Page 571 of End Game

Dad's face tightens. “Enough.”

“No.”

For the first time tonight, my voice sharpens.

Enough that both of them look at me.

“You don't get to make this abstract.”

Dad's lips press into a line.

“If you're telling me I'm no longer welcome in this family unless I lie about who I am, tell me exactly what I'm losing.”

“You are not losing your family.”

I laugh once.

There is no humor in it.

“You just listed the conditions for having one.”

Mom flinches.

Good.

I hate that I want her to.

Dad rubs one hand over his mouth. “We just need time.”

I look at him.

“I can give you time.”

Hope flickers across Mom’s face.

I kill it myself this time. “But I'm not changing.”

Her hands fall.

“I am not breaking up with Dex.”

Her eyes close.

“I am not ending my relationships with Cami or Ronan.”

Dad shakes his head. “You're choosing them over us.”

“No.” The answer comes immediately. “I'm refusing to choose.”

“You know there are consequences to choices.”

“Yes.”

Mom shakes her head. “I don't think you understand.”

“I understood before I walked in.”

That silences her.