Page 211 of When We Fall: Part Two
“Anson?”
“Yeah?”
“For what it’s worth, I-I think you’d be good for her. Now. I think you’re the one.” My eyes burned with unshed tears.
“I’m not the one, E. It’ll always be you guys. I gotta go. Bianca wants ice cream. I promised I’d get her some. Stay safe and make smart choices. Rosalie doesn’t need to hear you’re hurt or worse.”
My bottom lip shook. “OK. Take care of her for me.”
“Always, E.”
The line disconnected. The moment I let the phone fall away from my ear, I let the tears come.
Anson was right. I needed to get my shit together. If I wanted her back, it’s what I needed to do.
Find the sunshine.
I’d try until it killed me.
For Rosalie.
SIXTY-SEVEN
ROSALIE
“What the fuck, man?” Trent muttered as he stared down at a clump of spaghetti noodles hardened together.
“You have to make sure to mix them, dumb ass,” Ryder chortled, peering over his shoulder into the pot on the stove.
This was going into the second week in a row of me being with them at Anson’s in the evenings. Anson usually returned home around eleven, leaving me with one or the other, sometimes both, while he was gone.
Since Ryder worked, I usually spent time with Trent. Or didn’t, since I kept to myself in Anson’s bedroom.
But it hadn’t slipped past me that Trent was definitely not a cook.
“It’s fine,” I said weakly. “I-I’m not hungry?—”
“Bullshit, Red,” Ryder said, turning off the stove and slapping Trent on the arm. “Come on. Get changed. I’m taking you to dinner.”
“What about me?” Trent demanded.
“You can stay here and think about what you did,” Ryder retorted. “Be here if Anson comes back early.”
“Text him, dick.” Trent flopped onto a chair in the living room as I stood from the seat I’d been in at the kitchen island.
“Order takeout. Red needs to go out and breathe.” Ryder looked at me. “Dress nice. It’s a fancy restaurant.”
I sighed, and Ryder raised his brows at me. Knowing he wasn’t going to take no for an answer, I went back to Anson’s room and put on the only dress I’d grabbed. A black number I’d picked out with Fox on one of our few outings we got to do.
I put it on and winced at how I looked. I didn’t know what I was thinking when I bought the damn thing. It was severely low cut and short. I suppose I liked the look on Fox’s face when I’d grabbed it.
Since it was all I had, I’d run with it, but made a mental note to go shopping in case there were any other impromptu dinner outings.
I’d showered earlier, so I quickly put on some makeup and dotted on lip gloss before sliding my feet into a pair of black heels and walking out to find Ryder poking Trent and Trent slapping at him.
They seemed to thrive on annoying one another. It was funny, and it did make me smile, which was a nice change from my grimace.
“Holy fucking shit,” Ryder said, pausing mid-poke.
