Page 34 of The Last Call Home
She doesn’t flinch.She doesn’t pull away.If anything, she leans into the charge in the room, like she’s testing how far I’ll go.
I go a little further.
“I think I know how to help him,” I say.“Help him open up to you.That guy’s starving for love and somehow still believes he doesn’t deserve it.He’ll crawl for crumbs.And I think you ...you could be the person he lets in.”
“And it can’t be you?”
Oh, I think I once wanted that, but lost my chance.Things with him and Rachel were ...I thought they would be perfect until I realized they weren’t.She didn’t understand and I don’t believe there are many people who would.
It’s better to say, “He likes you.A lot.Probably more than he wants to admit.And with me?It’s too complicated.There’s too much history behind us.”
She raises an eyebrow.“So you’re sacrificing.Trying to be the bigger person.”
“I’m not a good person, Delilah,” I murmur.“But I know when someone else would be better for him.”
She lets out a breath, all wry disbelief and bitter amusement.“Well, I hate to disappoint you, but messy relationships aren’t really my thing.Or relationships at all.My mother’s out there expecting a dozen grandkids and a big-ass wedding with a mariachi band, and I’m over here just trying to survive the week without losing my mind.”
“No love?”
She shrugs.“It’s nice in theory.But it doesn’t last.It lifts you up for a second, makes you believe in things that don’t hold.Then it shatters you.Leaves you with all the sharp edges.”
I study her face.She’s not just talking about love.
She’s talking about survival.
“Okay,” I say, half to her and half to the universe, “so I need to convince not one, but two incredibly stubborn people that love isn’t just worth having ...it’s worth falling for, fucking up for, and fighting like hell to keep.Even when it terrifies you.Especially when it does.”
“That’s—”
“No, don’t deny it.”I cut her, letting out a loud breath.“This might be impossible, but I can do it.I can make you two fall in love.”
“With who?”she asks.
“Him, me, both ...probably no one.”I pause, meet her eyes, and soften my voice just enough to let the promise slip through.“But I’ll restore your faith.”
Even if it means breaking every rule I came here with.
Even if I lose them both.
But why lose when maybe we can all win?This time I’m not fucking this up.
I wink—not cocky, just enough to distract from everything I’m not saying—and step back.Because I need to leave before I stay longer than I should.
There’s another mission pulling at my attention.Another thread unraveling somewhere else.
And until I figure out what the fuck I’m doing with Mal—and Lilah—I need space.
Time.
And maybe the courage to admit I already know exactly what I want.
But can I convince Malerick that this could work?Today, the way he looked at me like he wanted to be cruel and kind in the same breath—I can’t forget that either.
I’m probably fucked.
ChapterTwelve
Malerick
