Bree let out a bitter laugh. "I wish. No, it was just some guy that I'd been seeing. It was so fucking dumb; the whole relationship never should have happened. But he was so charming and sexy and... I dunno. It was dumb. When I told him, he totally flipped out and ended things."
That motherfucker.
"Bree, fuck. I'm so freaking sorry." Because what else could I say? I couldn't even imagine what she'd been going through when I blew back into her life with my petty revenge plots and boy problems.
She shrugged, sniffing. "It is what it is. He wanted me to get rid of it, and I panicked. I just... I did what he wanted because I thought we had a future together."
My heart constricted painfully for her. Whoever this guy was, I was going to fucking castrate him.
"Bree..." I clenched my jaw, swallowing the words of pity that had been about to spill out of my mouth. Bree deserved better than my pity; she deserved payback on that fucker. What kind of man got a girl pregnant, then emotionally manipulated her into an abortion, then still left her heartbroken and distraught? I knew that was what had happened; the pieces clicked together all too easily without her having to say it.
"Anyway, that was, like, almost six months ago," she continued, brushing aside all the pain with a watery smile. "And something good came from it all, so I can't be too down on life."
I quirked a knowing smile. "Dallas?"
She blushed and nodded. "He went with me to the clinic after David didn't show up for my appointment. I guess that's the other reason I've been acting so fucking weird around you."
I frowned, confused. "Because of Dallas? Why? We haven't spoken since... well, basically since he went to jail, like, four years ago. You knew that."
She sighed, grimacing. "Right, I did know that. But what you didn't know was that Dallas never went down for armed robbery. Or he did on paper, but he was nowhere near that convenience store. Your dad set him up as punishment for sleeping with you, like a warning to other Wraiths not to touch his property."
My jaw dropped for the second time. "What?" My exclamation was strangled and horrified.
She wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, it's fucked up. No joke. But Dallas never told you, right?" I shook my head. "And he never even blamed you for it. He was all forgiveness and... I dunno. I just got the feeling he was still crazy in love with you. So then when you showed up again, like, three weeks after we reconnected, I panicked a bit."
Understanding washed over me, tempered by shock from what she'd just told me. Holy shit. My dad was an actual, irredeemable cunt.
"You thought I was going to see Dallas again and fall madly back in love now that we're both all grown up?" I asked her, and she gave an uncomfortable shrug. "Probably didn't help that the first time I needed extra assistance in my revenge plan, I called him in. Fuck, I'm sorry, Bree. If I'd known—"
"But you didn't," she cut me off. "And that's on me for keeping it all secret. I'd developed this... I dunno, this fixation with how I equally wanted to be you and also wanted you to go back to Cambodia and leave us the fuck alone. I swear, it was a short-lived thing, and my therapist thinks it was just a messed-up way my brain was dealing with the guilt and grief and... I'm just really sorry, girl."
She inhaled and exhaled deeply, her shoulders rising and falling as she got her emotions under control. Another tissue took care of the fresh tears, and she blew her nose before continuing. "I never, ever betrayed your safety, though. Not like Scott was implying. There were a couple of moments where I so badly wanted things to go back to the way they were, you know? Before Riot Night when we were just spoiled princesses with nothing more stressful in our lives than what nail polish to wear and how shitty the Shadow Prep boys were in bed."
Her insistence on throwing parties and going out for girls’ nights suddenly made a whole lot more sense, and I fucking got it. At least once a day, I found myself nostalgic for when my life was a whole shitload less complicated—exactly what Bree was saying—so yeah, I fucking got it.
"I'm sorry it took me this long to realize you had