Page 55 of Heal Me, Love Me

“Rowan,” my father said sternly.

“I know,” I sighed.

Mom set her fork down. “Do you?”

“Yes.”

“Because he shouldn’t have to hear that from Grant Bishop.”

“I know that too.”

My father held my gaze. “You need to tell him sooner rather than later.”

“I will.” I picked up my phone, then paused.

My mother’s voice softened. “Ro, I know you don’t want to see him, but this isn’t about what he deserves from you. It’s about who you want to be when you leave.”

My father nodded, the way he did when Mom had already made her point and he only needed to back her up. “You don’t have to stay somewhere that doesn’t work for you. But you do have to walk out clean.”

I stared at Devon’s message again. He was the last person I wanted to owe anything to, but that didn’t change the fact that I did. He’d given me a place to train, a room to sleep in, and a fight when I needed one. That didn’t erase what he’d done with Keaton, but it made things more complicated than telling him to go fuck himself and blocking his number.

Before I could talk myself into being immature and not responding, I typed back:

I’ll come by Titan this morning

He answered almost immediately:

Works for me

My phone buzzed again:

Keaton

Morning. Am I going to see you today?

Morning baby. Yeah I’m talking to Devon later

I stood and took my plate to the sink. “I’m going to change.”

“Ro,” Dad called before I left the kitchen.

I turned to find him leaning one hip against the counter, arms folded. “Don’t let Devon pull you into something you didn’t go there for.”

“I won’t.”

“I mean it.”

“So do I.”

Keaton texted back:

Why?

I typed out my reply as I headed to my room:

Grant called him

Shit