Page 78 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

‘Who?’

I shake my head. ‘A crush took over my world.’

I’m going to tell her. Just not yet.

‘Is this…’ She motions a hand over me. ‘New Dax, a result of that crush?’

I pretend to clear my throat and nod. ‘Maybe a little.’ YES.

‘I didn’t know.’

‘After your story, I’ll tell you all about it,’ I say, coaxing her along.

‘The worst part of all this…’ She swallows hard. ‘Tristan and I bought a condo seven years ago. It was in an up-and-coming neighborhood outside the city, so we got a good deal. We paid cash, both agreeing to go half. A hundred and fifty thousand each.’

‘Don’t say it, Hols.’

‘Yup, you guessed it. He only gave me back fifty-nine grand as my share.’

‘He stole ninety grand?’

I should have fucking killed him that night.

‘I didn’t want to believe it at first. I mean, who steals from their girlfriend? But the more time that goes by, the more I realize it’s true. I’m still entertaining texts from him and Victoria because if I ghost them, I’ll never see that money again.’

‘Do your parents know?’

She nods. ‘Mom mentioned it tonight. She’s coming around, even apologized earlier. Dad isn’t. He’s hardly said two words to me since I got here. Truthfully, he’s hardly said two words to me in eight years.’

My heart hurts for her. I remember how close she was to her dad. River never told me things were this bad.

‘You can’t let him get away with this, Hols. Ninety grand is jail time, probably. You know Sydney?’ I ask, feeling dumb the second I do. Of course, she remembers Sydney. ‘She’s a lawyer. She can help.’

‘No.’ She shakes her head. ‘This isn’t your problem. It’s mine. River and I agreed we’d give him a month to come to his senses.’

I know she’s right. Me getting involved besides being here for her isn’t my job right now.

‘Did you really love him?’

She bites her lips together, shaking her head as if she’s unsure.

‘I don’t think I even know what love is, Dax. I thought about leaving him a couple times. Buteverytime, he’d say the right thing and drag me back. Always some version of one of two things,’ she continues. ‘You’ll never be able to take care of yourself, which, come on, we can both see that’s true. When all this went down, the first thing I did was call River to save me. Not to mention shacking up with you.’

‘It’s not true.’

She rolls her eyes. ‘Then there was his favorite, the ever-famous, overly used: no one will ever love you the way I have.’ She repeats his words with the same condescending tone I’m sure he used, a tear rolling down her face. She glances over at me, her face sad in a way I’ve never witnessed before.

‘Maybe he was right all along?’ She chokes out the words through a sob she’s desperately trying to hold in as she stands from the bed, then walks to the couch and grabs her stupid Snuggy. She dabs at her eyes before draping it over her shoulders and walking back into River’s room, now leaning against the open door behind her.

Fucking hell. I can’t believe that asshat has done this to her. I stand, walk to her and rest my hands on her shoulders.

‘None of those things were ever true, Hols.’

‘How do you know?’

I’ve got to do this now. She can’t feel like he’s right because if anyone knows he’s not, it’s me.

‘This is quite possibly the wrong time to tell you this, but I think you need to hear it, and I need to finally tell you before your brother or Mercy do.’

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