Ricky cheating on Nix.
Seeing that guy dead on the bathroom floor.
Well, he’s not dead. I know that, but Ithoughthe was! And I lost it.
I can’t risk losing Tyrell. I won’t do that to myself.
We don’t say anything as he drives me back to my apartment. There happens to be a spot right outside the door, which never happens, so Tyrell pulls into it and turns off the engine.
I want to bolt out the door, but I can feel his pain as he sits there quietly staring at the wheel, his jaw clenching and unclenching.
“I’m sorry,” I finally murmur. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
He shakes his head, his lips curling just a little at the corners. Turning to me with a pained smile, he whispers in a broken voice, “Is there anything I can say to change your mind?”
My nose tingles, tears threatening to take me out.
I hold them in, my body shaking with the effort as I choke out, “No.”
Reaching for the door handle before I completely lose my shit, I pop it open and pause just before jumping out of the car.
“I’m always here for you if you need me,” he rumbles. “And I know you can’t love me right now, but if you change your mind…” His voice cracks, and he stops speaking.
Shit, he’s so wounded.
For a fleeting second, I wonder if I should take it all back.
But I can’t.
I need to go.
“Goodbye, Ty. You take care in Texas, okay?”
He sniffs, glancing away from me, and oh shit, I think he’s crying. “Yeah.” He nods. “Yeah, you take care too.”
I close the door, sobs pulsing through me as I run for the apartment and quickly punch in the code. My body starts to fold the second I’m inside. Tyrell’s still sitting in his car, staring out the windshield like he doesn’t know what to do with himself.
“I’m sorry,” I whimper, covering my mouth and running for the stairs.
By the time I make it up to our floor, I’m a wreck. And then I can’t get my stupid key into the stupid lock, which only makes me cry harder. After my second failed attempt, the door pops open and Jed appears, his face dropping with shock when he gets a look at me.
“What happened?”
I shake my head, walking straight into his chest and clinging to his shirt. “I couldn’t do it.”
His arms wrap around me immediately, his hand rubbing circles on my back as he pulls me into the apartment and walks me to the couch.
Lifting me into his arms, he takes a seat, snuggling me against him while Nix sits on Tobin’s lap, softly crying into his shoulder.
Well, aren’t we a fun bunch.
I can sense Tobin and Jed sharing a shocked, devastated look over the tops of our heads, and all I can do is close my eyes and mourn.
Mourn for the man I thought I’d marry.
Mourn for the man I thought I’d move to Texas for.
And maybe I’m mourning a little for the girl who feels like she’s stuck in the bottom of a dark well and has no idea how she’s going to climb out of it.
