And that’s exactly why this is going to destroy me if I stay.
CHAPTER 16
ETHAN
By the timeI make it home, my body feels wrecked.
Not sick-sick.
Not the flu.
Just… off.
Like everything inside me has been shaken loose and hasn’t settled back into place yet.
I don’t call her.
I open my laptop.
The modem chirps and whines its way online, the sound scraping my nerves raw. I stare at the screen for a full minute before I type anything.
Subject:Tonight
Hey —
I’m not feeling great. Think I might be coming down with something.
I’m going to lay low tonight and try to sleep it off.
I’ll call you in the morning.
—E
I hover overSend.
Then I hit it.
The phone rings less than five minutes later.
Of course it does.
“Baby,” she says, worried already. “I can come over. I’ll bring soup.”
The familiar pull tugs at me immediately.
Come over. Fix it. Make it better.
I close my eyes.
“No,” I say quietly. “I don’t want to get you sick.”
“I don’t care,” she says. “I’ll just sit with you.”
“I really just want to sleep,” I say. And then, softer, “I promise I’ll call you in the morning.”
There’s a pause. I can hear her breathing on the other end.
“…Okay,” she says finally. “But you call me when you wake up. First thing.”
