My lids cracked open, heart tearing right down the center.
She needed me. My little sister needed me.
My mom needed me.
They were more important than my need to keep my emotions from suffocating me. In the end, they would anyway, whether I was there or here. If these past few months had taught me anything, it was that I couldn’t outrun my feelings. Not when the people I was running from were so deeply ingrained in my heart.
They needed me… and I needed them.
“I'm coming home, Bella.” My lids drifted closed as I took a shaky breath. “I'm coming home.”
TWENTY-ONE
LEON
“Liquid courage?”
Ren looked up, then down to the near empty whiskey glass in his hand. “Something like that.”
I perched on the edge of Danny’s couch, elbows braced on my knees, clasped hands dangling loosely between them, and turned to face Ren. “Think she’ll be there?”
His jaw ticked as he rolled his neck. “Don’t know.”
He was half desperate to see Riley again, half scared out of his fucking mind. My words; not his. He’d never admit that.
I clapped a hand around his shoulder. “No matter what happens, don’t fucking forget how far you’ve come, Ren. Your whole life blew apart. You could’ve let that shit bury you, but you didn’t. You’re here, you’re trying to put things right, and I’m damn proud of you, brother.”
He turned slowly, inclining his head with a slight dip before clearing his throat. “Means a lot, man.”
I nodded once, inhaling as I let go of his shoulder and rose to my feet. “What the fuck you waiting for, then?”
Ren dropped his head back to the seat cushion, giving it a shake. “Damn, you’re a pushy motherfucker. You haven’t been off my case for this entire fucking year.”
“You’re lucky I was willing to put up with your miserable ass.”
His lips twitched. “That’s one word for it. Not the one I’d use.” He stood and drained the last inch of liquid from the glass before turning to me with a half smirk. “You realize if Ri’s there, Liss will be, too?”
Always fucking tit-for-tat with this guy. “And?” I muttered, wondering why the fuck my hand was empty.
“Not an issue, huh?”
My eyes narrow
ed. Where the fuck were my real friends when I needed them? Jack, Johnny, fucking Jim? “Why would there be?”
“You ran her out of town with your dick, Le.”
I glared at him for a beat then strode away from him with a muttered, “You’re not fucking getting in my truck, asshole.”
A low chuckle sounded as he followed behind me. “You talk to her since she used you for sex, then ghosted your ass?”
Had the snow queen answered any of my calls, texts, fucking DMs? Nope. Not fucking one. She’d taken off and crossed two state lines before I’d opened my eyes and realized she’d gone. Then she’d fallen off the face of the earth and blocked my number. Girl had a gaping fucking hole where her heart should be. Not that I was bitter about it.
“You know she hasn’t, dickhead. And you better not have spread that shit around. I only told you because I figured you needed a laugh.”
“Your secret’s safe with me, dude.” Ren’s big palm cracked against my back, before he walked around me and headed out the door.
“Dan?” I called up the stairs. “You fucking coming, or what?”