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“You’re leaving?” His eyes became hooded even though his face was full of shock. “Tonight?”
“I tried to call you, to talk to you about it, but you wouldn’t answer.” I wrapped my arms around myself and took another step closer to him. “Everything is set to go.”
His mouth opened and he sucked in a deep breath. Lifting his head, he gave me a long, hard appraisal as if he thought I was playing games with him. Seeing that I was completely serious he turned away, looking out the window so he didn’t have to look at me.
“Tell me not to go, Harris.” I was begging, but I didn’t care.
What was pride when everything I wanted was falling through my fingers? It didn’t matter what my parents wanted. Didn’t matter what I had to do to make this all go away. All that did matter was me and Harris. All I needed was for him to give me a chance to fix us and I would gladly go against anyone and everyone. I could give up everything I knew, but not him. Never him.
His head shot around to frown at me.
“Please. Tell me not to go and I won’t. Tell me you love me and we can work all this bullshit out. I won’t go. I won’t leave. They can’t make me.”
He just stood there, staring at me like I’d lost my mind. My fingers began to shake uncontrollably while my foot only throbbed more painfully. I hadn’t let it heal, had kept reopening the wound over and over again so I could focus on the pain and turn off the emotional wounds that were leaving holes on my soul.
His face suddenly turned to stone, cracking my heart open all over again. “No. I want you to go. We don’t belong together, Lucy. You’re better off without me.”
“No!” I shook my head, ready to decimate any argument he could come up with, but the next words out of his mouth had my knees threatening to buckle.
“I’m better off without you, Lu.”
I opened my mouth, but nothing would come out. I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t fucking breathe.
There was nothing he could have said that would have hurt me more. Nothing that would have convinced me that we didn’t have a chance, except for that. Six words that tore me open and left me bleeding to death then and there. Blindly I turned away, reached for the door and nearly stumbled through it as a sob threatened to obliterate my lungs.
I had to get away from him, away from everyone. The pain was too much. The hurt too deep. I tripped on my way down the stairs, nearly falling. I heard someone call my name but it sounded too far away for me to know who it was. Somehow I made it down the stairs without killing myself and out the front door. I was running but had no clue where I was running to.
“Lucy!” I heard Harris roar behind me, but I didn’t pause to look back.
No. I couldn’t face him now. I couldn’t look at him—not when I still loved him so much. Not when I knew there was no chance for us because he didn’t want there to be one. He didn’t love me enough to try. Didn’t want me enough to hold on to what we could have. Wasn’t brave enough to put what Tessa had done behind him.
We were over.
Each drop of cold rain hit my face like a physical blow, stinging my skin. I welcomed the pain, begged for more. Anything to block out the agony in my heart.
The sound of tires squealing was what caught my attention. I stopped and looked up to find a big SUV only a foot away. I sucked in a deep breath when I saw the big man step out behind the driver’s side, his face a block of ice as he looked down at me with so many emotions swirling in his ever-changing eyes.
“Lucy,” a weak voice filled my ears as warm arms wrapped around me.
“I can’t,” I whispered as I let my mom pull me against her chest. “I can’t.”
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“Can’t what, baby?” Layla whispered against my hair.
“I can’t breathe,” I sobbed.
“Lu.” My dad’s arms wrapped around both me and Mom, his voice soft and gentle. “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s going to be okay.”
My dad had never lied to me before.
Not until right at that moment.
Nothing was ever going to be okay again.
Chapter 1
Lucy
