Chapter 173

Ramon POV

“Because you didn’t choose it,” Elena said. “Ramon, if you’d been sober, if you’d been in your right mind, you would never have been with someone that young. We both know that. So stop punishing yourself for something you couldn’t control.”

“But I could have controlled this week,” I said. “I could have told Lake the truth immediately instead of hiding like a coward. I could have been honest with him this morning instead of—instead of—”

I couldn’t finish the sentence. Couldn’t voice what I’d done this morning while knowing the full truth about Lake and Ollie.

“Ramon,” Elena said gently, “are you there? Talk to me, mijo.”

“I don’t know how to fix this,” I admitted, my voice breaking. “Mamá, I don’t know how to make this right. Lake hates me. He thinks I raped him. And he’s not wrong. Legally, morally—what I did was rape. Even if I don’t remember it, even if I was d***ged, I still did it.”

“Lake doesn’t hate you,” Elena said. “Rafael