Read Online Love's Suicide: Love's Suicide by Jennifer Foor - Free Book Online Page A

work that next morning, I sat in my car and dialed the number. It rang five times before he picke d up and when I heard his voice I hung up quickly.
    My heart was racing and I couldn’t believe that I’d done something so silly.
    When my phone started to ring and the same number showed up, I knew I had to answer.
    “Hello?”
    “What, did you change your mind or something? Is my voice not as sexy as it was before?”
    I had no idea why, but I burst into laughter. Of all the things he could have said, he’d broken the ice with that statement. “Your voice is fine. I just… I had to sneak to get your number and I don’t really know why I’m calling. I guess I just wanted to hear your voice.”
    “Is it ev erything you wanted it to be?” he teased.
    “All that and then some,” I joked back.
    “I miss you, Kat. It gets real lonely sometimes. On nights like that I wish I could call you and talk about damn near anything to pass the time. You and I never ran out of things to talk about, did we?”
    I traced my steering wheel, feeling warm tears running down my face. When I sniffled, he must have known I was emotional. “Please don’t cry.”
    “I can’t help it. I think Branch is keeping us from each other and I don’t understand. We’re family , and he knows how important you’ve always been to me. You’re thousands of miles away. I don’t understand why he wouldn’t want us talking.”
    “Kat , Branch found the letter. He went into my room after you fell asleep and read it. He called me that morning, before you woke up.”
    “What?” I was in shock. Branch had known the whole time and never said a word to me.
    “Yeah. Do you really think that I would talk to everyone else on the phone and not you? If I had to pick anyone to call, you’d be my first choice.”
    I started worrying about what Branch had said to his brother. After all, he’d written about sneaking into my room, so Branch knew I’d been with his brother. “He knows about what we did.”
    “Yup. He knows.”
    “What did he say t o you? Did he threaten you? Do your parents know?”
    Brooks got quiet for a second , and I heard him saying something to a man before telling me to hang on. The background noise changed, and I realized he’d walked somewhere else for privacy. “Kat, he doesn’t blame you. You didn’t even know which, I’m just going to put it out there, it’s sort of weird. I know I’m a way better lover than my brother, but that’s beside the point.”
    A tiny giggle escaped me when I realized he was trying to be funny in the midst of chaos.
    “Anyway, we had words and he made threats. It’s why I wasn’t going to come to the wedding.”
    “You have to come, Brooks. I want you there.”
    “Yeah, I heard. When he called to tell me the date had been moved up, I was shocked I was invited again. He’s pretty much said that if I come within ten feet of you and he isn’t around he’s going to kill me with his bare hands. Honestly, I’d like to see that fucker try it. After all this time, I’m pretty sure I’d rip him apart.”
    “Okay, I don’t need to know all that. Forgive me for saying that, but I find it hard to believe that he’s never confronted me about us being together.”
    “Kat, you’re innocent in all of this. Don’t you get it? He doesn’t even know you saw the letter. He thinks I left it under my pillow and you never found it. At least, that’s what I convinced him happened. As far as you know, we’ve never done anything. It’s all on me.”
    “Why would you do that?”
    “I think you know why.” My stomach dropped when he said it. I hadn’t called him to hear him saying things like that. I called him because I’d missed my friend.
    “Brooks, I want you at the wedding , and Branch isn’t going to touch you. I appreciate that you kept me out of it, but it doesn’t change anything either way. I’m marrying Branch because I love him and we have a life together. I hope you understand