I go to Lou and hug her. “Thank you for doing all this.”
She squeezes me back. “You like it?”
“It’s perfect,” I assure her.
“Who’s hungry?” my mom calls and is immediately answered with whoops of excitement from my brothers. “Who’s hungrybesidesyou two lazy bums?”
“It smells divine, Mrs. Karlsson,” Talia says as she goes up to my mom to take the bowl full of steaming noodles.
“Why aren’t we allowed to be hungry?” Cory stands, his hands fisted on his hips.
“Because you refused to help, so you can wait to eat until everyone else has been served first.”
“That’s justcruel,” Cameron grouses.
I’m still grinning at their antics when I catch sight of Hunter by the staircase, his posture rigid, his face shuttered. He’s no longer the teasing, thoughtful man I’ve come to know but the closed-off stranger I first met. The shift is jarring, and my smile fades.
“Liv gets the chair of honor!” Lou announces, gesturing to the one with balloons tied so they hover above it, and in the center of the table is a cake with Happy New Life Day, Liv! written in beautiful script on the buttercream frosting.
“Just a sec,” I say. “You guys go ahead and sit down.”
My mom and Lou exchange glances, but I ignore them and walk over to Hunter. “Hey, you going to come eat with us?”
He stiffens as I approach. His arms are folded across his chest, like he’s holding himself together. When he looks down at me, the overwhelming gratitude and warmth I felt meremoments ago dampens into a chill that trails down my back. His eyes are shadowed, jaw tight.
“Olivia, what is this party for?” His voice is low and hoarse. The use of my full name feels significant somehow.Wrong. He’s called me only Liv for a while now.
I reach for his arm, but he flinches away before I can touch him.
My stomach clenches with fear. My hand falls back to my side, and I swallow, trying to summon a smile. “It’s um ... it’s this silly tradition ... It was Talia’s idea, and my mom loved it, so they’ve made me do it every year—”
“What is this party for?” Hunter repeats, cutting me off. A muscle in his jaw ticks.
I stare at it like it’s a timer counting down to a detonation when I didn’t have a clue there was even a possible grenade in our hands that could be set off. Dread settles in my chest, heavy and cold, making it hard to draw breath. “It’s ... it’s the anniversary of my transplant. The day I got my heart. My miracle. My ‘New Life Day.’”
Hunter sways under the weight of my words. The blood drains from his face, any affection his eyes ever held vanishing beneath a rising horror. “No,” he whispers, staggering back—away from me. “Those letters from this morning ... the angel wings on the paper ... Oh, please, God, no ...no...” He spins to the wall, his entire body folding inward.
“Hunter—I don’t—” I reach out to touch his shoulder, but the second my fingertips brush his back, he jerks and whirls to face me, gaze wild, eyes darting and his chest rising and falling so fast it makesmylungs feel tight. The dread I felt moments ago expands, nearly suffocating me.
“How long has it been?” he forces out, strangled. “How many years ago did you get your new heart?”
I stare at him, confused and hurt and—
Then my borrowed heart convulses in my chest as though he’s reached a fist through my flesh and bones and is clenching the donated organ that gave me life when mine was slipping away. My mouth drops open becausenow I truly can’t breathe. I can’t get air. I can barely stay standing. Because Iknow.
I know what’s been wrong with him all day.
I know why he hates April Fool’s Day.
I know why he’s looking at me likethat. My eyes fill with tears, and Ican’t breathe—
“Liv, what’s going on?” My mom is there, but all I can do is shake my head, tears spilling out onto my cheeks.
“Seven years.” Hunter’s voice cracks. “It’s beenseven years.”
It’s not a question. And I can’t answer anyway because I’m in the icy grasp of a full panic attack. My heart races so fast, so hard I might pass out. My legs tremble. My arms are numb. I can’t talk. I can’t grab his hands and make him stay with me. I can’t stop him from backing away.
His powerful shoulders shake. His beautiful, broken eyes fill with tears.
