Page 54 of As Long As You Kiss Me

“There’s nothing left to explain. You’ve done a good enough job of that already.”

He hung his head in shame. “I can’t blame you for feeling this way. All of this is my own fault. And now I’m going to lose the most amazing girl I’ve ever met.”

Was that how he felt about her? Joy soared through her, but she stamped it out before it could get too far. She wasn’t going to be with Jackson. It was too painful to be around him. Every time she looked at him, she saw her brother on the ground, suffering. So staying away from him was the only option. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Please leave.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” he asked.

“Yes,” she whispered. Sending him away was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. But her emotions left her with no other choice. Not when his mere presence brought her pain.

His chair scraped as he pushed it back from the table. But she didn’t open her eyes to watch his departure.

“You’re already leaving?” Aubrey asked.

She must have come back from her room.

“Yes.”

“But you just got here,” she protested.

“It’s what Sully wants. I’m merely respecting her wishes.”

Sully opened her eyes.

Aubrey had her hands on her hips with a questioning look on her face.

Jackson walked through the door with a look over his shoulder at her. It broke her heart to see the sorrow on his features. So much raw emotion there.

The door shut, and Aubrey looked back at her. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

She got up and took her coffee into her bedroom and shut the door.

Sully tookthe next several days off work, staying in her bedroom, coming out only to get food and to use the bathroom.

Aubrey gave her space during that time, much to Sully’s relief. But on the fifth day of taking off work and not showering, Aubrey lost it on her.

“You stink, Sully. When was the last time you actually took a shower? I can smell you all the way from across the room.”

Sully didn’t answer her.

“You have to talk to me. I’m your best friend.” She sat on the edge of her bed. “See me being a good friend? You smell like the back of a garbage truck, and I’m still here.”

“I told you I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Do you really think that’s what’s best for you?”

Sully sighed. “I don’t know. It’s what feels good though.”

“Just because it feels good doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.” Sully gave her a stern, mothering look.

She wasn’t going to let up, was she? The girl was relentless. Might as well rip the Band-Aid off. “Jackson was there when Tyson died, and he never told us the details of his death. He’s been hiding it all this time.”

“Was it his fault or something?” Aubrey’s face was pale and serious now.

“He thinks it is. But he wasn’t the one who set off the explosion.”

“But why would he think that?”

It was so hard to talk about, but she forced the words out anyway. “There was a guy on a rooftop who apparently set off the bomb. Jackson had cleared the area to be safe and didn’t see that guy there. Later, after the explosion, he’d been too injured to get Tyson out of there and had to be rescued himself.”

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