I debated whether to tell him. Eventually, I gave in. He was my twin brother; what was the point of hiding anything?

“I kissed Thea, and she didn’t reject me,” I told him proudly. It felt so fucking good, like I’d accomplished some kind of miracle. Those few minutes where she didn’t push me away gave me hope—hope that maybe she still had feelings for me.

Damien grinned happily. “That’s progress.”

“Yeah,” I said, then groaned. “Everything was going great until she remembered what I’d said to her and pushed me away.”

See, the problem with hurting someone is that when you try to make amends, you’re fighting against memories. You’re fighting against pain. You’re fighting against the scars you created. That’s how it was with Thea that day. The memory of my hurtful words came back—those words, and the pain she must have felt when I first said them. Those two things reminded her that I was the enemy, the one who hurt her, who caused her pain. They were a warning; a warning that trusting me might bring more pain. So she did what any sensible person would do—she asked me to leave.

“What did you say to her?”

I didn’t want to repeat those words, but I told him anyway. I told Damien everything, from how Aurora had lied and manipulated me to how I’d stormed into Thea’s home and said those cruel things.

When I finished, Damien stared at me with an unreadable expression.

“You’re a fucking idiot and an asshole,” he said bluntly.

I rubbed my face with my hands. “I know.”

“I won’t even bother telling you where you went wrong. The fact that you’re beating yourself up about it is enough.”

I don’t know how she even tolerated me. Every time I thought about what I’d done to Thea, I couldn’t stand myself. It made me appreciate her even more, knowing she put up with my shit for all those years. Not all women would have stomached my crap.

“On the bright side, she did respond. That has to mean something, right?” he asked after a moment.

I was about to agree when a thought struck me.