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“You’ve been through a lot.” Rune sat down on my other side. “Can’t believe you didn’t call us.”
“Can we save the lectures for later?”
Rune tossed his arm over my shoulder, the action reminding me of so many times in the past. “Oh, trust me, we’ll fucking talk about it.”
“Wonderful,” I muttered.
Silence took over as I drank my water, trying to come to terms with what had just happened. It was hard to understand it, to even accept it.
“It was such a nice day,” I whispered to myself. No one spoke, as though leaving me room to continue if I wanted to. Maybe it was pathetic, but I couldn’t stop myself from going on. “They called you yesterday, didn’t they?”
“Yeah,” Bray answered. “We hopped the first flight we could.”
“It makes sense why they were weird today. They knew you’d show up. They wanted to give me some nice last day, I guess.” I thought about our breakfast together, about the way they’d let me pick whatever I wanted to do. It felt like that last big trip to an amusement park before parents told their kids about a divorce.
It didn’t make me feel better, though. Instead, it made me feel as though they’d tainted something precious to me. The day, which had been so wonderful, crumbled because they hadn’t done it just because. It wasn’t just us being together, but them trying to ease their guilt, as though one good day would make up for the pain they were about to cause me.
“I was really happy,” I admitted.
“You want me to kill them?” Rune offered, and boy did that take me back. He’d offered that often when I was younger, anytime I’d gotten upset about anything.You want me to kill that teacher? I could make that bully disappear.I hadn’t realized as a kid that he was serious, but I knew it now, and it warmed me all the same.
“No.” I brought my knees up and wrapped my arms around them. “As mad as I am, as much as I wish I never came here or met them, I don’t want them hurt. I’m pretty sure that would be a lot worse.”
Dane snorted softly. “That almost seems like you love them or something.”
I set my chin on my knees, curled into a ball, unable to even respond. Admitting it to them was too difficult, but I couldn’t deny it, either. The truth was that I was hopelessly in love with them.
After they’d thrown me away, though, it was just too hard to say it out loud. In fact, it made me feel pathetic.
“Fuck,” Rune cursed, his voice low. “Well, now I think it’s a damn good idea to kill them.”
I elbowed Rune in the side, met with hard muscle that told me he probably hadn’t even felt it.
“Fine, I won’t kill themyet.”
“If you even think about laying a finger on them, you and I will have a problem,” I said.
“Ah, there’s that feisty girl I know,” Dane said. “Pretty sure I like you better hissing than crying. Perk up and big brother Dane will take you drinking and to a strip club.”
“Thanks, but I don’t think booze and naked women will solve this.”
“Booze and naked women solveeverything.And if they don’t? You’re not using them right.”
A smacking sound made me twist to find Rune pulling his hand back and glaring at Dane. “Don’t talk to her about things like that!”
The interaction made me smile, even when I didn’t feel much like smiling.
“So, no killing them, but what if we hurt them just a little?” Dane asked.
I pushed up and off the couch, surprised by just how tired I felt. Then again, it had been an exceedingly long day. “Thanks, but I think I’m going to shower, get into these pajamas, and go to sleep. Tell Nem I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
“We’ve got a flight planned for tomorrow evening, so you should sleep in,” Bray said. “Your room is the third door on the left.”
I offered a soft thanks as I headed out of the room.
“What about flat tires?” Dane called out as I went down the hallway toward the room Bray had indicated. I didn’t acknowledge his words, but he kept going, in true Dane fashion. “I could send poisoned pizzas to their place.”
“She doesn’t want them dead,” Rune reminded him.
