“Soon,” I murmur. “I don’t want to freak Maya out.”
Ivy leans against the opposite counter. “Understandable. You been holding up?”
“I have to.” I shrug. “I don’t want to lose the chance to see my girl grow up.”
“Of course.” She smiles optimistically. “I know everything’s going to be okay.”
“Hope so.”
Ivy takes a few steps forward before wrapping her arms around me. I return the hug and wonder what I did in life to deserve her forgiveness, let alone her kindness and everything else that goes along with it.
“Why don’t you hate me?”
She holds onto me tighter. “Because I know you, and I know you’re not a bad person.”
My eyes close in defeat. “A good person wouldn’t have done what they did to you.”
Ivy pulls away and stares up at me. “But you’ve changed, Finn. Would you do anything like that again?”
“Never.”
“Exactly,” she whispers. “You fucked up, but you’re willing to put it right. And you’ve been through a lot. We’re both victims, and I want to see you shine, I want to see you happy, I want to see you live.”
Her words cut through me like a knife. I want to see myself live, too.
“I struggle with the idea of forgiving myself,” I strain.
“It’ll come with time.” Her voice is tender.
“I’d do anything for you, Ivy. You know that, right?”
“Of course,” she says with a softness in her expression.
My mouth tilts into a half smile. “Okay.”
“We were going to go grab some food, wanna come?”
“Na.” I fold my arms over my chest. “You guys have fun.”
Ivy frowns. “Why not?”
“I don’t want to intrude.”
“You won’t intrude. I want you there. Please?”
I release a silent sigh. “Okay, sure.”
She claps her hands excitedly. “Yay.” She beams. “I’ll go grab JJ, and we’ll head out?”
“Sure.”
Maybe I need some time out of the house. Some normality back in my life for once.
CHAPTER 20
MAYA BROOKE
“Oh, god. Oh, god,” I repeat as I step onto campus for the first time since last academic year.
