Chapter 3 the girlfriend lie

I stared at him like he’d spoken a language I didn’t understand.

“I stole something from you?” I repeated, my voice sharp and disbelieving. “What, your pride?”

Nathan didn’t react to the jab. He just looked at me — like he was waiting for me to remember something I’d forgotten.

“You don’t get to run from this again, Lucas,” he said, low and deadly calm.

“You owe me.”

My chest tightened. A flash of fear — or anger — shot down my spine like a drop of ice.

“What do you want then?” I snapped. “Closure? An apology? My firstborn? Say something that makes sense.”

Nathan took a step toward me, but stopped just out of reach.

“I don’t want an apology,” he murmured. “I don’t want closure.”

His tone shifted, something brittle beneath its edge.

“I want the truth.”

My throat dried.

“Truth about what?”

“About that night,” he answered.

“That kiss wasn’t an accident. Not for you.”

I went cold.

“You’re seriously delusional,” I said, forcing a scoff. “I was drunk. It meant nothing.”

His jaw clenched.

“You kissed me like you were drowning.”

I froze, heart slamming against my ribs.

“I don’t remember.”

“You do.”

Silence hung between us like a slow-burning fuse.

I turned away, grabbing the nearest thing — a glass — just to have something in my hand.

Nathan spoke again, and the softness in his voice struck harder than any threat.

“You avoided me for weeks after that. Then you left the country overnight. Don’t tell me it meant nothing.”

I gripped the counter.

“You had a girlfriend,” I snapped. “I heard it from Leah. I wasn’t going to get in the way of your… relationship.”

Nathan blinked. And then — he laughed. It wasn’t amused. It was sharp and cold, like metal.

“So that’s what you thought,” he said quietly. “That I had a girlfriend.”

“Was I wrong?” I fired back.

He stepped toward me slowly, like he was approaching a wounded animal.

“The only rumor was the one I started — because you refused to talk to me. I needed to get your attention. And it worked.”

“What—”

My words died. He was serious.

I’d run away because I thought I was intruding. I spent years believing he’d moved on, found someone else, forgotten me. Meanwhile, he…

“You started that rumor?” I asked, voice uneven.

Nathan nodded, gaze unwavering.

“I wanted to see if it mattered to you.”

“And it did.”

The unspoken words hung in the air like smoke.

The worst part? He was right.

I couldn’t breathe.

“I shouldn’t be here,” I muttered. “This was a mistake.”

I moved toward the door.

Nathan moved faster.

His hand caught my wrist — not tight, but firm enough to stop me.

“Running again?”

I yanked my hand, but he didn’t let go.

“Let me go, Nathan.”

“No.”

His eyes were burning now.

“We’re done ignoring this.”

When I finally pulled free, my hand stung where he’d touched. I took a shaky step back.

“Just tell me what you want,” I said. “Right now.”

The words trembled, but I didn’t care. I was tired.

Nathan stared at me for a long moment. Then, with a soft exhale, he said something I didn’t expect.

“I want to understand why you kissed me if you were planning to run.”

Something snapped in me.

“Because I was hurting!” I blurted.

“Because my dad— because everything was falling apart and you were the only person who made it stop for a second and I hated that. I hated that so much I ran halfway across the world to get away from it.”

The confession tore out of me — and hung in the air like a wound.

Nathan didn’t speak. He didn’t move.

I felt exposed.

Stupid.

Fragile.

Like I’d just given him the perfect weapon.

“Now you know,” I said bitterly. “Congratulations.”

That’s when he did something I never saw coming.

Nathan reached up — slowly, gently — and placed his palm against my cheek. I flinched, but he didn’t push. Just… touched me.

“Lucas,” he whispered, and I hated how soft my name sounded coming from him.

“You never stole anything from me. You gave something. Even if you didn’t mean to.”

I stared at him — confused, scared, angry — but I didn’t pull away.

“You kissed me,” Nathan said calmly.

“And I never got the chance to kiss you back.”

My breath hitched.

For a moment, the world was silent.

And then—

BANG BANG BANG.

Someone was at the door.

Nathan let his hand fall.

“I’ll get it,” he murmured.

As he walked past me, I pressed my fingers to my cheek — still warm where he’d touched me.

“You never got the chance to kiss me back.”

What the hell was happening to me?

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