The Secret (19 page)

Her voice is louder now,
no doubt loud enough for anyone else in the house to overhear. For this reason and this reason alone, I’m glad I’m alone with this monster of a woman. I’m grateful everyone is outside with JT instead of being subjected to this.

“T
hese
people
?” I start in a low voice, finally having had enough. “These
people
are the ones who have been there for me when no one else was,” I scratch out. My mother scoffs, only further infuriating me. “After Daddy was gone and you chose a bottle over me, these
people
are the same ones that picked up
your
slack,
Mother
,” I spit out the word in disgust. “And you have the nerve to walk into their home and disrespect them? No,” I say, shaking my head in anger, angrily swiping my tears away. “You can say whatever you want to say about me. You can continue to criticize everything I do, making me miserable, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit here and let you say anything about
anyone
in this house. These
people
are the only family I have left. As far as I’m concerned, Debbie is my mother. You’re nothing more than the drunk who gave me up.”

“
Sophie,” she shakes her head, her eyes finally showing an alternate emotion as they grow wide with shock, fury. “You will be damned, alright. Your father…”

“
My father loved me,” I cut her off. “He
loved
me. I know it made you crazy, but I’m not going to let you diminish my relationship with my father anymore just because you’re jealous of it.”

“Jealous? You think I’m jealous of
you
?” she scoffs mockingly. “The emotions I feel for you are nothing close to jealousy, Sophia Paige.”

“Then what is it?” I ask, desperate to understand.

“Shame!” she shouts, her tone is icy as she comes within an inch of my face. “I am
ashamed
of you, Sophia. I am ashamed that my own daughter, the daughter I spent months growing inside me ended up killing my husband.”

“I loved him. I didn’t…”

“It’s your curse that took him from me,” she spits in fury.

“No!”

“The same curse that kept that boy from coming home,” she continues.

“Mom…”

“The same curse that caused that abomination, that unspeakable evil to…”

“
Enough!” I hear Jack’s deep voice from the doorway, but the damage is done. My stand against her comes crashing down with her final blow as I feel my back slowly slide down the bathroom wall. My mother turns to speak, but he doesn’t let her. “You need to leave.”

“Mark my words, Sophia,” she says, looking down at me, ignoring Jack’s words. “That curse will follow you for the rest of your days!”

“G
race,” he says, loud enough this time that she has no choice but to face him. “Get out of my house!”

“I’m her mother.”

“I don’t care who you are,” he says, angrier than I’ve ever seen him. “No one will
ever
talk to her that way again. Get out.”

Reluctantly, she turns to give me a final look of disgust before spinning on her heels to leave.
Mere seconds pass before Jack is sitting beside me, lifting me onto his lap so I’m straddling him and pulling me close to his chest. I’m shaking, sobbing uncontrollably against his shoulder as he holds me tight, his hands rubbing the small of my back consolingly. Gently, he pulls away from me, cupping my face with his hands and searching my eyes.

“Don’t you dare believe a word of that, Sophie,” he tells me, his watery eyes filled with conviction. “What happened to your dad? What happened to me?
To us? That wasn’t…” his voice falters with emotion as he runs his thumbs across my cheeks, searching my face. “You’re not cursed, Baby.”

“H
ow can you even say that, Jack? My own mother…”

“Because I love you,”
he says immediately.

“Jack,” I manage, my broken heart further crippling my tear stained voice as he searches my face.

“I love you more than
anything
, Soph,” he says in a soft voice as his eyes hold mine. “Everything else may be different now, but the way I feel about you? That hasn’t changed… It never will. I love you and I won’t ever stop.”

His words leave me speechless and I’m suddenly hyperaware of the way our bodies are so intimately entwined. As the blue green eyes
that I’ve loved since I was seventeen years old memorize my features for the millionth time, my breathing hitches as they fall to my mouth.

In the next breath, his lips are on mine.
As he brushes his tongue against mine, tasting me softly, devouring me slowly, a heady combination of desire, familiarity and surprise fills my veins. It happens so fast, there’s absolutely nothing I can do to stop it.

The most surprising part
is that I don’t try.

Chas
e

After the commotion outside with Grace demanding she and Debbie leave, I’m eager to check on Sophie. I’m not sure what the hell happened in the course of the past fifteen minutes, but I’ve got a sinking feeling that it isn’t good.

The house is eerily quiet as I make my way toward the bathroom where Sophie had been headed to get medicine earlier. Seeing the light pouring out into the hallway, an inexplicable feeling of dread fills me as I take the last couple of steps toward the open door.

When I
look down to find her straddling Jack as she kisses him in the bathroom floor, my heart feels as though it’s going to explode out of my chest.

In the two seconds it’s ta
ken my heart to shatter, she abruptly uses her palms to push away from him. Shaking her head wildly at him, she brings her hand up to her mouth in surprise and stares at him in shock for a moment.

“Jack,” she manages. “
Why did you…?”

“Sophie?” I say at the same time, the heartbreak in my voice as obvious as the fact that she’d had no idea I’d seen them until now.

“Chase?” she says, whipping her head around. Panic and sadness fill her features as she pushes further away from him, quickly moving toward me.

I
rake my palms over my face as I back away from the door, shaking my head at her, but still unable to speak. Shock and betrayal are coursing through me in ways I never knew were even possible as I make my way outside. Lauren slept with half of Rockport and it didn’t hurt as badly as seeing Sophie kissing another man.

Drake says something to me, but I ignore him completely as I push through the screen door.
I’m standing near the hood of my truck, pinching the bridge of my nose in a combination between fury and pure anguish when she rushes toward me.

“Chase,” she starts, frantically clutching my arm to stop me from leaving. “Baby, it was an accident. I swear it, Chase.
God, I’m so sorry…”

Glancing down at her hand on
my arm, I reluctantly meet her eyes. The emerald globes that own my soul are watery and filled with regret.

“Sophie,” I start, hating the sound of my own
cracking voice. “I can’t…” I pull my eyes from hers, again refusing to meet her gaze as I begin to step away.

She moves to stand between
me and my door, gripping my shirt with one hand as she clutches the other to her mouth, resting her head against my chest. I want to comfort her, to tell her everything is okay, but I can’t.

How can I tell her that when I don’t even believe it?

“Chase, please don’t leave,” she whispers, her voice frantic as she begins to sob against my chest. “Please don’t leave me. I’m so sorry. I’ll do anything you want,” she bargains, wrapping her arms around me, holding onto me for dear life. “Just please don’t go.”

“Sophie?” Jack calls from behind us as he
runs down the steps of the porch, instantly turning my heartache into fury.

The anger fills my chest faster than should be possible and without thinking, I turn to face him.

“
You!
” I ground out in a shout, closing the distance between us in two long strides. “We had a fucking deal!”

My fist is pulled back and I’m about to punch him when Sophie positions herself between us.

“Stop!” she tries, putting her hands up on either side, separating us when we continue toward each other. “Guys, stop it! Please!”

“I fucking told you, Jack!” I continue, staring back at him. “I told you if you touched her, I was
going to kick your fucking ass!”

“If you think I’m fucking scared of you, you’re wrong, asshole!” he spits back
cockily.

“Stop!”
Sophie pleads louder this time, but we’re both too angry.

“Go inside
, Sophie,” I tell her as I keep my eyes locked on Jack, both of us stepping around her.

“No!” she says, finally shouting loudly and pushing us away from each other. “Jesus! Would you both stop it?”

“Are you seriously mad at
me
right now?” I shout at her in shock. “I just found you all over your fucking ex and you’re seriously coming at me like
I’m
the asshole?”

“
Don’t fucking talk to her like that!” Jack responds at the same time.

I’m about to respond, but Sophie’s soft voice stops my words.

“I’m sorry,” she says, shaking her head before she puts her hands up in surrender and begins walking away from us toward the house. “I can’t do this.”

“Where are you going?” I ask, prompting her to spin around, her eyes full of tears.

“The universe wins,” she says, her voice exhausted and broken with the tears filling her eyes. “I give up. I fucking give up! I’m done!”

“No,
Sophie,” I tell her, moving towards her and gently catching her elbow. “You don’t get to walk away right now.”

“
Don’t fucking touch her!” Jack says, causing me to turn and glare at him.

“
You need to back the fuck off,” I ground out my final warning.

“Fuck that…
”

“
Please stop!” she cries.

The commotion we’re making cause
s Drake and Ana to come outside, their faces full of alarm and concern.

“What the hell
is going on out here?” Drake asks as he makes his way down the steps, but he’s ignored.

“Did you kiss him back, Sophie?” I ask her, holding her eyes.

“Chase…”

“Did you kiss him back?” I cut her off.

“Yes,” she admits in a low voice, further crushing me as she swipes away a tear. “For a split second, but the instant I realized what was happening, I stopped it. I never would intentionally betray you like that, Chase.”

There are so many things about this day that I just simply can’t believe, but as I meet her eyes, I know she’s being completely honest
. She can see it, too. I’m still upset, it should have never happened, but I know she’s being truthful. Pushing the sadness back, I cling to the anger building in my chest.

“I’m kicking his fucking ass,” I ground out, madder when Drake intercepts.

“You gotta calm down,” he tells me.

“Jesus!
” Sophie shouts. “Nobody is kicking anyone’s ass!”

“What the fuck, Sophie?” I manage, push
ing Drake away from me.

“You’re
gonna stop fucking talking to her like that,” Jack barks back at me.

“
Fuck you…”

Suddenly, Sophie lets out a loud scream causing everyone to cease all movement. One look at her and we all know it’s happened.

Sophie’s finally snapped.

Sophie

As I take in the scene before me, I feel the last bit of sanity I’ve been clutching onto for months leave me and I know.

I’m done.

So. Fucking. Done.

“
Stop it
! Both of you just shut up! Just shut the fuck up! I can’t take it anymore!” I shout, startling all of them into silence. “What the fuck? Do the two of you think I’m missing a fucking cape or something?”

They’re staring at me as though I look nuts and I probably do, but I don’t care anymore.

“I’m honored that the two of you obviously think I’m a fucking superhero and I can just survive anything, but I
can’t
. I’m not
fucking invincible
!” I rant before facing Chase. “Yes, I kissed him back. My mom was screaming at me and my head was fucked up and he kissed me so I kissed him back. I know it’s not okay. I know it’s a shitty excuse, but that’s what happened. It was a huge mistake and as soon as I realized what was happening, I stopped it. It’s not ever going to happen again because it should have never happened in the first place and I’m fucking sorry. I am so fucking sorry!”

F
acing Jack, I take in his stoic expression before I continue my rant.

“I
shouldn’t have kissed you back. It was wrong for me to lead you on and I’m sorry…”

“I’m not,” he cuts me off
, taking a step towards me as he holds my gaze. “I’m still in love with you and I know that you still love me, Sophie.”

“Jack,” I say softly
, my scratchy voice exhausted from everything. “Things aren’t the same anymore.”

“Yeah
,” he snorts, glaring at Chase. “I know.”

“Jack, i
t’s not his fault.”

Shaking
his head as he continues glaring at Chase, he faces me finally and the look in his eyes nearly breaks me.

“
Look, I’m sorry, Sophie, it’s just really hard for me not to be bitter when we both know that he’s the only thing keeping me from being with you,” he exclaims. “We would be together right now if it wasn’t for him and you know it, Baby.”

“Yeah
, we would,” I agree quietly, holding his tortured gaze, hating myself for having put it there. “But for almost two years, you were gone, Jack. I thought you were dead!”

“I couldn’t control it, Baby!” he says, his eyes pleading. “I tried, Sophie! I did everything I could to get back to you! You know that!”

“I
do
know that,” I admit.

I
know with every inch of my being that his words are true. I know that and although I’m angry, the anger isn’t towards him at all. I know without a shadow of a doubt that he would have never put me through that if he had any other choice.

“Then why are you punish
ing me for it? Why are you ending everything over it?”

“I’
m not,” I start, my voice cracking. “That’s not it, Jack. If that was the only thing that ever happened, things might be different, but...”

“
Well then enlighten me, Baby,
please
,” he cuts me off, desperation staining his face. “What the hell could I have possibly done to make you get in his fucking truck and drive away from me like you did? You say you love me? That you’re not blaming me? Yet you had no problem walking away?”

“That’s not true…” I whisper, my head shaking slightly as he finally reveals the pain I’ve known was there since the day he came back for me.

“After everything we’ve been through? We were fucking crazy in love, Baby and now you want me to believe that it’s just over for you? Just like that?” he asks, tears filling the blue green eyes I’ve loved forever as he shakes his head in disbelief. “I mean, Jesus, Sophie… Did you even fucking miss me?”

“Jack
,” I warn, my voice shaking at his words. “Don’t you dare.”

“Then tell me, Sophie! I know you love him too but fuck!”
he pleads, heartbreak marring his features. “If it’s over, it’s over. I have to find a way to accept that, but
everything
I’ve ever done since I was seventeen years old has been for you, for us,” he says quietly, his eyes low as he rubs the back of his hand over his cheek before sniffing and facing me again. “You just… you have to give me something, Sophie!”

I can feel the eyes on us from all around, watching the painful conversation we’ve been avoiding for far too long. As I take in my first love, though, my heart is breaking, too.

“I don’t know what you want me to say…”

“Just tell me what I did!” he shouts.

“I don’t…”

“Tell me, Sophie!”

“Jack…”

“Just fucking
say it!”

“You never should have left in the first place!” I
blurt out loudly as tears spring from my eyes, unable to hold the words in any longer. “I begged you to stay, Jack! I begged you and you left anyway!”

“Sophie…”

“No! You wanted to hear it,” I shout, finally letting out the words that have haunted me since the day we drove to that recruiter’s office. “You
had
me, Jack! You had every single fucking piece of me and it still wasn’t enough! You left me anyway!” I’m openly sobbing, no concern for the eyes that are witnessing the much overdue breakdown I’m having. “If you wanted me so bad then why did you leave? Why was I not enough to make you stay?”

“You know it wasn’t that simple, Baby!”

“Yes it was!” I screech back at him. “There were a million other things you could have done that didn’t include you leaving me, Jack!”

“Like what?”

“
Anything
! Anything else, Jack!”

“Y
ou were
pregnant
, Sophie!” he shouts at me, forcing the last piece of my heart to fall from my chest as I hear the collective intake of breaths around us.

No. No, no, no, no, no.

“You were pregnant?” I hear Ana whisper.

I can’t breathe
.

“Sophie
?” I hear Chase say from behind me.