“If I don’t, he’ll eventually resent me,” I murmur.
Danny stares at me. “Let me say this straight… if you keep pushing him away, you’re going to lose him. And youwillregret it.”
I wince.
“Danny,” Joseph warns. “Ease up.”
“No. She needs to hear this. I’ve seen this level of depression before, Dee. I was a nurse, remember? I’ve seen what happens when people give up on the one thing that makes them feel alive. If you keep going like this, one or both of you is going to crash.Hard.” He walks out, leaving the door open behind him.
Joseph turns back to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “You’re not thinking about hurting yourself, are you?”
I blink. “I don’t know what I’m thinking. The accident wrecked me, Joseph. Sometimes I wonder… if maybe it would’ve been better if I didn’t survive.”
Joseph’s eyes widen, and he grips my arms. “Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that. Where is the strong Dee who could take on the world?”
“She died under that tree,” I whisper. “That night… something broke, and I haven’t been the same since. With Colt,I feel like I’m never enough. That no matter how hard I try, I always fall short.”
“You’re spiraling.”
“I don’t want to feel this way, Joseph.”
He searches my eyes. “Do I need to take you to the hospital? Are you planning something?”
“No,” I say, voice steadier now. “I’m not going to do anything stupid. I promise. I need time. Please don’t worry.”
He exhales in relief. “Thank God. Because I couldn’t handle a world without you, Princess. I love you.”
I lean into him, clinging to the only safe thing left in my world. “I love you too.”
He presses a kiss to my forehead. “How’s the nose?”
He winces, rubbing it. “Bastard’s got a nasty right hook.”
I laugh weakly.
“Okay, no more hiding. Come downstairs. Let me feed you.”
“I’m not hungry. But I’ll come. I need some male bonding time.”
“That sounds all kinds of wrong.”
“I figured ‘gay bonding time’ would sound worse.”
He laughs. “True.”
We start walking.
“Let’s watchThor,” Joseph says, grinning.
I groan. “Oh God, again?”
My phone buzzes in my pocket.
I don’t bother checking.
I already know who it is.
Instead, I keep walking.
