Page 76 of The Pieces We've Lost

“Colt, I’m sorry, I-I tried to stop her.” Jake ran in apologizing, out of breath.

“What do you—” the words fell from my mouth as I saw her walk in.

Sophie.

I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn’t just a figment of my imagination, that the injury wasn’t making me see things. But no, it was really her. Why was she here? Why now?

“Hi, Colter,” she murmured as she walked over to the side of the hospital bed opposite Ellison to put a hand on my arm.

I couldn’t pull away before she discreetly dug her nails in and asked with saccharine concern, “How are you doing? Are you okay,babe?” She looked directly at Ellisonwhen she called me babe, an icy bite to her tone as if she was claiming territory she had no right to anymore.

I couldn’t find any words, couldn’t tell her to leave. I just stared at her in disbelief, or perhaps awe, at how calculated she could be.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

ellison

Ilooked back and forth between Colter and the unfamiliar woman who currently had her hand on his arm. She was beautiful. No, she was absolutely stunning. And she was nothing like me. It was like looking at a polar opposite.

She smiled at Colter, and he just stared at her. Confusion and hurt poured through me and any and all rational thoughts were gone as jealousy creeped up my skin. The room had suddenly warmed to what felt like a hundred degrees and it was as though the walls of the already tiny hospital room were closing in on me.

How could I have been so stupid? It only took one look at them to know that she meant something to him. I mean, she called himbabe.I just didn’t know what she was to him. And I didn’t think I wanted to stick around to find out.

I dropped Colter’s hand before I pushed past Reid and Jake and stormed out the door. My fight or flight instinct had kicked in, and I wasn’t sure I had any fight left in me.

“Ellison, wait!” Colter called after me.

I ignored him. I needed air, space. I needed to be outof that room and away from whatever sick punishment that was for finally letting someone in.

Was any of it real?My mind was racing through worst-case scenarios. I saw the way she looked at him. The way he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. He looked at me that way the other night—had looked at me that way the past couple of months—and I foolishly thought I was special, that I could take his words at face value.

That was the problem with cowboys. They came into your life and made you feel like you hung the moon, but they always took off at some point. Heartache was not a question of if, but when.

“Ellie, stop!”

I turned my head as Reid flew out of Colter’s hospital room.

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“Then what is it, Reid? Who is she?” I whirled around to face him before he could touch me, hardening my jaw, despite the lump in my throat. I wasn’t going to let this break me.

“She’s Colt’s ex-fiancée. I have no idea why she’s here or what she wants. Please, just hear him out,” he explained.

Ex-fiancée?

I blinked, trying to wrap my head around that information. “Why should I, though? I saw the way they looked at each other.” My voice broke slightly as I spoke.

Dammit.

He reached toward me, but I jerked away, crossing my arms defensively.

Don’t touch me. Please,I pleaded silently.

He took a step back, hurt flashing in his expression for a moment. But then he sighed. “Because, Ellie, you’re thebest damn thing to happen to Colter in two years. If there’s only one thing you believe, then let it be this. Colter cares about you. He’s a better version of himself when you’re by his side. And I know you care about him too. Otherwise you wouldn’t be running away like this.”

Colter was right about Reid. He was observant.

“And yeah, Sophie made him happy once. We all thought she was it for him. But then she broke up with him with a text message. She didn’t even give them a fighting chance, and Colter blamed himself for every single moment, every single fight leading up to the breakup. He let it consume him, thinking that he had failed—that if he wasn’t worthy of Sophie’s love, he wasn’t worthy of anyone’s. But the moment Colter saw you, Ellison, something changed in him.”

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