Arden’s eyes close in a wince. I don’t understand the reaction. I don’t know how to navigate it. It’s a tweak on our original deal, that’s all. Instead of just paying off the incoming bills, I paid them all. I did it the day I saw that folder in her drawer. All of the payments she’s made since, though small, have been rerouted right back into her account, and she hasn’t noticed because, for once, she hasn’t been stressed out about it.
“No, you didn’t,” Serena whispers.
“You weren’t supposed to do that,” Arden tells me, her voice cracking.
I shrug, still too far away from her, but I can’t move to bridge the distance. I’m scared of that look on her face. “Well, I did. I wanted to.”
“Oh, wow,” their aunt gasps.
“I need a minute,” Arden says, wiping her face. She shakes her head, darting up the stairs to her bedroom.
My shoulders fall, and surprisingly, I choose to look at Anya for an answer. I don’t know why. I don’t know what I want or need from her. Maybe I see a bit of myself in her, like I expect her to understand how to navigate her sister when our impulsiveness hurts her feelings.
“Pride,” she tells me quietly. “She’s full of it.”
“Carter,” Serena says softly. I glance at her, my chest achingat the tears in her eyes. “Carter, no. We can’t accept that. Wecan’t.”
“It was done months ago,” I tell them. The second we agreed to this, the debts were paid. “I just didn’t let her know. I didn’t…”
Want her to reject it.
Serena nods, understanding.
“I really wanted to do this for you guys, alright? Can we make peace with that?”
I address the room, but I’m looking at the Doll sisters, and that’s it. Their opinions and approval are the only ones I care about.
Anya glances at Serena for an opinion.
Serena wipes her eyes with the pads of her fingers. “Thank you. She doesn’t let anyone take care of her…Thank you.”
My heart aches. I thought she was thanking me for paying off the debt, but no. Serena is thanking me for looking after her sister. For taking care of her. She’s thanking me for removing the burden from Arden’s shoulders that has sat there for years and years—one they could never help her with.
“You’re welcome,” I say. I gesture toward the stairs, and every single person in the room nods, telling me to go.
When I crack open the door to Arden’s bedroom, she’s jamming clothes into her suitcase with wild hair and tears pouring down her face. I hesitantly step into the room, closing the door shut behind me, but she doesn’t give me a second glance.
“Red.”
“Donotspeak to me right now.”
I sigh, approaching anyway. I don’t know why she’s packing. We still have a full day before we leave. I reach down and place my hand on top of hers to stop her. She freezes, breathing heavily, unable to look at me.
“I should have told you.”
“Youshouldn’thave done it!” she erupts, whirling on me. I see her heartbreak in her eyes and I know it’s about much more than paying those bills. It’s her mom. It’s her dad. It’s these past few days. “We never agreed to that!”
“I know,” I say softly, turning her hand in mine. She’s shaking so violently that I want to scoop her up, but I know she won’t let me right now. I thread my fingers through hers instead. “But it was the plan since the moment you saved my ass, Arden. It was just easier to get you to accept help when it was on a smaller scale.”
“I’m not a fucking charity case, and I don’t like that you manipulated me because you think that I am.”
I see the lethal warning in her eyes. How badly that stings her. How she thinks that I saw her as a damsel in distress who needed rescuing. Not the case. Never has been.
“I know you aren’t,” I say, brushing my thumb against her hand. “You’re the most resilient, independent woman I have ever met. If you’re anything, you’re a winning lottery ticket.Iwas the charity case. I needed you to saveme, and you did. Those bills have been paid off since the very first day you handed me your monthly totals.”
Her eyes widen. “Since before we…”
“Way before,” I confirm, dipping my chin. The sex had nothing to do with it. “I was always going to do it.”
