“Everything alright over here?” asks the dude in a security t-shirt.
“NO!” Andrea shrieks at the same time Cade and I sigh, “Yeah.”
His lips flatten into a line. “I’m gonna need you to release her,” he says to my stepbrother, whose patience is already riding a fine line. I’m so attuned to him, I can feel the shift before seeing it. If I don’t intervene now, this night is gonna end at the police station.
“We’re all good,” I tell the guard as I tug Cade toward me, murmuring in his ear. “Let her go.”
Panic floods his eyes.
“Just for a second, baby.”
Andrea glares up at Cade. “You’re gonna choose him?”
His lip curls into a snarl, his hand shooting to her jaw. “No. We’re not doing that. We’veneverdone that. Not us. We don’t make each other choose.”
A black tear tracks down her cheek. “Hedid. He chose Sinclair over us.”
If only you knew how wrong you are.
“Did I?”
Both of them have that look now— like they’re finally starting to question what they’ve convinced themselves is the truth. It should feel like victory; it just feels like time lost.
“I don’t wanna fight you, sweetheart.”
“Bullshit,” she hisses.
Exhaustion seeps from every one of my pores.
“I never have, but you haven’t given me any other option. I know you’re hurt by what you think I’ve done. And I get how it looks— Really, I do. I…” My voice cracks. She sways on her feet. I clear my throat. “I can’t do this while you’re drunk.”
She lunges at me, mascara bleeding from her wet eyes. “So full of shit! And you want me to go with you? Fuck you!”
My throat aches. Memories cloud my mind. Beer cans andaccusations and slurred words. A crumpled car. A broken windshield. Not her. She can’t end up like him.
“Can you just promise me that you won’t get behind the wheel?” I beg.
“I’m not that?—”
“Don’t,” Cade growls.
She shoves him. “I was gonna say I’m not that stupid.”
He’s fuming. She’s wasted. This is going nowhere. I take out my phone and order her a ride while she argues with Cade some more. There’s one a minute away. Perfect. I’m only half paying attention to them when I hear?—
“Goddammit, Drea, he’s just making sure you don’t die like his fucking dad!”
My head whips up to see Andrea stumble back as if struck. Cade catches her wrist before she falls on her ass. Her face is paper white, eyes vacant of anything but pain. Emotional. Physical. It’s all the same.
Tires crunch on pavement. A sedan approaches, the window rolling down to reveal the woman pictured on my ride share app.
“Sebastian?”
Nodding, I step off the curb and open the passenger door. “Get in, sweetheart.”
On stiff legs, Andrea parts from Cade, pausing before letting go of his hand. “I’m sorry I’m not the same girl you fell for.”
Fuck. My heart can’t take much more.
