This is a hundred times worse.
This is my ribs being pried open, my heart being cut out.
I clutch my knees to my chest, burying my face in my arms, trying to muffle my sobs. At least I’m too far away for Morgan to hear. At least I’m not embarrassing myself, giving her good reason to put more distance between us.
“Jamie?” her voice calls.
No, no…I try to hold my breath, to quiet myself.
Her footsteps approach the door, and she knocks. “Jamie? I can smell you.”
She tests the door and finds it locked. There’s a scraping noise, and the door opens from the hinges first, the two pins in her hand.
As her scent hits me, my sobs deepen.
Suddenly the cold floor is gone and her arms are around me, my cheek pressed to her chest.
“I’m sorry,” I choke out. “It’s just a—a hormone thing—”
“Shhh,” she says, kissing my head. “I’ve got you.”
The tears don’t stop, but the agony eases as I cling to her chest, filling my nose with her scent. I stop shivering.
Gradually, the sobs subside, leaving quiet tears.
Morgan brushes her thumb across my cheeks, drying them. Without putting me down, she moves over until she can reach the toilet paper, yanking off a long strip for me to blow my nose on.
“Does this happen every time?” she asks.
“Yeah… not usually quite this bad, but…”
“Still bad?”
“Yeah.”
Her arms tighten around me. “I’m sorry.”
I shake my head against her chest. “It’s not your fault.”
“It… kind of is. But even generally. I’m sorry you have to go through that.”
I wipe my eyes with a clean bit of toilet paper. Wow, this stuff is soft. “I’m fine. It’s not that bad.”
“It seems pretty bad.”
“I mean, it’s… nothing I can’t handle.”
“Jamie, you’re not going to spontaneously combust if you let someone feel bad for you.”
The words warm my core, but I still pout. “You don’t know that.”
She squeezes me tight.
“Well… my heat is officially over,” I murmur. “So I guess we can get back on the road? Er, the skies?”
“Jamie, I… cancelled the rest of the tour.”
“What? Why?”
