“Harley,” Reed shouts.
The words pouring from my lips freeze on the tip of my tongue. My hands drop to my sides, and I stare at him as my pounding heart takes over my ears.
“What?” I whisper.
“Someone you love?” His chest inflates as he draws in a slow, measured breath. “Do you love me, Angel?”
His eyes search mine with the first hint of vulnerability I’ve ever seen in them. Even when he’s talked about his assault, they’ve never looked like this before—like everything that could ever matter in life boils down to my answer.
To one word.
“Yes,” I breathe out slowly. “I’m in love with you.”
His brows rise and I can pinpoint the exact moment hope explodes in his eyes like a million golden fireworks all set off at once.
I shake my head. “But I let you down.”
“None of that matters.” He raises his voice again, finally attracting the attention of passers-by.
“How can it not?” I cry back.
“Because I’m choosing it to be that way, that’s why.”
“How is it that easy? How is—”
“It’s not easy. It’s been twelve years of trying. Thinking if I push it far enough into the past that it never happened in the first place. And that was enough. But it’s not anymore. Not now that it’s hurting you, too. I’m done pretending. I’m done trying to ignore it.”
“But…” My head spins as I struggle to process his words. “They have the video. They could still release it. Now the police have it. People will see it.”
“Don’t make me into a victim, Harley.” His voice has a dangerous edge to it. “Don’t give them that power. They manipulated you, and you fought back. Now it’s time to take back full control. They may have been under the illusion they had it, but it was never theirs to begin with. It’s always been mine.”
I blink, my head pounding, setting a relentless, unforgiving rhythm. I rub at my temple. “But—"
“I was raped!” Reeds yells suddenly, drawing a gasp from a woman stepping out of a cab further down the street. His eyes are bright and clear as he throws his arms wide and tips his head back, angling it upward to the soaring Manhattan skyscrapers surrounding us.
“I was fucking raped. And it wasn’t my fault.” He’s panting, his hair falling forward into his eyes as he looks back at me, lowering his voice. “It doesn’t get to dictate my future or what I do, or who I love. It doesn’t get to be used against me.” He jabs his finger into his chest, dragging in a rough breath. “And it certainly doesn’t get to be used against you. Not anymore.”
My head spins and I stumble backward, suddenly dizzy as I lock eyes with Reed.
He may be shouting... but his eyes are full of clarity, glittering at me.
Full of renewed purpose.
“Sorry,” I apologize as I bump into someone. “I… Sorry,” I repeat, the woman from the cab sidestepping me as I wobble to one side.
“Argh!”
A sudden, sharp pain consumes my bare foot, shooting through my calf and forcing the air from my lungs as the overwhelming urge to vomit hits me like a punch to the face. My vision blurs.
“Harley!” Reed shouts.
It’s the last sound I hear before the pain stops.
Chapter thirty-seven
Reed
Ialterthewordsto Maroon 5’s, “If happy ever after does exist”, as they leave my lips.