Page 77 of My Favorite Bad Decision
“I’m not saying they’ll begoodat it,” he says, more gently. “And I’m not saying that you shouldn’t step in at a time like this, where it’s life or death, potentially, and you’re the only one with medical knowledge. But you’ve made them soft.”
“I haven’t made them soft. Theyaresoft. They came into the world that way. That’s why I had to step up.”
“Everyone comes into the world soft, little sis. Life makes them hard.” He laughs. “That didn’t come out quite right, but you know what I meant.”
It’s possible, but that doesn’t change the fact that Maren and my mom are entirely unequipped to deal with the real world.
“I just don’t want to see them get hurt.”
He nods. “I know. And that’s because in certain ways you, also, are too soft. It hurtsyouto see them get hurt.”
I exhale, suddenly exhausted by the conversation and this day as a whole. “This is all pretty reflective for someone who just spent six figures getting an incriminating video scrubbed from the Internet.”
He laughs. “I was reading some articles about helicopter parents in the lobby and thought of you. But anyway…take it under consideration. It’s possible you could have stayed wherever you were if they didn’t assume you’d come rushing back to take charge.”
I walk downstairs and hail a cab. I’m certain that Miller is back at his apartment by now, probably in bed anddefinitelyrelieved to have this all behind him. But since he texted asking me to let him know as soon as I heard something, I tap out a quick message.
Hey, there. My mom is fine. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her, and I’m heading home now. I’m sorry it had to end like that. Thank you so much for taking me. It meant the world.
He doesn’t reply, which I guess is for the best. It ended as well as it could have—no long speeches, no false promises, no suggestion that we could somehow keep it going, even if I desperately wish we could. It was as clean a finish as we were going to get.
The driver pulls up in front of my building. I wave to the doorman and proceed to the condo I no longer want to be in.
I used to love this place. I loved the windows, and the way I could see the Empire State Building if I stood in the outermost corner. But it’s not Starfish Cay. It’s not a white-sand beach and the clearest water. It’s not Miller, following me as I climb into the shower.
Even the shower is disappointing. I want warm breezes blowing in and a skylight. I want Miller grinning at me, his dimple tucking in as he opens the shower door.
And then I want to wake with him warm and sun-burnished beside me, giving me a sleepy smile as his eyes flicker open, pulling me close, ignoring my objections about morning breath as his mouth moves to mine.
I’ve just turned off the water and reached for a towel when there’s a knock at the door.
It’s too late for a visitor. My father, Maren, and my mother are all on the doorman’s list, but my dad is across the country and the other two are, I’m sure, still at the hospital.
Which only leaves one other option—Blake.Shit.I have no idea how he knows that I’m here, and while I’m incredibly tempted just to turn off the lights and wait for him to go away, it’s probably best to get this over with.
I throw on a robe and, mentally bracing for Blake’s fury, open the door…only to watch Miller walk in instead.
I blink rapidly. “I thought you were Blake.”
His eyes fall to my robe, and his nostrils flare. “You were going to open the door for Blake dressed likethat?”
I glance down. I guess the robeisbarely tied. “You were banging on the door…I just didn’t think. How did you even get up here? You’re not on the list.”
“I know a guy,” he replies.
My dad, I suppose. Meddling again. “Okay…why are you here?”
His eyes hold mine. “You can’t possibly think we’re done just like that. I’m here because I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
I swallow hard, leaning against the wall. “Miller,” I say softly, “this can’t end well.”
He closes the distance between us. “Who says it has to end at all?” he asks, flicking my robe open with his index finger and sliding his hand over my bare hip.
This isn’t how it was supposed to go, and it makes it all so messy. Now we won’t have a clean break, and it will end in some ugly way. I just don’t have the strength to send him back out the door when he’s all I want right now.
But I can’t imagine when I’m going to get any stronger.
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