EVIL VILLAIN (The Royal Court #3) - Rebel Hart Page 0,19

back there. Part of the pull for me with Brayden was that he’d do whatever I wanted. He’s a whole person now. I feel like I’m just now getting to know him.”

“What is that about?” I asked. “Are they…?”

Nathan blew out a sigh. “Yeah. Kind of.”

“Really?” I turned to look at Nathan, shocked. “Okay. I’m sorry if I go a little gossipy right now, but fuck, I did not see that coming. Who started it? What happened? How? I didn’t even know either of them, ya know, swung that way.”

“I think the general consensus at this point is that Kyle is pansexual and Brayden is gay, but not out. I actually couldn’t say for sure who started what. I was going through all of my own shit with my mom dying and my dad cutting out, Deon disappearing. Plus I was trying to navigate this really weird relationship with Nikita. I didn’t think we were even going to make it. While all that was going on, one day I show up and I notice they’re giving each other these looks and Kyle is talking about how often the two of them talk and see each other. It was clear out of the blue. Then when prom came, Kyle asked Brayden to be his date.”

My jaw dropped and I hated that I cost myself seeing that. “Seriously?!”

“Yeah. At first it seemed like it was just a joke. We were talking about going as a big group or as pairs, and Brayden got kind of snippy because, you know, Nikki and me. Alistair and Avery. Jaxon and Colette. All couples, so even if we went as a group, it’d be obvious what was going on. Kyle up and asks him to be his date. We kind of laughed it off at first, but Brayden didn’t think it was a joke ever and got really upset about it. When he stormed away from the table we could all see it, Kyle was shattered, like he’d just been rejected. I asked him about it later that day, but he wouldn’t say much. It was Avery who told me she thought Kyle was pan, but didn’t think he liked Brayden. Kyle later told Nikki that wasn’t true.”

“Why would you guys think he didn’t like him if he asked him to prom?” I asked.

Nathan’s face got a little more sullen. “Turns out, Brayden was in love with me.”

I went silent with shock as hundreds of tiny moments clicked into place. Random fits of what could only be described as jealousy, and any time Brayden would get all too excited to hang out with Nathan. It never clicked with me because I never even considered Brayden in that way, but once I thought about it, it occurred to me that I never once saw him date or even look at a girl.

“Wow,” I murmured. “You know, that actually makes so much sense.”

“Yeah. Nikki said the same thing. I had no clue. It wasn’t until just last week that Nikita even told me that. I guess Kyle realized it and tried to serve as something of a distraction and ended up catching feelings.”

“Aw. That’s kind of cute actually.”

“I think so. They’re good for each other, but it seems like, whether out of guilt or something else, Brayden just won’t put his wall down. I hope it works out for them though.”

“Me too.”

Silence filled the car for a few seconds before Nathan started up again. “Cherri, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for… what happened. In that bathroom. I…” His hands strangled the steering wheel. “I have nightmares about it. Fuck, I shouldn’t even be saying something like that to you. I’m not the victim, but I hate that I hurt you. Maybe I didn’t have feelings for you like the way I did for Nikita, but you were there for me. Always.” I was surprised when tears filled the corners of his eyes. “Losing you felt like losing a part of myself and I didn’t know how to reconcile that with the fact that there was a woman I was really in love with, or the fact that I’d hurt you so badly, and never really treated you like a person.”

There were tears in my eyes before I could stop them. “Nathan.”

“Sometimes, I have these dreams, that Deon is back and the four of us do like brunches and shit.” He laughed as a few tears slid down his face. “I love you, Cherri. I really do. You’re like