Page 28 of Wasn't Supposed To Love You
Chapter 16
Alana
I stayed up all night, worrying about Bryce. I tried texting both Kristi and him to see what they were up to. But neither one texted me back. I knew they were together, and watching them together, hanging out with them while they are together, has hurt. But not as much as I thought it would.
Since I started pretending to date Matt, whenever we would go on groups dates, I’ve started falling for him. Half the time we would be out, I’d forget that Kristi and Bryce were even there with us. I felt guilty at first, but the more I saw the way Bryce would look at Kristi, the more he spoke of her, I knew I had no right to feel that way. Bryce and I ran our course, now we both deserve to be with people that make our hearts explode.
I can clearly see it in the way Bryce looks at her, in the way he talks about her, that he’s in love with her. He never looked at me the way he looks at Kristi.
It’s time for me to let him go and get him to admit it to himself that she’s the one he should be with. I love Bryce, but maybe I’m not in love with him. Kristi is such an amazing person, I want her to be happy.
I hear the front door open, and look up from the TV to see Bryce come into the living room, guilt written all over his face.
I give him a weak smile. “It’s okay, Bryce,” I tell him.
“How can it be okay? That was the one thing I promised you I wouldn’t do. I wouldn’t sleep with her, and I did,” he confesses.
Hearing that he really did sleep with her last night, hurts. But not in the right way. It hurts that he’s feeling so guilty about it. It hurts in a way that if Kristi finds out the truth, it will crush her.
I get up off the couch and go to him, placing my hands on his face. “Bryce, you love her. You need to stop feeling guilty about this. I’m not hurt by you sleeping with her. I’ve noticed it for a while now, you’re falling in love with her. You deserve to be happy, and she deserves you. You are perfect for each other,” I tell him.
“What?” he says, confused. “But I love you.”
Giving him another weak smile. I shake my head no. “You might love me, Bryce, but you aren’t in love with me. And maybe I’m not in love with you, either. We worked, then we didn’t. You need to admit it to yourself, then you need to tell Kristi the truth,” I say, pulling his face down, and kissing him on the cheek.
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to tell her the truth.”
“I don’t know either. She always comes across as strong but I think if she found out about you, me, her sister—this would destroy her. I would suggest maybe we don’t have to tell her, but the truth always comes out. Somehow, someway. So we all have to fess up. Before it’s too late.”
His shoulders sag in defeat. “I know. I just don’t want to hurt her.”
“I don’t either, but at the same time, she’s Ava’s best friend.” I bite my lip, waiting for him to say something.
His head jerks up and he looks shocked. “You shitting me? Ava? Cameron’s Ava?” He gets off the couch and starts pacing. “I should have known. Why didn’t I know this sooner? Kristi used to talk about her best friend Lynnie when we were kids.” He stops pacing. “Wait, Lynnie isn’t an Ava. How are they friends?” He looks cute when he’s confused.
“Ava’s full first name is Avalynn.”
“Fuck!” he roars.
“Bryce, calm down! I spoke with Ava, she’s keeping this a secret,” I tell him. When Ava called me after seeing pictures on Facebook of Bryce and Kristi together, she got worried. Thankfully, she let me explain everything to her. But she was still worried for her friend and hated lying.
“Are you sure? Because I have to figure this out. I have to tell her myself, before anyone else. It has to come from me.”
“And it will. I won’t say anything, Ava isn’t, Emma won’t for sure.”
“This is so fucked up. If I had just told you months ago, we could have avoided this whole mess. Then I could have started dating Kristi without this shit going on.”
Wait. Months ago? “What are you talking about?”
“I didn’t know it was Kristi, okay, not until I saw the picture Emma gave me. But I bumped into her a few times, and well…” He trails off. Shaking his head, he continues, “Nothing ever happened, I promise you. But I felt this jolt, and I hate to admit this, but she’s the reason I stopped having sex with you, because I felt guilty when I would jack off in the shower and picture her sucking me off.”
I burst out laughing. “I know I should be angry about this, but I’m not. I’m just happy you are so in love with her.”
“I feel like a dick. I never wanted to hurt you. I’m not a cheater.”
“Bryce, please stop. I haven’t been honest with you either. In fact, ever since I met Seth’s brother, Matt, I’ve been crushing on him hugely. And a few of those group dates we’ve had, well, we may have kissed.”
He gives me a half-smile and then shakes his head. “We’ve made a mess out of everything, didn’t we?”
“Don’t say that, we’ll figure it all out, I promise. And then we can plan your wedding.” I give him a wink, and pull him onto the couch as we talk, trying to come up with a plan on how to tell Kristi the truth.
