Page 73 of Bliss: Part 1
He tilted his head slightly. “Are you sure?”
“No,” I admitted.
He nodded like he understood. “Did Dash talk to you last night?”
“Yeah.”
“Did it help?”
I didn’t know how to answer that. I nodded again, but it wasn’t the full truth. Maybe it helped in the moment. Maybe it made me feel safe. But it didn’t stop the need inside me to confess.
Rhys must’ve sensed that. He frowned and looked like he was thinking through what to say next.
“Do you need anything? You want to talk to me?”
I shook my head. “No, thank you. I just…I need to go to Dad.”
His eyebrows pulled together. “He’s probably still asleep. Don’t wake him up. He’ll be pissed.”
“I know,” I said. “But I have to talk to him.”
He stepped forward again. “Can’t it wait?”
“No.” My voice was firmer this time.
“Bliss, I’m sure whatever you need, I can help you with, too. Don’t drag Dad into this. Not this early in the morning.”
“Lissy.” Dash’s voice came from behind me. Shit…he had woken up. His hand found my wrist and tugged gently. “Come back to bed.”
I turned to look at him. He looked so tired. I had already put him through enough in the last twenty-four hours. God, I had put everyone in a difficult position, and now I wanted to make it worse.
He knew exactly what I wanted to do, and I could feel how badly he didn’t want me to do it.
I pulled my hand away. “I don’t want to go back to bed.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Rhys said, looking between us, his voice sharper now.
“I’m going to tell Dad what happened last night.”
Dash’s hand closed around mine again. “Lissy, please. Come back.”
I snapped. My voice cracked as I raised it. “No! I don’t want to go back to bed! I want to tell Dad!”
Rhys ran a hand through his hair, eyes wide with alarm. “Shit. Okay, Lissy. Look at me.” He stepped close and placed one hand on the back of my head, guiding my gaze up to meet his. His eyes were serious. He was silently begging. Rhys never begged.
“I know it feels heavy. But you can’t tell anyone. Not this. You hear me?”
“I need to.”
He sighed hard, then put his forehead against mine. His hands moved to the sides of my face. His thumbs were shaking a little. “Listen to me. You can’t tell him. Please.”
“I need to!” I said again. I wasn’t shouting, but my voice was loud. There was pressure building in my chest, and the more I held it in, the more it hurt. And I needed it to stop hurting. “I feel disgusting. I can’t breathe. I can’t keep pretending everything’s okay. It’s not. It’s really not.”
“Rhys,” Dash said with a sigh, trying to calm things down. “Let her.”
That surprised me.
“Let her?” Rhys turned to him. “Are you insane? Do you know what he’ll do to us? Do you have any idea what we’re risking?”
