Page 43 of The Human’s Heart

Yeah, I was a total hypocrite.

I used to walk home by myself, in the dark, every night.

Damn Zay and his car present. Sigh.

Phia gave me what I guessed was a self-conscious and nervous-looking wave, so I waved back and called over my shoulder, “I’ll be right back.” Then I headed for the door.

By the time I made it outside, Phia was standing on the corner. She looked over her shoulder at me, gave a subtle head dip, as if asking me to follow her, then she took off around the corner.

“Phia! Wait up!”

I ran to catch up with her and caught the tail end of her jacket swinging around into the alley behind the bar. What the fuck was she up to?

And again, where the hell was Kian?

Jogging, I rounded the alley corner and slammed to a sudden stop when I found Phia waiting for me with her arms crossed and a worried expression on her pretty face.

“Hey, Phia, are you okay?”

She let out a humorless laugh. “No, not really.”

“What’s wrong?”

She rubbed a hand over her face, and the light from the bar’s back door was just bright enough for me to see her blotchy face. She was crying.

“Is Kian alright?”

“Yes.” She said it urgently, like she was afraid I wouldn’t believe her. “I promise he’s okay. Sorry I scared you.”

“It’s fine. I just… what’s wrong?” I was tempted to offer her a hug, but I didn’t know her well enough to initiate it. But the urge was there. It was definitely a new feeling. Maybe I really was starting to become an Ellwood after all—the wild hugging family.

She wiped the tears off her face and took a breath. “Listen, I’m really sorry to put this on you, but I need to tell someone, and you’re… well, you’re nice and hopefully won’t freak out on me.”

A sinking sensation took up residence in my belly. What the hell was she about to tell me?

A few more tears fell, and she wiped them away absently. “I’m so… fuck, this is harder to talk about than I thought. Look, I really like Kian. He’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. He’s kind, he treats me so well, and he’s just… yeah, he’s great.”

I felt a but coming.

“But…” There it was. “I’m… I’m not in love with him. I just… I like him as a friend, a really good friend, and I… I know he loves me, or at least he thinks so, and it’s just… it’s not fair. He’s such a good person, and I…”

When she trailed off, I crossed my arms over my chest and sent her a deep frown. “I’m not going to break up with Kian for you.”

“Oh, Mother. It really did sound like I was… shit, I’m not asking you to. I’m going to talk to him next, I swear. I just… anyway, that’s not even what I wanted to tell you.”

Good grief, there was another bomb she was about to drop?

“I just… like I said, he’s a good person, and I like him. He’s… he’s a good friend, and I just, I can’t do it anymore, okay? I didn’t want to do it in the first place, but they made me, and I regret it. So much. I regret so fucking much, and I can’t anymore. I can’t believe I…”

“What? What can’t you do anymore?”

She sent me a sad look, then rubbed her face over her eyes. “I can’t keep pretending. I’m not who—”

Her voice was cut off by a loud bang erupting in the alleyway. I jumped a mile high, and my eyes widened in horror before I’d even fully registered what was happening.

Chapter 13

Hugo