Still Jaded (Jaded #2)(77)

"My family," I bit out.

The tears were there. I just needed to keep them at bay for a little longer.

"Did they mean well by it?"

"Does it matter?" I shot back. "A betrayal is a betrayal."

"Not always." She still frowned.

"If they make the decision to play with your heart, to play with your mind, to play with your world, how is that okay?" I closed my eyes. "If you got hurt because of what they did? What then?"

Something changed in her face and she sobered. Standing at her fullest height, Carolina looked at me like she was looking through me. "And if you were hurting them?"

"Does it matter?"

She narrowed her eyes, seeming to choose her words with caution. "Then I would ask myself, really ask myself, whose pain was the worst? Who was hurting the worst? Because that's the person that's in the right."

I sucked in my breath. "You're not helping me."

"I think I am." She gave me a soft smile before she leaned next to me. "What'd they do?"

"Who?"

"You know who."

"They set it all up."

"Did they do it to hurt you?"

This girl was starting to annoy me. "No."

She hesitated, but then asked, "Were they hurting?"

Really annoying me. "Yes."

Then she took a deep breath. "Maybe, just maybe, you should shut up and think about them. Because it sounds like you're being self-centered. Think past yourself and think of them."

"I don't really like you right now." I flashed a crooked grin.

She smiled back. "If we're going to be friends, I'm not going to kiss your ass. I'm not like that, but I will always tell you the truth and even though I don't know you that well, I like you. I like you a lot." She paused. "I only tell my friends the truth."

I grinned, saddened. "I think I need friends like that—it's what they do."

She looked behind us to Corrigan's hospital room and nodded. "I don't know any of you guys that well, but I'm good at judging people. I've met each of you at different times. I met Bryce for two seconds in the waiting lounge, but I read people well." She drew in a deep breath. "I'm someone who likes to be prepared for everything, but I learned a long time ago that I can't be prepared for everything. Things happen that you can't prepare for. My sister died a long time ago. She committed suicide, and it was…it was…hard, but they're here. Both of your guys are here." She got choked up, but continued, "I don't love anyone, but I loved my sister, and I've seen enough and heard enough to know that you love both of them. Everyone knows, Sheldon. Everyone knows. You have to pick. They know it. You know it."

Each word she said stabbed me. I felt the knife sliding in and out as she continued. Then I drew in a shuddering breath. She was right. I had to pick.

She got red in the cheeks and fanned herself. "I'm probably channeling my romantic idealistic part of me, but for the love of God, pick one of them because obviously they're begging for you to do it!"

The old Sheldon might've said something bitchy to her, but I'd learned to listen to the truth. This girl was speaking that to me. She'd said it enough in her own words. Bryce was saying it. Corrigan was saying it. Now she was, and she was right. I wondered how many others thought the same things.

Then I asked, "Your sister committed suicide?"

"Yeah." Her voice was soft. "I was in high school. You learn what's real when you go through something like that. People. Relationships. Life. There's a lot of stuff out there than can break you or make you stronger. You just gotta choose which way you're going."

If only it were that easy.

"Sheldon?" Bryce walked out of the room. "What are you—I thought you were going for coffee?" He frowned as he glanced from Carolina to me, then back again. A second passed, and then his eyes widened. Comprehension flared. "Oh."

Carolina looked apologetic. "I came to check on her, and now I have. I'll see you tomorrow, Sheldon." She met his gaze for a moment before reaching to squeeze my hand. As she walked down the hallway, he rotated around to watch her. When she rounded the corner, he looked back at me and smiled.

"What?"

He nodded. "I like her. She's strong. I like that."

My mind was a mess. My emotions were always a mess. And now the guy who I thought was the only one I would ever love approved of a friend I made? Really? Really?

I pressed my hands to my temples. A headache had come on and it was raging. "Thank you for your approval. Now you can go back and screw my replacement. You'll know that I'll be okay. I have a friend beside you and Corrigan. Thank you for giving a damn."

"What? I just meant—"

"You walked out on me! You found another girl. You—"

Bryce opened his mouth. "Are you kidding me?! You're with me, but you're in love with someone else! Who walked away from whom is irrelevant. Take a look at who's in the next room!"

"You don't have the right to approve of my friends. Not anymore. You gave that up, remember?" My tone gentled. He was right about Corrigan, although we hadn't figured out who was to blame yet. "You're not my boyfriend anymore, Bryce."