It’s not their fault I love them.I should have moved out when they got back together.I knew I’d end up here, somehow, someway.
Where Lucky is a warm and inviting beach, Sterling is the cool and unknowable sea.As powerful as a riptide, as beautiful as the endless horizon.And I’ve let myself go adrift.
“Come,” Sterling says, the low command rearranging my body temperature.
I want to, but there’s a line between us I know will be crossed if I move.
Do I go?
* * *
Make Your Choice:
confess your feelings(go to 56)
go to bed(go to 55)
go back(go to 36)
“I think I should go to sleep.”
“Mia,” Sterling says.It’s not a request.
I slip into the armchair facing them, my heart trying to escape my chest.Maybe if it hides before this conversation starts, we can go home and pretend everything is fine.
I don’t want to move out.I don’t want them to spend all their time at Sterling’s, where I can’t see them or touch them.
I don’t want to lose them.
But when Sterling speaks again, I know I might not have a choice in it.“There’s something we need to talk about.”
* * *
I don’t think you can avoid this.
hear them out(go to 56)
go back(go to 54)
It’s fine.I’ve been expecting this for a while; I’ve known that, one day, I’d have to face my feelings.They’re too observant.Why wouldn’t they work out that I’ve been hiding my feelings for them?
“I’m sorry about before.”Maybe if I get ahead of this, I can salvage their friendship.
“Sorry for what?”Lucky asks.
“Um …” The words stack up in the back of my throat, making it hard to breathe.I know what I need to say, so it should be a breeze, right?Except they don’t want to move—they’re stuck—and the longer the silence plays out, the less I want to say anything at all.
Sterling takes pity on me.“We heard what Alice called us.”
Oh God.
“We’re not mad about it,” Lucky adds.
“The opposite actually.”
I’m not sure my heart rate has ever been this quick before …
“Mia”—Sterling pulls my hands into his—“it’s okay.We’ve wanted to talk to you about this for a while.”
