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I tip the bottle to my mouth once more.
"Whoa, where did you get that?"
"James' office."
"Do you know how much a bottle like that costs?"
I shrug. "Don't care. How is she?"
"Hurting. Scared… lost."
I blow out a frustrated breath.
"It's going to take time, Conner."
"I don't want fucking time," I slur. "I just want..."
"I know, Con. Do you want to talk about her?"
I shake my head. I can't let myself go back there. I can't allow myself to think that we could ever be a possibility. She didn't want me back then, so why should I think now is any different?
"This is all my fault," I admit.
"How? This isn't on you, Con."
"I pushed her to him."
"What?"
“I…” I drop my head into my hands as I remember the day I told her she should give Warren a chance as clearly as if it were yesterday. It just so happens to be the day she crushed my heart and ruined me for anyone else.
"Did she say anything else? What happened? What he did?"
I glance over just in time to see a guilty look spread across her face. "Tell me, Hads. Please."
"Conner," she says, reaching out and taking my hand in hers. "I can't. What she told me, she told me in confidence. She needs friends right now, not more people she can't trust. You just need to—"
"Give her time," I mutter to myself. "I know, you said that already."
"It's the only thing you can do. You push too hard, and you might lose her for good. You want to help her, you need to do as she asks."
I blow out a long breath. "Well, you were a lot of fucking help," I grumble. It's meant to come out lighthearted, but from the pained expression on Hadley’s face, I fear I might have missed the mark.
"You need to sleep that off," she says, standing and plucking the almost empty bottle hanging from my hand.
"I would if I didn't have a girl in my bed who doesn’t even want to look at me."
She opens her mouth to respond, but I beat her to it. "Don't say it, Hads. Don't say it."
She gives me a small smile before slipping back inside the house, leaving me alone once again with my imagination, guilt, and anger.
Chapter Three
Kennedy
I feel like an exhibit at a zoo. First the doctor, then Conner and Remi. Then another girl called Hadley tried to talk to me. She knew my secret. I don’t know if Remi told her or she could just sense it, but I saw the sympathy in her eyes, the understanding.
It didn’t make me want to open up, though.
