Page 166 of Brighter Together

The cold air suddenly feels sharper against my face.

“About the proposal?”

“Yeah.”

I look down at our joined hands.

“You’re allowed to be.”

“I was.”

His answer is immediate.

“I was really fucking angry.”

“Rightly so.” I nod.

Tommy’s mouth twitches, but only briefly.

“You lied to me. And you used what your learned about me against me… well not against me but to influence me.”

The guilt still presses uncomfortably beneath my ribs.

“I know.”

“And that hurt.”

I nod.

He steps closer.

“But then I met your father.”

My eyes lift to his.

“And I watched him stand there and defend Lee. I watched him talk about you as though you were the problem. As though everything they’ve done to you somehow became reasonable because you were difficult or selfish or whatever version of the story they’ve been telling you for years.”

I swallow.

Tommy’s thumb moves over the back of my hand.

“I understood before that they’d pressured you. I believed you.”

His expression tightens.

“But seeing them made me understand it differently.”

I don’t say anything.

I’m not sure I can.

“He didn’t even ask if you were all right.”

The hurt in Tommy’s voice is quieter now than the anger was.

“He knew Lee had put his hands around your throat, and he still cared more about defending him.”

I look away.