“What did we do?” she whispers, her voice splintering. “Anna… I’m so sorry.”
She snatches her phone off the side table and bolts for the door.
“NO!” I shout, torn between my sister, breaking down in my arms, and chasing after the woman running away with my heart.
Gemma pauses long enough to look over her shoulder when she reaches the door.
A tear releases itself from my lashes and falls down my cheek.
“Please, Gemma.”
“Anna needs you,” she says softly.
And then she leaves.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Gemma
My limbs are numb. The only feeling left is my heart, splitting open and bleeding out. I make it to the sidewalk on unsteady legs, throwing my arm up to hail a cab.
Lightning splits the sky, illuminating the darkness in a flash of white, and rain pours down in punishing sheets.
I’m soaked to the bone.
Everything inside me is screaming.
Screaming to go back.
Screaming to run.
Screaming to hold Anna, to tell her that no matter what’s happened, I’m here and she’ll be okay. That I’ll never cut her out like Nicole did.
Screaming to tell her I love her. To tell her I love Max.
But it’s too much.
I can’t do it.
Ibrokeher. My best friend.
A cab pulls up and I fling open the door, slide inside, and somehow manage to rattle off my address. I don’t even recognize my own voice.
I sink into the seat, ready to close the door when I hear him.
“WAIT! NO! STOP!”
Max’s voice booms through the night just as he bursts out of his apartment building.
I can’t look back.
I slam the cab door shut with shaky hands. The driver accelerates, and in the rearview mirror, I watch Max’s silhouette shrink, leaving my heart behind too.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Max
I pump my arms and legs, pushing them to the limit, willing them to move faster as I bolt down the sidewalk.
