Page 154 of Halo

Oh God.

What has happened?

I take off after him. “Nick, wait!”

He keeps walking.

“Would you please stop and talk to me? I don’t know what’s going on!”

“I can’t, Leah.” His voice cracks. “I can’t even fucking look at you right now.”

I stumble to a stop. “Why?”

He yanks open his truck.

“Nick, please don’t leave me like this.” My hands swipe at my tears slipping down my cheeks. “Please—”

He whips around, throwing his arms wide. “You really want to know?” He huffs. “Grady isn’t mine! There. You happy?”

I stop cold. “W-what?”

“Grady …” He swallows thickly. “He's not mine.”

My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. I shake my head because surely I heard him wrong. “Nick …”

He points toward the house, his jaw tightening. “He’s your fucking brother’s kid.”

I blink.

I blink again, and the world pitches sideways. My hand shoots out for the truck, fingers scraping across the metal until I find something solid. For a moment, nothing makes sense.

“Matt?”

Nick’s face crumples.

“Yeah, Leah. Matt.”

I stand there, the wind knocked out of me. “No … no, that's not true. That's impossible—”

Nick’s already walking away.

“Nick!”

He doesn’t stop. He climbs into his truck, slams the door, and drives off.

I spin around, my heart pounding. “What is happening?” My eyes land on Rachel. She looks pale, guilt written all over her face. “Rachel? What is he talking about?”

Her eyes flick to the ground. “Leah … come inside. Let’s talk.”

“No …” My chest tightens. “Is it true? What he’s saying?”

Rachel won’t meet my eyes. “Just come inside, Leah. Please.”

I shake my head, everything spinning.

This can’t be happening

This cannot be happening.