Page 101 of Heartsmashed
My family always said I wore my emotions on my sleeve for anyone to notice, and if that were true, then I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to act like everything was okay today. Like I was fine putting on a tux and smiling when I was still reeling from the bomb Beckett had dropped.
My throat burned, and I felt a traitorous sting prick behind my eyes. I dropped my forehead to the door, closing my eyes, willing myself to get it together. I couldn’t cry, not today.
It was probably ridiculous that that was all I could think. Not about how angry I was, or even the fact that Beckett had lied.And not that I missed him already, which was so humiliating that I wanted to peel my own skin off.
Just don’t cry.
The door opened suddenly and I nearly fell forward into Hudson, but he caught me by the arms before I could face-plant into his shirt.
“Sawyer?”
I jerked back, my face hot. “Shit, sorry.”
Hudson’s expression changed immediately. Behind him, Rome stood in front of the mirror with his bow tie hanging loose around his neck, but whatever he’d been about to say disappeared on his tongue the second he saw me.
The door clicked shut behind me, and I stood there with my garment bag in one hand, cuff links cutting into the other, unable to decide where to put anything, including myself.
“Hey,” Rome said, his voice softer than I was used to as he crossed the room. “What happened?”
I didn’t know what to say, or do—all I could manage was shaking my head.
Hudson took the garment bag from me and hung it on a nearby rack, while Rome looked down at my fist.
“Why don’t you give me those before you brand yourself?”
I blinked. “What?”
“The cuff links.”
I looked at my hand like it belonged to someone else, the diamonds flashing in the light where they peeked out, and slowly opened my fingers. The cuff links sat in my palm, small, square red marks pressed into my skin. Rome took them from me, and the gentle way he moved made the room blur for half a second.
Nope. I wasn’t doing it.
I turned away, dragging a hand over my face. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not,” Hudson said. “Is it Peter?”
Rome cursed. “Do we need to get a shovel?”
I was still shaking my head, and the words came out before I could stop them. “Beckett isn’t the escort I hired.”
Dead silence filled the room. Complete, brutal silence.
Rome’s mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. All the while Hudson only stared at me, and for a moment I wondered if I’d only thought the words.
“Sorry, back up,” Rome said. “You hired an escort?”
Oh. Right.They hadn’t known that part.
I needed to sit down.
I stumbled forward and landed hard in the first chair I came across, keeping my eyes on the carpet so I didn’t have to look either of them in the eye.
“I did, and I thought it was Beckett, he…he was supposed to be my fake boyfriend. I panicked when you told me Peter was coming, and I didn’t want to show up alone and pathetic while Peter shoved his new relationship in my face, and I got desperate and”—I took a deep breath—“I hired someone.”
Both of my brothers were so very still that I could only hear my own heartbeat. Hell, they probably could too with the way it hammered.
“You hired someone,” Hudson said.
