* * *
The next day, I wokejust past noon to find the house empty, so I made myself a cup of coffee, and figured I’d sit in the living room and read. I didn’t even make it to the sofa before a bang sounded on the door. I tiptoed to it and peeked out the side window.
Shit.
“Open the door, Violet,” Aero demanded.
“No.”
“Do you want to explain to your brother why I was forced to break it down?”
I narrowed my eyes. “You wouldn’t.”
“Don’t test me, Letti,” he warned.
I frowned, punching in the code, then opening the door. “What do you want?”
“You’re ghostin’ my calls and texts.”
“You made it quite evident yesterday that what we have...nohad, was bullshit.”
He sighed. “Baby, it’s not what you think.”
“Oh, it’s exactly what I think. That’s the problem. I know too much not to understand exactly what that all meant.”
“Except, you don’t.”
“Oh, really?” I sneered.
“My sister, Stella, was killed.”
I frowned. “What?”
He dragged his hands down his face. “On the back of my buddy, Harmon’s, bike. We’d been like brothers since middle school, started racing motocross, then went to school for mechanics, and my sister fell hard for him.”
I didn’t really know what this had to do with anything, but he seemed to be fighting for every word, so I stayed quiet.
“They wanted to go for a ride, but it was Portland and it had started to rain.” He slapped his forehead as he paced the tiny foyer. “I told her she could ride with me. I was a better rider than Harmon, hands down, but she wanted to go with him. I followed, but he got ahead of me, and I swear, Jesus, I swear I heard her scream even over the noise of the pipes.”
“Oh my god,” I whispered.
“They hit a slick patch and went down,” he rasped. “I couldn’t get to her in time. Her leg was pinned under the bike. I didn’t know it at the time, but her femoral artery had been sliced open, and she died in my arms as I tried to stop the bleeding. She was conscious for part of it and in so much pain, but then she just wasn’t there. I couldn’t wake her, couldn’t get the bleeding stopped.”
“Honey.” I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight. “I’m so sorry.”
“When you jumped on the back of my bike, everything flashed back, and I just lost my mind.” He slid his hands into my hair. “If anything ever happened to you, I...”
“Nothing’s going to happen to me,” I promised, sliding my hands up his back.
“I love you, Violet.”
“I love you too.” I gave him a squeeze. “How long ago did all of this happen?”
“Just over a year.”
“I’m so sorry, honey.”
“I’m sorry I freaked you out.”
