Page 10 of The Spring in My Heart

“I forgot to lock the suitcase.”

“Oops?” Lauren shrugs. “Too bad. So sad.” Then, her gaze cuts through me like a freshly sharpened steak knife. “Make his day worse, Lux. Finish him.”

I stick my face out the window. “You forgot this.” When he looks up, I yell, “Catch.” and send the watch flying past his head.

The shock on his face segues to him rushing to catch it, only for the Patek Phillipe piece to land on the roof of a car and bounce onto the asphalt. “You lost your fucking mind, Luxxy. You’re going to pay for that.”

“I’m already paying. Don’t call me, and don’t ever come back. We’re done.”

He starts to talk, but I can’t hear him because my ears are buzzing, and my gaze lands on the red truck behind the limo and the man standing by it, watching the whole spectacle.

Oliver.

Mateo is yelling something, but my heart is beating too loud, too fast. And I’m mortified because Oliver probably thinks I’m a straight-up psycho bitch, and now he’s a witness to this toxic dumpster fire that is Mateo and me.

Why is the earth not swallowing me whole?

I slam my window shut and sit on the couch. My hands are starting to shake, so I tuck them under me. I’m letting the emotions wash over me, but this time, the burning in my chest lingers.

Lauren is moving around, but I keep my eyes on the damaged wooden floor I haven’t gotten around to having fixed.

The whole world is talking about me. Everyone is laughing at me. How many of these have I endured? I’ve lost count.

I can’t do it anymore.

Lauren’s footsteps grow closer. She stands before me, waiting.

I can’t look at her. “You should go home. Chase is waiting for you, and the boys need you. I’m okay. Thank you for coming.” My voice is strained. I can barely hold it together.

She doesn’t leave. Instead, she sits close enough without touching me. “Here, take your wine.” She thrusts the glass at me.

I’m forced to grab it. “Please go. I want to be alone.”

“Bullshit.”

My gaze shoots to hers. “Excuse me?”

She leans closer. “I said bullshit. You just dumped your cheating ex. No one wants to be alone after that. You want alcohol, greasy food, cake, and a friend to help you trash his worthless ass.”

“I don’t need a friend,” I snap, making my voice as sharp as I can. I need psychotherapy, electric shocks, a lobotomy, or probably all of it. What I don’t need is another witness to my shame.

Lauren sighs and puts her glass on the table. “That’s good, because I’m not here to be your friend. I came to be so much more than that. I’m going to fast-forward the clock past my wedding and be your sister now.”

The skin on my cheeks tingles, and I flinch like she sucker-punched me. I want to shake my head and tell her I don’t need a sister. I just need to be alone and sort this out like I usually do. But I don’t even recover before she throws her arms around me.

I don’t hug her back. I can’t.

But she holds onto me tight and rubs my back in a way that only Mateo has ever done. Because my mother never did, and my brothers were just as messed up as me. We are there for each other, but we don’t manage emotions. The people who were supposed to teach us never did. We were never anything but pawns to them. Cam, who wasn’t much older than Chase and me, was more of a father to us than Walter.

I don’t hug her, but I cry with her like I do in silence every time. I cling to her warmth with everything I’ve got. I let it out until I have no more tears.

When we pull back, I’m surprised to find tears in her eyes.

Then, she smiles. “Now we eat and get drunk.”

I sniffle. “I have nothing in my fridge.”

She chuckles and points a finger at the bag on my counter. “I came prepared. Fuck Mateo.”

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