Page 77 of The Other Side of Together

Silence stretches between us, and I wait for it to snap, but the confusion on Marcus’s face is too much.

“I’m not an American citizen. You wanted to know what Nick is to me? He’s the only reason my family can be here. He’s the reason we have the restaurant. Nick’s baba helped us get out of Taiwan and before he died, he paid for the restaurant. The rest of the inheritance went to Nick. So my baba and Nick work together. He knows everything about us and could get us deported with one phone call.” I close my eyes. “I don’t even want to imagine what Baba will do to me if he finds out I called the police.” I swallow and let out a shaky breath. “It’s only a matter of time before we’re forced to leave.”

Marcus sits back on his heels, rubbing the back of his neck.

I blink back tears. “I thought I could figure out a way to be with you. But that was so stupid.” My voice cracks and I cover my mouth. “Guo Mama’s helping me disappear so Nick can’t find me. There aren’t a lot of options for me right now.”

Marcus shoots forward, kneeling again, his hands cupping my face. “No,” he says, squinting like my words hurt going in. He shakes his head slowly, opens his mouth, then closes it before pinning me with his eyes. “No.”

I look down at my hands. “I don’t have a choice, Marcus.”

“No,” he says again, pulling me up from the bed, wrapping me in his arms. “I’m not losing you again.”

Reality presses down on me, and I close my eyes, my eyelashes brushing his chest. There really aren’t choices. I’ve always known it and Marcus is figuring it out.

“I should never have let you onto my fire escape or written you notes or talked to you. I should never have let myself have any feelings for you because I knew it would all have to end at some point.”

Cursing again, Marcus shakes his head and cradles the back of my head, smashing my cheek against his chest. “No. Nope.” He lets go of me and steps back, rubbing his hands down his face, dropping them to his side. “We just…need some sleep. We’ll figure this out tomorrow. I can’t think straight right now.” He pulls down the covers and helps me slide inside before sliding in after me, curling around me from behind like he can keep tomorrow from coming between us.

CHAPTER 30

Mei’s breathing is steady. Deep, even though I don’t want it to take her too far from me. But I gotta think. Clear my head, sift through all the new info, so I ease away from her, instantly cold without her warm back against my chest.

I consider pulling my wet shirt on, then forget it and close the door behind me before taking the stairs down two at a time.

Guo sits at the table staring into her tea, her robe drooped around her, making her even smaller. She glances up, then pats the table and points to the chair across from her.

“Come here, boy.”

I drop into the chair, my head still fuzzy from exhaustion. “This whole thing…” I put my elbows on the table, my head in my hands, and talk to the scarred wood. “What do I do, Guo?” I drop my hands and they slap the table as I look up. “I promised her I’d keep her from Nick but…how? What am I supposed to do about any of this?”

“She told you.”

I close my eyes and nod. “Yeah.”

“She has told you what she knows, yes, but there is more. So much more I cannot say.”

I shake my head and open my eyes. “Then…if you can’t tell me what it is, at least tell me what to do. I’ll do it—whatever it is. Unless it’s letting her go. Can’t do that.”

Guo watches me, hands folded on the table. “Mei Li cannot stay. It is too dangerous.”

I blink. “But what if—”

Guo holds up her hand. “She cannot stay, Marcus. She must leave. This is all very tricky, but…I’ve been thinking, and…”

I stare at her, waiting. “And what?”

“She must leave San Francisco and you will not be together.”

I frown, scan the kitchenette. “So that’s it? That’s what you’ve been thinking about?”

Guo hesitates. “Yes…but also…”

I lean into the table. “Help me out here, Guo.”

“She could leave, and you could still be together.”

I squint. “Like…how, if she leaves?” Her eyes spark and I tense my legs. “Not following…”

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