CHAPTER 20
Jul 10, 2025
LIAM’S POV
The words hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. “It’s no longer fake. Kate and I are truly dating now.”
I stood there, frozen in disbelief, waiting for the punchline that never came. Nate was looking at me with a mixture of defiance and something that might have been triumph, his hand firmly clasped around Kate’s like he was staking his claim.
This couldn’t be happening. Not after what Kate and I had shared two nights ago. Not after the way she’d kissed me back, the way she’d whispered my name in the darkness, the way she’d felt so perfect in my arms that I’d almost convinced myself that maybe, just maybe, there was something real between us.
I shook my head slowly, my eyes moving from Nate’s face to Kate’s. She was staring at the ground, her face pale, her free hand clenched into a fist at her side. Everything about her body language screamed discomfort, contradiction.
“Kate,” I said quietly, my voice hoarse with something I didn’t want to name. “Is that true?”
She didn’t answer. Didn’t look up. Didn’t confirm or deny what Nate had just declared. Just stood there like a statue, letting him speak for her.
“Of course it’s true,” Nate said, his voice taking on that familiar edge of competition that had defined our relationship since childhood. “Why would I lie about something like that?”
“I can think of a few reasons,” I said, my eyes still fixed on Kate’s downcast face. “The main one being that it’s complete bullshit.”
“Excuse me?” Nate’s grip tightened on Kate’s hand, and I saw her wince slightly.
“You heard me,” I said, finally tearing my gaze away from Kate to look at my brother. “This is just another one of your calculated moves. You’re trying to legitimize your fake relationship after the fact to save face.”
“That’s not—”
“Kate likes me, not you,” I interrupted, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. It was a desperate gambit, throwing our night together into the middle of this conversation, but I was drowning and grasping for anything that might keep me afloat.
Nate let out a loud, harsh laugh that made several passing students turn to stare.
“No!” he scoffed, shaking his head like I’d just told the most ridiculous joke he’d ever heard. “You’re delusional, Liam. Absolutely delusional.”
“Am I?” I challenged, taking a step closer. “Because I think if you asked her, really asked her, you might get a different answer than the one you’re expecting.”
“You’re a jerk, Liam,” Nate said, his voice rising with anger. “An arrogant, self-centered jerk who can’t stand the fact that someone chose me over you for once. Kate could never fall for you. Not after the way you’ve treated her.”
The words stung because there was truth in them. I had been horrible to Kate from the moment she’d arrived at Ridgeview. I’d been cruel and hostile and everything she deserved to hate. But that night in my room, when all the walls had come down, when she’d looked at me like I was something worth wanting…
“Really?” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “Then why don’t you ask her what happened between us on the night of the party? The night I fought you?”
The color drained from Nate’s face so quickly I thought he might actually faint. He went completely still, his eyes widening as the implications of my words sank in.
“What?” he breathed.
“Ask her,” I repeated, jerking my head toward Kate, who was now looking like she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.
Nate turned to Kate slowly, like he was afraid of what he might see in her face. “Kate? What is he talking about?”
Kate’s eyes were squeezed shut, her whole body trembling. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely audible. “Nate, I’m sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I never meant to hurt you.”
“What happened?” Nate demanded, his voice cracking with something that might have been panic. “Kate, what the hell happened?”
Kate opened her eyes and looked at him with such anguish that even I felt a stab of guilt for forcing this confrontation.
“I’m not attracted to you romantically,” she said quietly. “I care about you, I do, but not in the way you want me to. Not in the way you deserve.”
“That’s not what I’m asking,” Nate said, his voice getting louder. “I’m asking what happened between you and my brother.”
Kate looked over at me, her dark eyes pleading with me not to do this, not to destroy whatever was left of her friendship with Nate. But I was past caring about collateral damage. I was hurting, and I wanted everyone else to hurt too.
“Tell him,” I said coldly. “Tell him what really happened that night.”
“Liam, please,” Kate whispered, tears starting to stream down her cheeks.
“Tell him how you came to my room. Tell him how you kissed me. Tell him how you—”
“Stop,” Kate said, her voice breaking. “Please stop.”
“What the fuck happened?” Nate shouted, causing several students to stop and stare at our little drama. “Somebody tell me what the hell is going on!”
I looked at Kate one more time, giving her a chance to be the one to say it. But she was just standing there crying, unable or unwilling to put words to what we’d shared.
Fine. If she wouldn’t tell him, I would.
“I slept with her,” I said bluntly, the words cutting through the air like a blade. “Kate came to my room that night, and we slept together.”
The silence that followed was deafening. Nate stared at me like I’d just told him I’d murdered someone, his face cycling through disbelief, hurt, and rage in rapid succession.
“You’re lying,” he said finally, his voice hollow.
“Ask her,” I repeated.
Nate turned to Kate, his eyes desperate. “Kate, tell me he’s lying. Tell me this is just another one of his sick games.”
But Kate couldn’t meet his eyes. She was sobbing now, her shoulders shaking with the force of her tears.
“Kate,” Nate said again, his voice breaking. “Please.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Nate. I never wanted you to find out like this.”
The confirmation hit Nate like a physical blow. He actually staggered backward, his hand releasing Kate’s like she’d burned him.
“You slept with him,” he said, his voice barely audible. “After everything. After he treated you like shit, after he made your life hell, after I protected you and cared for you and—” His voice cracked completely.
“Nate, it wasn’t like that,” Kate said desperately, stepping toward him. “It didn’t mean anything. It was a mistake, a moment of weakness—”
“It didn’t mean anything?” I interrupted, my own voice rising with anger. “Is that what you’re telling yourself?”
Kate spun around to face me, her eyes blazing with fury and pain. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling myself. Because it’s the truth.”
“Really?” I stepped closer, invading her personal space the way I had that night in the parking lot. “Because it felt pretty meaningful when you were begging me to—”
The slap came out of nowhere, Kate’s palm connecting with my cheek with enough force to snap my head to the side. The sharp crack of skin on skin echoed across the courtyard, and the few students who had been watching our confrontation from a distance suddenly found other places to be.
“Don’t you dare,” Kate said, her voice shaking with rage. “Don’t you dare cheapen what happened between us just to hurt him.”
I touched my burning cheek, tasting blood where my teeth had cut the inside of my mouth. “Cheapen it? I’m just telling the truth.”
“No, you’re being cruel,” she shot back. “You’re being the same awful person you’ve always been, using people’s vulnerabilities against them.”
“And what are you being?” I challenged. “Standing there telling Nate that sleeping with me meant nothing while you lie to him about your feelings?”
“I’m trying to salvage what’s left of a friendship that you just destroyed,” she said, tears streaming down her face.
“What friendship?” I laughed bitterly. “The one built on lies and manipulation? The one where he pretended to care about you to get access to your father?”
“At least he pretended to care,” Kate said, her voice deadly quiet. “At least he was kind to me. At least he didn’t spend weeks making me feel like I was worthless.”
The words hit their mark, and I felt something inside me crumble. She was right. Whatever Nate’s original motives had been, he had been kind to her. He had protected her, supported her, made her feel welcome when I’d done everything in my power to make her feel like an outsider.
And I’d repaid his kindness by sleeping with the girl he cared about and then throwing it in his face like a weapon.
I looked over at Nate, who was standing a few feet away looking like his entire world had just collapsed. His face was pale, his hands shaking, and when he looked at me, I saw something I’d never seen in my brother’s eyes before.
Hatred. Pure, undiluted hatred.
“Nate,” I started, but he held up a hand to stop me.
“Don’t,” he said, his voice cold and flat. “Don’t say another word.”
He looked between Kate and me one more time, his expression unreadable. Then, without another word, he turned and walked away, his shoulders rigid with hurt and betrayal.
Kate and I stood there in the aftermath of the explosion we’d created, both of us breathing hard, both of us staring after Nate’s retreating figure.
“Are you happy now?” Kate asked quietly, not looking at me.
I watched my brother disappear around the corner of the building, probably out of my life forever, and felt the weight of what I’d just done settle on my shoulders.
“No,” I said honestly. “I’m not happy at all.”
