“That’s probably not a good idea.”
“Well, I’m not going to leave you like this, mi amor.” His voice lowers to a murmur, intimate, coaxing. “If you’re going to fall apart, then I’m going to be there to pick up the pieces. I cry your tears too, love. I always will. What happened today doesn’t change anything.”
26
ALEX
I haven’t leftmy apartment in three days.
Three fucking days!
I’ve barely made it out of my bedroom.
Fucking Elijah.
I can still smell him—on my pillowcase, my sheets. He’s fucking everywhere. And yet… nowhere at all.
Not anymore.
I’ve cried every goddamn tear I had in me. Drank myself into a stupor—right up until the bottles ran dry.
My sister came through, thank God. Picked up Emilee from the airport and took her back to her place in Connecticut. Gave me space to get my shit together.
Funny.
I thought Ihadmy shit together.
Jesus.
Who would’ve thought I’d be jilted by loveagain?I hadn’t opened my heart to anyone since Meera left. And the one time I finally do—thisis what I get.
But Elijah… he crept up on me, totally unexpected.
I let him tear down the walls I’d spent years building.
Let him crawl into the mess of me and make a home inside my wrecked, goddamn soul.
And then—like a fucking fool—I let myself fall head over heels in love with him.
Big mistake.
Big fucking mistake.
Damn it. But I love him.
Still.
Why, Elijah?Why?
I can’t sit in this anymore. My skin feels like it doesn’t even belong to me. I reek of sweat, whiskey, and sleep I don’t remember getting.
Dragging myself to my feet, I shuffle toward the bathroom like something half alive. My body aches like it’s been mourning too.
I rub my eyes, lean against the shower door, and crank the faucet on.
I wait for the water temperature to heat up. I’m craving the hard spray of the jets just to remind me I still have a body. That I’m still here.
He’s not going to call me again. I know that now. Not after I saw him with—Gabriel. Not after I ignored every call and text he made that night.
