Ivy has Avery in her arms as Avery sobs on her shoulder. I head toward them, fuming and feeling defeated at the same time.
Glancing up at me, Ivy asks, “How bad is it?”
“Bad,” I say, looking straight at Avery. She lifts her head to return the gaze.
“Crap,” Ivy breathes, letting go of Avery.
“What do we do?” Avery asks.
I shake my head and pull at the back of my neck. “I don’t know.”
Sighing, Ivy points to my car. “Take her home, Reid. I’ll see if I can talk some sense into Dustin.”
I nod, wish her luck, and take Avery to the car. We say nothing on the entire ride across the campus. Her sniffles nearly kill me, but I give her the silence she needs to process what just happened. Hell, I’m still processing it.
When we pull up to our apartment building, I help her out of the car and guide her inside. We take the stairs slowly and reach the hallway that separates my apartment from hers. “Avery,” I say, pulling her in close and tipping her chin so her eyes meet mine.
“I haven’t seen him that mad since…oh god, he’s going to hate me forever.”
“You don’t know that,” I whisper.
“I do.” The vulnerable look in her eyes is nearly my undoing. “I just lost my brother.”
“Hey-hey-hey,” I coo. “He’ll come around.”
She shakes her head and I drop my hand to her waist. “You may be his best friend, but you don’t know him like I do. He doesn’t change his mind often, especially when it’s something he’s passionate about.”
“We’ll figure this out,” I try to console.
She shakes her head again and steps out of my arms. “We can’t do this.”
I frown at her. “Do what?”
Waving a hand between us, she says, “This.”
“As inus?”
Sobbing once, she nods. “I can’t lose my brother, and you can’t lose your best friend. We have to end this.”
My heart cracks in my chest. “Don’t say that. Please, don’t say that.”
She bites her bottom lip and then angrily wipes at her tears. “It’s our only option.”
“But we love each other. You said so. You’re just going to walk away from that?”
“I love my brother too! He’s my brother, Reid. My brother!”
If someone cut me open and stole my heart, it would be less painful. I grip at my chest and squeeze, wanting to rip it out myself. “Please, don’t, Avery. Don’t say it.”
She looks away from me, her jaw set. “I’m breaking up with you. This is where we end.”
Tears prick my eyes, and I swear to God, my life just ended. The chase, the moments we shared, flash before my eyes until it reaches this one moment where she’s walking away from me. From us.
“That’s it? We’re just done, like that?” I snap my fingers in emphasis.
“Yes,” she says, still not looking at me. Her voice is toneless like she’s detached from her body. “I’m sorry.”
A tear falls down my cheek, and I want more than anything to go to her and try to get her to change her mind, but I know I won’t. Dustin is family, and their family is tight. They mean the world to each other. And me? I’m on the outside.
