Bachelor Swap, Lacey Black [best short novels txt] 📗

the thickness in my throat. “That’s big of you, Ky. You could have very easily made sure that deal fell through, leaving my brother without the company he was coveting. Eye for an eye, if you will.”

She keeps her eyes trained down. “I must have gone back and forth for an entire day, but ultimately, I just didn’t want to carry the hurt and anger with me, and it was what my father said about looking past your brother’s flaws and seeing the decent he hides from the world.”

I can’t help but snort a laugh. “My brother? Decent?”

“Believe me, I didn’t really want to see it either, but I do think it’s there. He just keeps it well concealed behind a no-nonsense demeanor and very thick skin.”

I nod, wondering if there’s a chance she’ll forgive me as easily as she did my brother, and maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with why she’s here tonight. A man can hope, right? I’d rather think of that than the alternative. That she’s here to speak her piece so she can move on with her life. I’m not sure I could handle it if she does.

“I don’t consider him a friend, but I don’t hate him either. In fact, I’m a little grateful to him,” she says, her sweet voice soft.

That catches me by surprise. “You are?”

She nods and shifts in the swing, meeting my gaze head on. “I am. He brought me you,” she whispers so quietly, I almost didn’t hear her. In fact, after a few long seconds of silence, I wonder if I imagined it, but as I continue to search her hazel eyes, I see a light I haven’t witnessed in four long weeks. “I understand why you did what you did.”

“You do?”

Kyla nods. “I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision to make. I know you mentioned that night your ranch was in trouble, but Matthew explained it in a little more detail, and I finally started to understand. You felt trapped and out of options.”

She takes another deep breath. “What you did, it may not have been the right thing to do, but I understand. You weren’t out to hurt me.”

I feel the ball of tension in my body seem to subtly relax. “When we were in high school, Matthew was dating this girl. It was probably his first real relationship and they were together for about two years before I noticed his indirect change. He was pulling away from her, from me, and aligning himself for the next phase of his life.

“He came to me one night, asking for help. He wanted to break up with Suzanna, the girl he was dating, but didn’t have the balls to do it. So, he asked me to swap places with him and do it for him. I refused, of course. No way was I going to break up with his girlfriend for him, but he knew how to play me. Matthew had photos of the girl I was interested in. She was naked, and he told me he was going to send it to all his friends if I didn’t swap places with him.

“I tried to call his bluff, but I knew in my heart he’d do it. That girl, she was the class valedictorian and senior class president. I have no clue how he got his hands on them, but I couldn’t let him ruin her like that. Her dad was a preacher, her mom a teacher. She was a good person, and I didn’t want to see that tarnished.

“So I did it. I went out with Suzanna that Friday night and broke up with her in my brother’s car in the parking lot of the fucking movie theatre. She cried so fucking hard,” I confess, shaking my head as the memories flood back like a broken dam. “I felt dirty and horrible, but I did it, so Bethani Feltman wouldn’t have her reputation ruined by my evil twin.”

I sigh and sag against the swing, not even realizing my feet stopped moving and we were sitting still. “I went home and found him in his room with the head cheerleader. He barely waited until I broke his girlfriend’s heart for him before he was screwing someone else. It was the first and only time I ever punched my brother in the face. I vowed to never swap places with him again. We had done it a few times when we were little, but never to actually hurt anyone. I never wanted to hurt anyone,” I repeat.

Kyla reaches over and squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry you went through that. I’m sure it wasn’t easy on you.”

“The worst. The only positive was a few months later, Matthew went off to college and Bethani did too. The photos were never distributed, but the real damage was done. I carried a lot of resentment and anger toward my brother and it severed our relationship. Over the last decade, we’ve barely had one.

“And then he called me up almost two months ago. I was desperate again and out of options. I didn’t want to do it, Ky, I swear to you,” I insist. “I just didn’t know what else to do.”

She moves her hand, slipping it beneath mine and entwining our fingers together. It’s the first time I’ve touched her in four long weeks, and the connection is like a balm to the gaping hole in my soul. It calms the storm inside me and brings peace to my battered heart.

Kyla holds my eyes and gives me a small smile. “Mason, I forgive you.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Kyla

I feel just as free saying those words to Mason as I did when I spoke to Matthew. Only this time, there’s a lot more emotion at play. I feel compassion for what he went through, both as a younger man and as an adult, as well as pride. I’m proud of the man he became, that his heart remained gold and true. He could