He rises from the couch and stands in front of me. “Jessie, maybe you should wait until …”
“I have to!” I shout, my tone sharp but trembling underneath. “I can’t sit here and pretend I can make any sense of this. I need answers. And I need them now.”
He nods. “You shouldn’t drive right now. Let me take you.”
“No.” I wrap my arms around myself, taking a shaky step back. “You’ve done enough.”
That comes out harsher than I meant, but I can’t take it back. I’m unraveling, and he’s standing there, watching me fall apart with those eyes that say he’d fix it all if he could. But he can’t. No one can.
“I know you were just trying to help,” I whisper after a long pause. “But I can’t talk to you right now. I need to talk to them. I need to hear it from my family.”
He opens his mouth to protest again, but I shake my head, cutting him off.
“Please, Walker. Just … go.”
The plea in my voice seems to stop him cold. He takes a step back and nods his head.
I turn away as he walks by me, desperate to hide the tears that begin to fall down my cheeks. It’s not until I hear the door click shut that I fall to the ground and let out a gut-wrenching sob. My hand comes up to my chest as I try to breathe through the pain and tears.
It’s not until my body lets out every bit of tears it had that I can stand up. I grab my purse on wobbly legs. Every breath feels wrong. All I know is I have to get home and talk to my parents.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Walker
Ipace back and forth in my living room as I try to decide whether I’m going to drive to Jessie’s parents’ house. I could drop Eli off at Eva’s. I could just sit in the street and monitor, wait for her to get back to her car, and then at least I’d know she was okay.
Then I look down at Eli’s sleeping face on my chest. I can’t wake her up and leave her. I’ve been gone all day. Besides, this is something I can’t fix. It’s for Jessie and her parents to work out.
The look on her face when I told her will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life. I just took her world and crushed it into a million pieces. I could see the betrayal that cut deep to the bone, and it wasn’t just directed at her parents.
I was also on the receiving end of it. She said it herself. I’d done enough.
She didn’t want anything to do with me. Not the person who’d hidden this from her for so long, who then decided to destroy her world by bringing the secret to light.
My phone buzzes on the cushion next to me. It’s been going off all day. It appears Eva told Roman what happened with Jessie, who decided to tell the rest of the gang since he’s out of town.
They’ve been texting me all day. I haven’t responded.
The silence in my apartment is unbearable. Every tick of the clock grates against my nerves, a reminder that time is moving on without her in it. The air feels heavy, like even it can’t stand to sit with me in this mess I’ve made. My chest aches with the kind of emptiness that no amount of logic can fix, just a hollow echo where her voice should be.
I keep seeing her face when I told her. The shock, the devastation, the way she looked at me like I was a stranger. I’ve faced down billion-dollar lawsuits without flinching, but this—this—has me coming apart at the seams. There’s no defense, no argument strong enough to undo what I did.
There’s a sudden knock at my door.
“I know you’re in there,” Colton’s voice booms from the hallway. “Open up.”
My head falls back on the couch before I stand up and place Eli in her swing. I buckle her in, press the start button, and play the music.
I twist the knob and open the door. Colton stands in front of me in his gym clothes, black shorts and cutoff black shirt.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
He steps into my place. I close the door and follow him in.
He glances down at Eli in the swing, then turns to me. “I’m here to help.”
I suppress the sigh that wants to break free. “There’s nothing you can do. Nothing will help. Just … I just want to be alone.”
