Page 94 of The Love of My Next Life
“Fine. I promise.”
She turns and leaves without another word.
I shut my door and turn on my stereo, and I don’t come out for the rest of the weekend.
TWENTY
“How couldyou do this to me?” Claire asks, making me drag my eyes off Macon’s retreating back. I want to run after him.
“What do you mean he promised?” I ask her.
She hiccups on a sob and ignores the question.
“You know how terrible he is,” she says. “You know everything he’s done. How could you do this? How could you do this to me?”
“Claire, it’s not about you,” I snap, then wince at the way she jerks back as if I’d slapped her. I take a deep breath. “I didn’t do this to hurt you. I swear. It just happened...”
“Stuff like this doesn’t just happen, Lennon!” she shouts. “This is why Eric is all beat to hell? Because you’re cheating on him withMacon?”
“For the last time, Claire, Eric is not my boyfriend,” I say. “He and I are friends. We’reonlyfriends. You’re the one who keeps pushing us together.”
“Because he’s good for you, Lennon,” she says with a sneer. “You need to be with someone like Eric.”
“That’s not for you to decide, Claire! It’s mine.”
“And you want to chooseMacon?” She scoffs. “Macon is toxic waste. He’s going to hurt you and bring you down.”
I close my eyes and shake my head. Part of that is true. He probably will hurt me. He already has. And if he goes down, I might go with him. But...
“He’s not waste, Claire. He’s not. He’s just struggling. He needs help.”
“Oh, and I suppose you’re going to fix him with your vagina?”
“Claire, Jesus, grow up for a second, okay?”
“He’s your brother, now, Lennon! You know how much this is going to upset our parents?”
“I know.” I drop my head in my hands. “God, Iknow. This wasn’t supposed to happen, okay? I tried to stay away from him. I tried to not to do it again bu—”
“Again? How long has this been happening?”
I take a deep breath and try to fight off the tears, but they seep through anyway. Claire asks me again, more insistent this time, and I open my eyes and look at her.
“A couple of months,” I whisper, and her jaw drops.
“You’re a fucking hypocrite.” More tears fall. “You’ve been holding a grudge against our parents for sneaking around and you’re doing it yourself!”
“I know.” I stare at the ground and bite the inside of my cheek. I’m such a hypocrite. I’m a liar, just like Macon said. A thought circles back, and I look at Claire. “What did he promise you, Claire?”
“It doesn’t matter now.”
“It matters to me.”
“He promised to stay away from you, okay?”
Her confession confuses me. I open my mouth to ask, but she keeps going.
“He promised you’d bemyfriend. You’re mine. He promised to stay away and let you be only mine.”
