Page 136 of Phishing for Love
“We’re all going to die at one point, but you don’t know for sure I’ll die early,” I argue desperately. “You can’t know that. It’s not written in stone. I might live a long and amazing life.”
With you, I add silently.
But I can see, from the look in his eyes, that he doesn’t glimpse a future where the two of us sit in our rocking chairs on an ivy-covered porch and watch the sun go down.
All he sees is a future where I’m in a grave and he’s left alone and broken, felled by grief once again.
“Tess,” he says miserably. “Enough.”
I wrap my arms around myself, as if that can somehow keep me from shattering into a million broken pieces. He’s right. I’ve done enough begging. I want to keep whatever shreds of dignity I still have left. Even if they’re scraps, they’re my scraps.
“You are a coward, Aaron Sinclair,” I say flatly and watch him flinch. “It’s just so much easier for you to walk away.”
He shakes his head in denial. “The hardest thing in the world is to walk away from you.”
“No,” I say, my voice and my heart breaking. “The hardest part is staying. Because then you’d have to be brave enough to take the risk of losing everything for the sake of love.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
[MESSAGES]
Mevia:Hot Guy.
Mevia:Stupid Guy, didn’t I warn you to treat Tess right? Now you’ve gone and broken her heart. I’m holding off on unleashing my cousin’s friend on you in the hope you’ll wake up and grovel your way back to the woman you are meant to be with.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
[MESSAGES]
Sofia:Get your head out of your ass.
Sofia:Tess is your soulmate.
Sofia:Make it right.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
[MESSAGES]
Kenzie:You’re hurting and Tess is hurting. The only way for you to both stop hurting is to be together.
Kenzie:You’re better and stronger together than you are apart.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
[MESSAGES]
Grandma:Aaron, there’s a reason the front windshield in a car is a lot bigger than the rearview mirror. It’s because we should spend more time looking out the windshield with its big, bright future. The rearview mirror is small because it has to be small. It’s not good to dwell too long there.
Grandma:Google wouldn’t give me your number because of privacy issues. I got it from Tess.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
[MESSAGES]
Aaron:Tess.
Aaron:Please help me heal my mind.
