Her head cocks with surprise. Even delight. “You’re not rushing off to work?”
“No. I’m taking extended leave.”
“Youare taking time off work? I never thought I’d see the day.”
“I told you, I’m taking our time apart seriously. I’ve cut back on work hours but it’s still eating into all my energy. Work isn’t important to me.Youare. So are my siblings and I barely have a relationship with any of them.”
She smiles. “I’m glad to hear you talking like this.”
I step closer, caressing her cheek. “I’m sorry I’ve been so consumed with work and that I’ve never been able to let go of my fears about Paul’s death resurfacing. I’m going to do better by you. I’m going to spend this time figuring out how to reconnectwith Felix. It’s the only way I can see the three of us returning to what we once shared.”
Her face pales and her eyebrows draw tight.
“Something is upsetting you, Harp. Don’t deny it. I know how to read you. Tell me what’s wrong.”
She lowers my hand from her cheek and looks directly into my eyes. “Felix gave me an ultimatum.”
My chest sinks. I already know what the next words out of her mouth will be and I hate them.
“He wants to be with me again, but… only if I cut ties with you.”
A foul taste coats my mouth. Felix is important to me, and yet there’s no denying he can be a real fucking asshole. When someone wrongs him, it takes something momentous for him to accept them back into his life. As teenagers, he spent years being angry with Harper. It wasn’t until her mother died that his walls softened with her. Even then, he struggled to tell Harper he loved her. What the fuck is Felix going to require of me?
“Of course those are his terms,” I groan. “He knows how much you mean to me. This is revenge. He wants to make me suffer. He wants to steal you from me the way he thinks I stole you from him.”
“Tyler, no. I don’t think it’s like that for Felix. He wasn’t acting smug or triumphant when he said any of this. He was hurt. He’s trying to protect what’s left of himself. He said you’ve caused him more heartache than I ever have. He won’t admit it, but he misses you.”
I pace the room, rubbing my jaw with irritation. “He doesn’t miss me. He despises me. I’m so fucking sick ofhim hating me when all I ever tried to do was protect him.”
Something else comes to mind—therealissue here. My feet stop and I swallow hard, cautious as I observe Harper. “How did you answer his ultimatum?”
She holds my gaze. The slight delay in her response is all the answer I need. “I told him I need time to make a decision.”
“But you’ve made your decision, Harper, haven’t you? I can see it on your face. You’re choosing him.”
“Tyler… I…” She’s tongue-tied and takes a deep breath to gather herself. “You and I broke up because we weren’t working?—”
“We’re taking a break to make our relationship stronger. The intention was we’d always find our way back to each other.”
“I know that was the plan.”
“Wasthe plan?” My voice rises and my chest heaves with frustration. “All that talk about soul mates last night, it was corny but it was the truth. It’s you and me,always, Harper. After everything we’ve been through, how can you turn your back on us?”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
She steps up to me, pressing her body flush against mine. Her hands are on my jaw. Her touch is gentle as she brings us face to face. When she speaks, her tone is soft. There’s even a trace of hopefulness within her.
“We’ve been apologizing to Felix and begging him to take us back,” she says. “Nothing we’ve tried with him has worked. I think this could be the right move. Our entire lives, you and I have been a pair. That’s the issuehere. I’ve realized fixing our relationship with Felix isn’t something we can do together. OnlyIcan fix my relationship with him. Onlyyoucan fix your relationship with him. Only then is there any possibility that the three of us can work. That’s why I’m choosing Felix. I’m going to be with him and only him. I’m taking a leap of faith and believing that somewhere down the track the three of us will be together again.”
“And if he never forgives me? You’re happy to be his forever? Only his?”
She lowers her hands from my face and steps back. “Tyler… Don’t make this more difficult. You and I had our chance and it hasn’t worked.”
My pulse thumps so fast I can feel it. A painful realization hits me, knowing deep down she’s right, even if I don’t want to accept it. Letting go of Harper, letting her live her life and be happy with Felix is the only way I can see a future for the three of us. All I’ve ever wanted was for her to be happy. For them to both be happy.
“I have hope for the three of us, Tyler.”
I shake my head and whisper, “No. Don’t have hope.”
