Page 73 of What We Brave
The question hangs in the air. Blake looks at me, something desperate flickering across his face. I can practically see the calculation happening—weighing the cost, measuring the damage, arriving at a decision that terrifies him.
I hold his gaze. Don't carry this alone. Not this time.
"Reid," Blake says. His voice is barely above a whisper. "At the camp. The volunteer thing. She was—we were outside and I—" He stops. Breathes. "We kissed."
This is the moment everything ends. Really ends. No passing go. No collecting 200 dollars. Just done.
Reid blinks once. Twice. It happens so slowly, I see the moment it hits. The betrayal.
"You..." Reid's voice is very quiet. Very controlled. "You what?"
"A week ago. I know I shouldn't have. I know it was—I fucked everything up, but I couldn't keep?—"
"You kissed her." Reid repeats the words like he's running diagnostics. Testing each one for damage.
"Yes."
Reid looks at me. His face has gone still—not blank,focused. Like he's reading vitals. Assessing the wound. Figuring out how deep it goes.
It finally hits him. Not just the kiss, but that we lied to him for a week.
"Laine?"
I want to disappear. I want to dissolve into the river and never have to see the look on his face right now. But I can't. And Blake is taking all the blame when the truth is so much more complicated than that.
He's not taking this alone. Not after what I said in my apartment.
"He's not telling the whole truth," I say quietly.
Reid's face doesn't change. I didn't think it was possible, but his body goes even more still. "What?"
"It wasn't him." My voice is stronger now, because this part matters. Owning up to my own stuff matters. "I'm the one that kissed him."
Reid stares at me. "You kissed him."
It's not a question, but I answer anyway. "Yes."
Reid runs both hands through his hair. I can see the timeline clicking together in his head.
"So while I was sitting at home, hoping we could find our way back to each other..." He stops. Shakes his head. "Jesus Christ, Laine."
I want to flinch. I don't let myself.
"Reid, I'm sorry?—"
"Are you?" He turns to face me fully, and there it is—the steel spine under all that warmth. The thing that makes ReidReid. He's not falling apart. He's standing up straighter. "Are you sorry it happened, or sorry I found out about it?"
I don't know the answer. I should be sorry it happened. I should regret every second of it.
But I don't. And that makes me the worst person in the world.
"I don't know," I whisper.
Reid laughs, but there's no humor in it. Just a sharp exhale that could cut glass.
Blake steps forward. "Reid, this is on me. I shouldn't have?—"
"Don't." Reid holds up a hand without looking away from me. "Don't you dare try to make this about you protecting her. She made a choice too."
