We both glance up as light floods from her upstairs window. She’s pulled back the curtain and is swaying side to side.
Even from here, I can see her arms shaking from the weight of holding herself together.
“Now, you get to know her,” he says.
I lean down to stare at her through the passenger window. “To know her,” I mumble. “And what if she’s not the angel she appears to be?”
Roman turns in his seat to face me. “If she ends up being the villain in your story?”
I nod.
“Then we ruin her.”
I swallow hard as Clover waves at us with both hands. She puts her whole body behind it as though we might not see her, and a hint of a smile tugs at my lips.
Ruining her would never sit right with me, and we both know it.
I can’t deny it though. If she’s the reason for my scars, there’s only one thing to do with her, because in this game we’re about to play, I have to be the winner.
I’ve already lost too much.
CHAPTER THREE
CLOVER
The world refuses to make sense.
I’ve been staring at my ceiling for six hours.
My mind is spiraling.
Not processing. Just labeling. Counting. Re-centering, then starting again as I scroll through my arsenal of coping mechanisms.
Facts:
Savvy’s in the hospital, undergoing her second surgery of the day.
Madi and the rest of my friends are pleading with me to stay with them at the inn.
I’ve never shared this side of my trauma, and I can’t start now.
Valen.
