Page 80 of Keepsake

Then she got pregnant.

“She was scared and he… he was happy.”

I reeled back. “What do you mean?”

“He said they were going to have children together anyway, so why wait? She wasn’t sure at first, but David was so freaking happy.”

“They were children,” I said. “There’s no way they were happy.”

“I tried to talk to her, but David told her I was jealous. No one wanted to be my friend but Sofia, and I didn’t want to share her.”

Logan let out a sad chuckle. “He was right. David changed her. Sofia was my family. She told me she believed David about that and I… believed too. We were still friends until graduation. I stepped back and let them be a family. Your mom… we all knew she was grateful. To everyone, I was poison. I was the one filling Sofia’s head. When I got accepted to Harvard, I don’t know. My parents were so proud, so happy. I had to move away and…”

She stopped herself, rubbing her forehead. “I don’t know why she wanted me to have the kids, you know? I should have stayed with her and trusted my instincts. I fucked it up.”

This was the moment I was waiting for. The truth I was so scared of asking. In a flash, I stepped in. “What did David Murphy do to my sister?”

Logan parted her lips. I hated how she looked at me right then. Like I knew nothing. I assumed Sofia was depressed. I assumed it was my fault because I wasn’t around to help her through it.

It was still my fault. But now, it was my fault for not killing David Murphy.

“I’m not sure exactly. She never told me the details. We drifted apart when I left for college. She stopped answering my emails. I don’t know if she was getting them. Two years ago, when she left David, she found me on social media. We started talking. She told me I was right. She said David wasn’t right in the head.” I growled. Logan went to touch my chest, but I moved away. “Alvaro? I thought you knew.”

“I knew he was a piece of shit.” My words tasted sour.

“I don’t know if he ever hurt her,” she said, and I knew it was to make me calmer, but it didn’t work.

“Something happened if she killed herself, Logan!” I exploded.

“Two years after she left him,” she said. “That’s not—”

“You said it yourself, you regret leaving for Harvard.”

Why would she, if not to prevent Sofia’s death? She blamed herself because she was the only one who saw how bad the situation was when none of the adults truly understood. I was one of the adults.

To me, Sofia was just a teen that got herself in a bad situation. I never spared a thought about David Murphy besides him being an ass.

Blood was pumping through my veins at a worrying speed as I stood there in the middle of my worst nightmare. Logan bit her lip. I could almost taste how uncomfortable she was for being the one who gave me the truth. But she was the beacon of fucking light.

Coming back to her, I gripped her chin, angling her up to me so she stared right back into my eyes.

“You did good. You were the only one trying to protect her. I don’t want to hear it. You were the only one who tried.”

Her face twisted as fat tears rolled down. I cleaned them with my thumb, my hand shaking with the grief, anger, and everything else that washed over me.

“I guess I was right,” I whispered to her. “You couldn’t be a disappointment even if you tried.”

I wished I was man enough to stay behind and hold her while she cried from guilt. But I bolted after that, unable to carry the weight for a second longer. My skin burned, stretched over my bones like it didn’t fit me right.

And I found myself at Paddy’s gym.

HeleftSaturdayafterbreakfast and never came back.

I tried not to be upset. After all, I told him he should leave. I was fine. It wasn’t my first panic attack and, unfortunately, I knew it wouldn’t be my last.

I curled further in the bed, my eyes on the TV forcing myself to watch the movie.

Alone.

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