Page 43 of Fall Hard

“You are always welcome,” he said sternly. “Please, I know I probably don’t deserve a second chance. But let me try to fix this. Come to dinner next weekend.”

“Dinner?” There wasn’t a pie good enough in this whole world to make me forget what had happened or the way they’d stifled me my whole life. Bryn shot me a look and I looked at her incredulously. She thought I should go. “Fine. But only if I can bring Bryn.” If she was going to make me do this, then she might as well suffer too.

“Done,” my dad said quickly before standing and kissing my cheek while I stood there stiffly. “We’ll see you then.”

I stayed where I was as Bryn showed him to the door and was still standing in the same place when she came back.

“He’s gone.”

I nodded, feeling absolutely wrung out. I heard Jamie’s door opening and decided I’d people-d enough for one night. For now, I just needed to go to sleep and process this.

“Liv—” Jamie called as I walked past and I smiled tiredly at her as I closed my bedroom door.

“Night.”

* * *

The light was burning my eyes and I groaned as I rolled over. “Why?”

My bed dipped slightly as a new weight settled on the edge and Bryn’s delicate perfume wafted over to me.

“Because it’s two in the afternoon and I haven’t seen you come out of this room since your dad left.”

“So?”

“SoI don’t want you in here wallowing. Not over them.”

I sighed as I lowered the duvet from its place above my head to squint at her. The problem was, she was right. Annoyingly. I shouldn’t be giving them this power over me, to walk into my life and make me feel…lesserlike this. Again.

I took a deep breath in and blew it out slowly, repeated it before I opened my eyes to look at her.

She’d opened the blinds in my room and the sunlight streaming in made her blonde hair glow, looking even lighter against the deep purple of the walls Jamie had told me I could paint however I wanted.

“You’re a real pain in the ass,” I grumbled to her as I swung my legs out of bed and stretched my arms up until they gave satisfyingpops.

“You’re so welcome,” she said with a snort before grabbing my hand and dragging me from the room. “Eat. Then we’re going out.”

“What? No. I really just—”

“Not in charge,” she sing-songed and I gritted my teeth.

“Fine.”

I ignored the smug expression on her face as I grabbed a poptart from the cupboard and ate it cold as Bryn watched, nose wrinkled. I downed a glass of water for good measure and then raised my eyebrows.

“Happy?”

“Very.” Bryn smirked and followed closely behind me as I made my way back to my room. “Don’t worry about showering or anything, just grab something comfy and then we’re leaving.”

My irritation levels were rising alarmingly quickly. Sure, some of that was probably misplaced anger that my dad had just shown up here and expected me to welcome him with open arms or something, but the rest of it felt that Bryn was a busybody who needed to keep her nose out of my life.

…Except for the fact that I’d begged her to do the exact opposite.

I stayed quiet as I tugged on some sweats and pulled my hair up into a high pony. Bryn matched my silence beat for beat and the longer it stretched on, the better I felt. Yeah, she was dragging me out of the house, but she wasn’t going to force me to talk about everything that had happened yesterday if I didn’t want to and, begrudgingly, I was grateful for that—and for the escape from my thoughts she was providing me with. I’d stayed up late, pacing around my room as I replayed every word my dad had said and everything I hadn’t. I’d stood up for myself more than I ever had before, so why didn’t that feel like enough?

I reached for my cute, white sneakers as I left my room and Bryn shook her head.

“Those are new, right? Wear something you don’t mind getting messy.”

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