Broken Beautiful Hearts(92)

“There’s nowhere to go,” Christian complains. “I’m bigger than you.”

“Don’t start that crap again,” Cam says. “You’re not bigger than me. You just take up more room. Maybe it’s your ego.”

“My ego? What are you talking about?” Christian snaps. The tension between the Twins is getting worse.

“How come the four of us are crammed back here when I have a truck?” Christian grumbles.

“I think you mean I have a truck,” Cam says.

Christian waves him off. “Whatever. Same difference.”

“If I remember correctly, you two weren’t supposed to be coming,” Grace points out. “So if you want a ride, don’t complain.”

“Peyton, will you talk to me?” Owen pleads.

“I don’t have anything to say.”

“But I do. I’m sorry for lying. I didn’t know how to tell you.”

Christian clears his throat. “It feels like I’m watching a sappy scene in a chick flick, but I can’t pretend to go to the bathroom so I can hang in the lobby until it’s over.”

“Nobody gives a shit what you think, Christian,” Cam barks. “Everything isn’t about you. They’re trying to talk.”

“We’re not talking.” I don’t want to be in the car with Owen any more than I want to watch him fight. But I’m also terrified that the fight could trigger another attack.

What would’ve happened if I hadn’t been there the night I found him in the locker room struggling to breathe? Or if I had waited in the car fifteen minutes longer before I decided to go inside and look for him?

I can ignore Owen, but I can’t turn off my feelings for him.

I stare out the window while Grace drives, and the Twins bicker and complain about the radio station—and each other. Tucker talks to Grace and Owen and I stay quiet.

We finally make it to the arena. This building is a lot bigger than the one where the semifinals were held. When Grace parks, I’m the first one out of the car.

As I walk toward the main entrance, I feel Owen watching me. I’m so aware of him, even now. Part of me wants to forgive him, but it would only make things harder.

Now that I know about Owen’s heart, nothing can happen between us. I can’t let myself fall for a guy who’s putting his life at risk all the time. Losing my dad was hard enough. I can’t imagine losing a friend, or … I don’t even know what to call Owen.

Owen catches up with me. “Peyton. Can I talk to you for one second?”

I shake my head, keeping my back to him. “You need to concentrate on the fight tonight. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I’ll always worry about you.” He’s next to me now.

Cutter and Lazarus are waiting for him by a side entrance.

Thank god.

It’s probably my only way out of this conversation.

“I’ll talk to you afterward,” Owen says, as if we were having a real conversation.

I keep my eyes on the door and keep walking.

Cam jogs up next to me. “You okay? Don’t lie.”

“No.” I sigh. “But it doesn’t matter.”

Cam opens the door for me. “Listen. I know Christian and I weren’t happy about the idea of you dating Owen, but it’s not because he’s a bad guy. You said you didn’t want to date a fighter, and—”

“He’s gonna die?” I cut in. “I’m quoting you.”

Cam pulls out his wallet as we walk up to the ticket window. “We just didn’t want to see you get hurt. But we shouldn’t have told you the way we did.”

“I think what you meant to say is that you shouldn’t have kept it secret from me.”

“Yeah. That too.” He crams some money under the window. “Five tickets, please.”

“Twenty-five bucks.” The woman counts the crinkled bills, then slides the tickets under the partition.

Christian, Grace, and Tucker catch up with us, but it’s too crowded for all of us to walk next to one another, so they fall in line behind Cam and me.

“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you. But we gave Pop our word that we wouldn’t tell anyone,” Cam says.

“Are you saying Hawk told you to lie to me?” I can’t handle another betrayal.

“Not just to you. To everybody.”

“I don’t understand.”

Cam glances back at Grace and Tucker and lowers his voice. “Owen’s dad was a piece of shit. He made your ex seem like a Boy Scout. After Owen was diagnosed, I guess things got really bad between his parents. Pop and Owen’s mom were friends in high school, so she came over to ask him for advice.

“Christian and I were eavesdropping and we overheard Owen’s mom talking about his heart condition. Later on, when we fessed up to Pop, he lost it. He made us give him our word that we wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“So Owen didn’t tell you himself?” I ask.

“No way. Owen was mad when he found out we knew. And we never told anyone—not even Grace.”

Maybe Owen was telling the truth when he said that I was the first person he’d ever wanted to tell.

“And I’m sorry you’re miserable,” Cam adds. “It seemed like Owen made you happy. So I guess I’m wondering if the fighter thing is such a big deal.”