“He never loved me, Banner. It took me a long time to realize that what we had was a fucked-up mess. He wanted to own me, and I wanted to be free. It was always going to end in disaster. I just couldn’t have predicted?—”
I cover her lips with my finger. “No more talking. I can hear how much your throat is hurting.”
“I need to tell you something first.”
I tuck her hair behind her ear as she bites her lip. “I’m listening.”
“The night of the crash?”
I nod slowly.
“I wasn’t the one who’d been drinking. Alec was. He grabbed the wheel, and that’s all I remember until I woke up in the hospital. I don’t drink. I never have because of my mom.”
I blink, her words slowly seeping in past the anger at the thought of Alec grabbing the wheel. He could have killed them both. Instead, he died because he was an idiot, and Sorrow paid the price for it.
“You went to jail because you were over the limit.”
“I’m not lying.”
“I know.” And it’s true, I do. I believe every word coming out of her mouth. “But someone made it seem like you were, and you’d better fucking believe I’m going to find out who.”
She’s back to not talking the next day, and I get it. It’s a lot. I’m just grateful it was me she chose to trust enough with her secret.
I take her to my house to make her breakfast, and text Blake to let him know I’ll be in later.
“About the house.”
I wait as she types her answer into the text-to-speech app on her phone.
I’m just tidying it up.
“So you’re moving back here then?”
She shakes her head, making me narrow my eyes at her. Oh, I’ve got news for you, Sorrow. If you think I’m letting you leave me now, you’ve got a lot to learn about me.
“So you’re selling?”
She nods with a shrug.
“How much do you want for it?”
I’m not sure what it’s worth.
“I’ll buy it.” Her eyes almost pop out of her head. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s just a house. Plus, the sooner you sell it, the sooner you can leave, right?”
She winces, but I push forward.
“It’s why I bought this place. So that I could keep an eye on it, and when the opportunity came up, I could buy it and then burn it to the ground.”
Her mouth drops open in shock before she gets to her feet and storms out. I grin down at the counter. Yeah, she’s pissed, but I don’t think she’s realized why just yet.
Two minutes later, she walks back in and stomps over to me. She folds her arms and looks up at me.
I slide my arms around her. “While it’s true that was my plan, plans change.” I reach back for her phone and grab it for her, passing it over and waiting for her to type out her response.
“So what do you want me to do with it now?”
“I want you to spend time with me. We can paint the place together and get it ready for the market. But I won’t lie, I don’t want you to leave. I think we owe it to ourselves to explore this thing between us. And I know it’s too early for me to move you right in here, but I’ll settle for moving you in next door. I think it’s time to hand in the motel key for good.”
