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When she cups his cheek, making him look down at her, I have to swallow back the bile that rises in my throat.
My hand falls to my belly as the tears I’ve been holding back finally break free. Walk away, Toby, come back to the house. Come back to me. Please.
“If you're looking to get your mind off something, I can help you with that.” She leans up on her tiptoes and places her mouth to his.
And that's when my heart breaks.
I turn around and take off running. A deep sob rattles my chest, tears streaming down my cheeks, making it harder to see in the dark.
Every few steps, I trip over my own feet. My mind is fuzzy, and I feel dizzy.
“Lilly!” someone shouts from behind me, but I don’t stop. I head straight toward my car, needing to get out of here. “Lilly, wait!”
Hands grab me as I try to open my car door. It’s locked, and my keys are back with Bianca in my purse. “Damn it!” I cry, kicking the car door and pounding on the window a few times weakly.
“Shhh.” Strong arms wrap around me, and I turn in Bishop's hold. Burying my face into his chest, I let go and break down.
He holds me as I cry, not asking what's wrong. He knows what's wrong, and I hate him for it. But he’s also one of my best friends, and I need him right now.
“I got you, il mio cuore,” he murmurs, kissing the top of my head.
The kiss replays over and over in my mind. How did my night go from having an amazing time with Toby, to ending in pure devastation? I was going to tell him I love him.
I’m such a fool, a stupid sixteen year old girl clinging to the hope that what we had meant as much to him as it did to me.
“Take me home,” I tell Bishop, pulling out of his arms and angrily wiping the tears from my face.
“Lilly...”
“Take me home!” I shout, abandoning my car and heading toward his.
“Shit,” he curses, but then I hear his footsteps following me. He unlocks the car, and I yank open the passenger door before getting in.
Thankfully, he doesn’t ask questions or try to get me to talk on the way home.
Leaning my head against the window, I look out into the darkness.
I feel so stupid and confused.
No one understands Toby’s and my relationship. Since the moment we met back when we were just little kids, he’s been my whole world.
He’s not my best friend, not like Bishop or his sister, Bianca, or Jonas. Toby is my person, my soulmate. My protector. Hell, I don’t even think there's a word in the English dictionary that could describe what he is to me.
Fucked up thing is...he’s also my stepbrother. But never once did it ever feel like that. I knew deep in my heart that someday, we would be more. No one could have ever convinced me otherwise.
Until tonight.
I thought neither of us knew how to take that next step. I wanted to be the one to get over that hurdle so we could get past it and be with each other, like we’ve been wanting to for so long.
Does he really just see me as his little sister?
No. You don’t look at your sister the way he looks at me; like he wants to consume me, like I’m his everything, his world.
But then how could he kiss her?! And after he knew what she’s said to me, about our family?
I feel betrayed and broken. I’m a fool for thinking this was more.
We pull up into the driveway of our massive house. It’s crazy to think that my mom and I lived in a small one bedroom apartment before meeting Theo and Toby.
