"I do. I lie for you."
I shake my head and he holds up a finger.
"Don't lie to me. I know you, Tera. I know you as well as I know myself. You're miserable on the inside. You want him here with you, but you think he's better off out there."
"We've been over this a hundred times, Linc. Heisbetter off without me. Right now, he is," I defend when Linc looks to argue with me.
"Ah. And there it is. 'Right now'."
"I admit it. I hope one day we'll be back together, but if he finds someone before that day, I will be happy for him. I truly will. All I want is for him to be happy," I tell him truthfully.
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Don’t you deserve that kind of happiness?" he asks.
"I'm notreadyfor that kind of happiness, Lincoln. I am a walking, talking disaster. I need to work on me before there can be a 'we'." I laugh. "See what I did there?"
One side of his lip lifts. "What if it's too late, then?"
I shrug a shoulder. "Then I find my other someone, too."
"They'll never be him."
"Well, no. No one will ever be him," I whisper.
"Are you really okay with this Dante guy? You trust him?" my protective big brother asks.
"I trust him. He's been nothing but kind."
"He wants to get you in his bed tonight. You ready for that?"
"You're doing 'girl talk' with me? That's usually reserved for Shea."
He nods. "Damn right. I'm very confident in my masculinity."
"With arms bigger than my thighs, I can see why," I tease.
"Stop deflecting."
"I hate that you know me so well."
"Twin curse," he grins.
I sigh. "Yes. I am ready for that. It's been leading up to this and, if I'm being completely honest during this 'girl talk', I'll admit I want to know if I can feel anything other than empty."
"With anyone whoisn'tXander."
"Yeah."
He pulls me in for a hug. "I get it. I know why you're doing it. I know you're just wasting time until you get back to where you're supposed to be, but I'm gonna step back, Tera. I'm going to let you make these decisions and mistakes and I really fucking hope you learn from them—sooner rather than later."
"Who knows? I might fall in love with Dante," I question, leaning back and looking at him.
"If you haven't already fallen for that slick dude, you're not gonna."
I shove his shoulder, which doesn't budge. "Whatever. I'm gonna get laid tonight."
