“That’s not fair. I’ve been here, trying to help you for months.Years. But you have to want to help yourself, too.”
His face twists with sudden rage. “Help me? You call walking out helping me? If you really wanted to help, you’d have stayed.”
My heart feels too big for my chest, pounding like it’s trying to escape, like maybe it wants to take me away from this house and this man I used to love so fiercely I would’ve cracked myself in half just to keep him whole.
I push myself up from the chair. “I’ve made my decision.” The words are stones in my throat, but they need to be said. “I think it’s time we let go. I can’t keep holding on like this, and I think you know that, too.” I pause, looking down and finding it hard to meet his eyes. “I need to move on, and I think you do, too.”
For a moment, there’s nothing but silence. Then everything happens at once.
He lunges forward, his hand seizing my wrist in a jarring grip that sends a lightning-bolt ache shooting up to my elbow. He’snevertouched me like this before.
His eyes are wild, pupils blown wide. I don’t think he even sees me. “So that’s it? You’re just done for good?”
“Dillon,” I say, careful to keep my voice gentle and even. “You’re hurting me.”
For a second, there’s a flash of the old Dillon in his eyes, the one who used to hold my hand like it was something delicate.
I twist my arm as he loosens his grip. The sudden release sends me backward, and I stumble, hip catching the edge of the table with a crack of bone on wood. I hit the floor, and for a heartbeat, I can’t speak. Can’t think. I just stare up at him in stunned silence.
His expression morphs, the anger draining out of him. “Bree…” he whispers, horrified. “I-I didn’t mean?—”
I push myself upright, wincing at the jolt in my leg and the throbbing in my wrist. “Dillon…” I whisper, not sure who I’m talking to anymore. The man I loved has to be in there somewhere, but right now, I can’t afford to look for him.
He steps toward me, hand half lifted like he’s going to help me up. Something inside me jerks hard. My breath sticks in my throat, and I flinch before I even know I’m doing it.
“Don’t.” My voice breaks, barely more than a breath. “Please…don’t.”
His hand drops. He turns away like the sight of me hurts and sinks back onto the couch. “Bree, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“I know,” I say. And I do. That’s what makes this situation so dangerous.
I stand on legs that don’t want to hold me, every inch of me screaming to get out of the room. He doesn’t follow. Doesn’t stop me. Doesn’t beg. And I don’t look back. Not when I reach the door. Not when I close it behind me with a quiet click that feels too gentle for what just happened.
It’s only in the car, behind the wheel with my hands trembling against the leather, that the first tear slips free. Just one. I wipe it away and force myself to sit up straighter. I’ve got a plane to catch.
I’ll fall apart later.
two
BREE
I’m probably repressing a lot of stuff, and sure, this isn’t the healthiest coping strategy, but right now, it’s not about me. Jules doesn’t know I’m here yet, and she has no clue what I’ve been going through. I’m not about to trauma dump on her. Not today. I’ve spent so long keeping it in that the silence feels safer than the truth. Like if I say it out loud, it becomes real. And real means someone might see just how messy it’s gotten, and I don’t want to be someone else’s burden.
Knox was supposed to pick me up from the airport, but I don’t see him anywhere, and now I’m wondering if I should call him. But what if he’s with Jules? Great, now I’m second-guessing everything.
Just as I’m about to dial Juliette’s aunt, my phone already halfway to my ear, a truck pulls up to the curb in front of me. I freeze, eyes widening in surprise. Well, I’ll be damned. It’s Callan, Knox’s brother.
My first meeting with Callan a few months ago was a shot of adrenaline straight to my veins. We spoke for all of five minutes, and I knew right away I’d met mycompetitive match.
He strolled into the room with the kind of confidence that flirted with recklessness. He had these blue eyes that were alive with mischief, dark sandy-blond hair tousled just enough to suggest he’d either come from a wild adventure or was about to start one. He was tall with broad shoulders, effortlessly handsome, and had a grin that made you think he knows a little more about life than the rest of us.
“So, you’re the infamous brother I’ve heard so much about,” I teased, but my heart was already picking up speed.
He grinned back, that knowing smile of his spreading wider as he leaned in slightly, clearly ready for the battle of wits he could already sense coming. “And you must be the troublemaker I was warned about.”
“Guilty as charged.”
His gaze was locked on me, but the moment he leaned in closer, a small, treacherous part of me couldn’t help but notice how close he was. His scent, a mix of leather and spice, lingered in the air, dangerously close.
