Page 97 of Bleeding Hearts Duet

He closed the distance between us in three long steps, crushing me against him.

“Of course it isn’t.” He stroked my hair and kissed my forehead. “I don’t see it that way. I don’t see you that way.”

His words were meant to comfort me, but they didn’t. Because I knew it was true. That in his mind, he had put us all into neat little boxes. He had separated the truth of the situation from reality. He may have wanted to believe I was someone else to ease his own conscience, but it didn’t change anything.

“You didn’t tell the police what he did,” I said, getting back to the topic at hand. “So that means you must be planning something.”

He pulled away and gave me a hurt expression like I was defending the other team.

“I know what he did was wrong.” I pulled him back to me. “But, Ryland, this needs to stop now. I’m here, aren’t I? I took care of you. That shows you how I feel about you. I’m here. I don’t want to lose you, but I don’t want to lose them either.”

“That’s the whole point of the game, Brighton.” He gave me a sad smile. “Somebody has to lose.”

***

Twenty minutes after Ryland left, Matt and Nicole showed up at the door.

“You’ll take care of her?” Matt asked, lingering in the hallway with a frown.

“Of course I will,” I assured him.

“Go.” Nicole shooed him away. “You’re going to be late.”

Matt left, reluctantly, and Nicole sighed as she wandered over to an empty barstool.

“I don’t need to be babysat. It was a stupid mistake.”

“But it wasn’t the first time it’s happened,” I pointed out. “Everybody’s worried about you.”

“I know,” she grumbled. “But it was just too much, you know?”

“I do.” I blew the hair out of my eyes and collapsed beside her.

“How are things going with you anyway?” she asked.

“Well, they’d be better if I didn’t think my boyfriend and my brother still want to kill each other,” I replied without humor.

Nicole nodded and tapped her fingers on the marble countertop. “What are you going to do?”

“What can I do? Neither one of them will be honest with me. And Norma… well she won’t listen to reason either.”

Nicole nodded, obviously not knowing what to say. Like me, she had no idea how to get out of this vortex, but I didn’t want to keep pulling her down with me. So instead, I put on a smile and tugged her hand as I stood up from the breakfast bar.

“C’mon, I want to show you something.”

***

“Brighton, these are gorgeous.” Nicole ran her fingers over the tutus with the first honest happiness I’d seen on her face in a while.

“Thank you.” I blushed. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with them, but… I thought it would be nice to do something good. Something to honor Sophia’s memory.”

Her name felt strange on my tongue, and the same familiar burn of guilt was there whenever I said it. I tried to push the image of the mangled girl in the car from my mind. I wanted to think of her as the tiny dancer with the golden halo instead.

Nicole clapped a hand over her mouth and shuddered, and immediately I thought this was the worst idea I’d ever come up with.

“I knew it.” I gathered up the Tulle and tried to put it away. “This was so stupid of me.”

“No.” Nicole reached out and stopped me. “It wasn’t. It’s perfect.”

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