Her words were like shrapnel, blasting toward me and slicing me open. But I didn’t respond. I didn’t say or do anything. I just sat there numb, watching their lives unravel around me.
Maybe I should have cared, maybe I should have offered to leave, to give them space to sort out their issues.
But I didn’t.
Because Michael hadn’t only destroyed her life; he’d destroyed mine.
“Sabrina, please be reasonable.”
“Reasonable? REASONABLE?” she shrieked like a banshee.
I got up then and walked right past her.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” she snarled at me.
But I ignored her, walking right out of the room and down the hall. Max was already hanging out of his bedroom, watching. He yanked the door wider as I reached him, and I slipped inside and laid down on his bed.
“Do you need me to call him?”
“N-no. I just… I need to not think for a second.” I closed my eyes and curled up into a ball.
As the darkness swept in, I was sure I heard Max whisper, “For what it’s worth, I’d choose you over her.”
“Harleigh, wake up.” Someone nudged me. “Harleigh, wake—”
“I’m awake.” I swatted the hand away, cracking an eye open. “What do you want?”
“We have a problem.” Celeste’s expression was grim, and I sat up, pushing the fine hairs out of my face.
“What’s—”
“You cannot go up there, young man,” Michael’s voice carried down the hall. “If you don’t come down here this instant, I’ll have no choice, but to call the—”
The door burst open, and Zane appeared, breathless and pale. “Thank fuck.”
“Z-Zane?”
“That’s the problem I was referring to,” Celeste said. I pushed her away and swung my legs over the side of the bed.
“What happened?”
Something was wrong.
“It’s Nix. He’s at the hospital.”
The hospital?
The ground went from under me, and I gripped the sheets to keep myself upright. “What. Happened. Zane?”
“His old man, his old man fucking happened, okay. It’s bad, B. It’s really fucking bad. He needs you. He needs—”
I jumped up and ran to Zane, pulling him into my arms. “He’s okay. He’ll be okay.”
I didn’t know what I was saying, but the idea that he wouldn’t… I couldn’t think that.
I refused to think that.
“Harleigh.” The disapproval in Michael’s voice made me flinch. “What is going on here?”