Chapter 3 The Friend Meets The Boyfriend

• Silas was a lot of things, and most of them weren’t positive character traits either. Possessive, a bit obsessive, stalking—he could be a bit of a rogue sometimes. His dad had spent a fortune paying therapists he thought might help Silas “get better.” But how could Silas get better when he didn’t think he had a problem to begin with? He knew what he was, and he wasn’t really bothered by it. After all, he only acted this way toward the people that mattered most to him. The moment he’d seen Kerina Jones, he knew she was his. She would be his entire world. And he would be hers.
• It should have been easy, really. Silas was a catch—not to toot his own horn or anything. Girls went crazy for him, and he’d had his pick of them since high school. He hadn’t even cared when his father had gone ahead and married Serah. Their relationship status didn’t mean a damn thing to him.
• But Silas had underestimated Kerry. She wasn’t like the other girls he’d been with in the past. She didn’t swoon over him. Sometimes, she barely even looked at him. She was always lost in a world of her own and, much to his distaste, seemed to attract other men like flies. It annoyed him endlessly. But in the end, she had chosen him. He was the one she’d stuck with, and that made him happy and proud.
• With Kerry, things were hard to predict. It seemed to him that she had walls as thick and vast as the Great Wall of China surrounding her, keeping all her secrets hidden—even from him. It pissed him off that there were things she wouldn’t tell him, no matter what. Silas could ignore that for now. What he couldn’t ignore, however, was the way her gaze lingered on her ex-lover and ex-best friend’s table. It infuriated him. He could never see what she had seen in that bastard. The man was a cheat!
• “What are you talking about?” Kerry said defensively. “What regrets?”
• Silas hummed and slid into his seat, giving his woman a smile that was more taunting than sincere. “With the way you’re looking at them, I’d think you’d want to be in Emily’s place.”
• “You’re being ridiculous. They’re both my friends, and I haven’t seen them for months. I was just curious—it doesn’t mean anything.”
• She seemed sincere enough, and Silas could believe her. He knew Kerry wasn’t the kind of person to be unfaithful. She’d never given him a reason to doubt her—except for the fact that she’d once slept with the enemy who’d threatened to take their daughter away. But that had been an accident, or so she’d said. It didn’t make Silas feel any better, but at least she hadn’t done it on purpose.
• Much to his disgust, he found himself pondering how many other men his girlfriend had been with. He wasn’t judging her—he had no right to, since he wasn’t a saint either—but Silas was a jealous man. Add that to his list of flaws. He wanted to ask Kerry about it but knew better than to do so. It would only lead to an argument, and that was the last thing he wanted. This was supposed to be a date, after all—a little break from the disaster that had occurred in Hawaii.
• Kerry ate her food in silence, and Silas scrolled through his phone, doing his best not to stare at her across the table. He knew how much she hated that. Once the food was consumed and paid for, they made their way out of the restaurant.
• “Shit, I think I forgot my phone back there,” Kerry said. She had taken it out to text her mom briefly and had probably left it on the table.
• “I’ll get it.”
• “Thanks.” She watched Silas walk back into the restaurant.
• Kerry leaned against the car absently and traced invisible lines on its smooth surface as she waited. Distantly, she thought she heard someone call her name, but she was too lost in her thoughts to take notice. Only when large arms wrapped around her waist did she snap out of her reverie.
• “What the…” Her first thought was to free herself from the embrace. She was already certain the one holding her wasn’t Silas. But she froze when she heard the person chuckle in a very familiar voice.
• “Carter?”
• “Yeah. What are you thinking about? I’ve been calling you.”
• “S…sorry. I had a lot on my mind.”
• “I can tell. God, where the hell have you been?” Carter’s arms tightened around her, and he buried his face in her hair.
• This was inappropriate. Carter and she had a falling out, and though they’d both technically moved on, it still felt a bit strange. But Carter didn’t seem to think so—not when he was holding her so intimately, like they were children again, playing hide-and-seek in her backyard.
• Her childhood friend finally pulled back, but he kept a steady arm on her waist. Kerry turned to face him fully.
• “You haven’t told me yet—where have you been?”
• “Um, I traveled a bit.”
• “Hawaii?”
• “Yes.”
• “Well? Did you find your dad?”
• “I did. It was…not as happy as I thought the reunion would be.”
• “Oh.” Carter seemed to want more details, but Kerry wasn’t prepared to share.
• “What else have you been up to?”
• “Giving birth.”
• Carter laughed, clearly thinking she was joking. Kerry couldn’t help but smile. This felt nice. If she could push all the messy shit to the back of her mind, she could truly indulge in the sweet friendship she and Carter had once shared. Perhaps becoming lovers had been their biggest error. Maybe they’d still be good friends if they hadn’t dated—if Carter hadn’t chosen Emily over her again. Her smile fell.
• “How’s everything with Emily?”
• At the mention of Emily, the amusement on Carter’s face disappeared.
• “It’s…okay, really. Emily’s a good girl. We’re planning on moving in together and all.”
• “That’s lovely.”
• “Listen, Kerry. I know some shit has happened between us, and I… I feel horrible, really. We’ve been friends for so long. You had my back when I was going through a hard phase. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you.”
• “You didn’t. I’m fine.” Kerry tried to shrug off his hand, but he cupped her face instead. They were standing way too close now. Kerry wanted to step back, but her back was already pressed against the car.
• “Carter, cut it out.”
• “You’re such a bad liar. You’ve always been. Can you just talk to—”
• “What’s the point? You’re with Emily. I’m with Silas. That’s about it.”
• “Right. Silas. Like your stepbrother Silas?”
• “No, like her boyfriend Silas.”
• Silas stood watching them from a small distance. Kerry noticed her phone clutched in his hand—the device might just break with how tightly he was holding it. Carter took a step back to put some distance between them, but his hand remained on hers. He narrowed his gaze at Silas, matching his disgust.
• “Can you step the fuck away from my girlfriend, please? Before I come over there and make you.”
• “Oh, please,” Carter scoffed. “Kerry and I were just talking. We’ve been friends longer than you’ve known she existed, so I think we deserve our moment.”
• Silas laughed, but there was no trace of amusement in his eyes. In fact, the brown of his irises was slowly darkening to a crimson shade. Kerry heard the distinct crack of her phone screen in his hand and knew she had to intervene before things escalated. She placed a hand on Carter’s shoulder.
• “Carter, can we please continue this conversation some other time?”
• Carter shrugged. “Sure. We’ll see each other soon enough.”
• Maybe just to piss Silas off further, Carter leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. As he walked past Silas, the two exchanged one last killer glare before Carter returned to the restaurant, presumably to join his girlfriend, who hadn’t made an appearance.
• Silas tossed Kerry her phone, and she barely managed to catch it before it hit the ground and cracked further.
• “Silas…”
• “Get in the car.”
• Whatever explanation she had died in her throat when she realized Silas wasn’t willing to hear her out. Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, she still felt guilty as she slid into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt.