Page 77 of The Heartbreak List

When she’s gone…I don’t know how I’m going to recover from that. Which is not what I need to focus on right now. “They’ll be okay, Indy. Your family is tight. Your brother isn’t going to pick sides. Your parents will work out how to balance this situation. You haven’t destroyed them by choosing you.”

“I chose you a little bit too.” She smiles softly, wrapping her arms around my neck.

“You did, huh?” I tease her, but it means the world to have this period with her. In such a short amount of time she’s changed me for the better. Given me purpose. Helped me come to terms with my grief and my guilt.

I lower my head and press my lips to hers.

“Theo.” She shakes her head as she presses her palms into my chest and moves away an inch.

It’s for the best. I forgot for a moment why I came to find her. “Gray’s here—"

A door slams. Gray’s words are strangled with emotion. “You’re kissing him? At your parents’ house? In our spot?”

“Gray? No.” Indy looks past me and the color leeches from her face. She starts to tremble. Her eyes glisten as she climbs from the Adirondack. “Gray, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“I can’t believe you.” He sounds tortured.

“Gray.” EJ clamps a hand on his friend’s shoulder while he fires a warning glance at me as I rise to my full height. “Maybe we should—”

I step in front of her. “This isn’t on Indy. I kissed her.”

“You don’t get to come here and kiss my fiancée in our fucking spot. These are my friends,” Gray roars, the sinew in his neck standing out. “Our family.”

Indy edges around me. “I’m not your fiancée.”

He opens and closes his mouth several times, his Adam’s apple working like the words are stuck in his throat. “You’re right.”

“Gray?” Indy chases after him when he storms back into the house.

It takes gritting my teeth to keep my feet planted where I am. To not go after her and make sure that he doesn’t convince her to give in to keep him happy.

EJ stays too. We have our own weird stare off across the yard. Finally he grimaces. “Well, this is a shit show. I suggested he leave, but…”

“I’m the intruder.”

“So I’m going to suggest the same to you.”

Indy wants me here. “I can’t do that.” I won’t. Unless she tells me to.

“I figured you’d say that.” He lets out a long and slow sigh.

“What did he mean, our spot?”

“As far as I could guess, and I really don’t want to, a lot of firsts happened in that particular chair.” He opens the door. “Want to have a beer while you wait? Dinner won’t be long, but I’m pretty sure it will be awkward as hell.”

I glance at the innocent Adirondack as I follow him. If he’s right…

We take our beers into the small den at the front of the house. There’s a pool table and we play while we drink. In another life we might have become friends, but in this one, he’s keeping me amused while his best mate and his sister talk in private.

He’s not bad at the game, but I’m better and the first round is over before we’re done with the beer. Indy still isn’t back. I glance at the time on the clock on the wall. It’s been almost fifteen minutes. “Where’s your bathroom?”

EJ gives me directions, and I find myself on the second level. Apparently there’s something wrong with the downstairs plumbing. I bypass open bedroom doors until I hear Indy and Gray talking. He walks out of the room before I can make out a word they were saying.

His gaze narrows and he marches toward me. “You’re just a blip in our relationship because Indy’s not herself at the moment. But when she gets better, and she’s done with that heartbreak list, she’ll come back to me. Do you want to know why?”

“You’re deluding yourself,” I say, quiet and firm. About Indy’s health. About what she would do if she got a reprieve on this death sentence she’s living with. I don’t need to hear him rant about why he thinks he’s better for her. Because if she were to get that reprieve I would take full advantage of it. I wouldn’t give him a shot to get between us.

“Well, I guess we’ll see how long you last.” He shoves his shoulder into mine as he passes me. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to stop loving her. What we have is far stronger than a fling. She’s only with you because she doesn’t know how to handle what’s happening to her. She’ll never love you.”

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