Spin the bottle.
A hotel room.
Our apartment.
It all leads up to the hospital and her by my side.
I’m a real piece of shit.
I never deserved her.
I never will.
My head throbs, and my vision blurs. I close my eyes and lay my head back.
The images from her sketchbook come to life fresh in my mind as though I am experiencing them all for the first time. Tears burn behind my eyes, and I hold the book to my chest. I want to rip out the pages and watch them burn. Burn her out of my mind and my heart because she’s back and the force of it…the force of her and the love she had for me is too strong to bear.
“You’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life.” Her words ring in my head.
Fuck.
It all hits me. Her haunted gaze. The night of the accident. The love I felt for her. The love I still feel blooms in my chest and dies when I think about what I did. I don’t deserve to love her.
Jackie didn’t touch me, but she was about to when Liri walked in the room. My stomach clenches. I destroyed the best thing I ever had.
“You traded all we had for two minutes of nothing with that whore.”
I gave up a lifetime of wonderful for nothing.
“I was the real deal. I was your girl, but I don’t wanna be anymore.”
Those words are going to haunt me for the rest of my life.
Chapter 16
Liri
“Doc has been calling all morning for you. I told him you had finals, but he needs you to come into his office as soon as possible.”
“I’ll call when I get back to my hotel room. I just need to turn this final writing thing in first.”
“Okay. I don’t want you to stress or worry. I’m sure it’s nothing. I mean I am sure he would have told me. I am your mother.”
“It’s fine. I’m an adult, Mom. He can’t share that stuff with you. It’s against the law.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Theo has a thing, so Cooper is going to meet us tomorrow with the truck.”
“We won’t need one. I’m only taking my clothes and shoes. And my other small stuff. Killian can do whatever he wants with the rest.”
“If I get my hands on him…”
“Mom. Stop. I told him not to be there.”
“Good. Cooper wants to bury him.”
“Let’s not talk about Killian.” His name is so raw and bitter tasting on my tongue. I never thought this is how we would end up. I thought our love story was one for the storybooks. I was wrong. I was wrong about it all. Especially Killian.
“Cooper is excited to see you. It’s been nearly a year it seems.”