bullshit.”
“I don’t know who you are right now, but I’m loving every word of this,” Rowan said.
We all turned silent, and I broke it with, “Lainey Taylor isn’t mine. I had nothing to lose by being honest with her.”
“She’s not yoursyet,” Ridge corrected.
I released a hiss. “You know … that’s the best thing you’ve ever said to me.”
FORTY-ONE
Lainey
