Page 85 of Lost the Handle

“You’re really chaotic, do you know that?”

“Well aware,” I say with a shrug. “Have you talked to her?”

“No,” she tells me, more tears and some snot ruining her makeup. “She wouldn’t let me speak. She’s so worried that Quinn won’t agree because of you.”

“He won’t,” I say, more like a prayer than a statement. “Why didn’t you tell her what we discussed? If she loved you, she wouldn’t be doing this to you. This is insane.”

Her ice-blue eyes narrow. “She loves me very much, and I know that. It’s just that she also loves her family.”

“I get that, but what is wrong with her family? They are musicians! Surely they know it’s okay to be gay. Love is love!”

“They’re old-school Southern,” she sobs. “They’ve never been accepting. Ava and I have been together since we were thirteen.”

How tragic. “And you never came out?”

“We did,” she says, her tears still falling. “And they shut us down. My parents are fine, supportive, but hers don’t want to hear or see it.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair.”

Preach, sister. “You have to talk to her,” I stress, holding her watery gaze. “You guys don’t need anyone but each other. Don’t you believe that?”

“I do!” she yells, her hands shaking at her sides. “But she doesn’t.”

“Then she doesn’t deserve you, Yvette.”

She grabs the sides of her head and yells in such a soul-wrenching way, my eyes water. I watch as she crouches down, squeezing her eyes closed and shaking. My heart sinks into my gut as I witness her pain, and I feel the need to help her.

Great. Now, I’m a sap.

I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around her trembling body. I know I just met her, but I hold her close as she sobs in my arms. She leans her head into my arm, and I lean mine into hers. It’s a very friendly hug, and I know we aren’t friends, but I can’t let this woman sob like this in the middle of the living room. She’s breaking my heart that just got put back together. If I hated Ava before, I truly despise the woman now. How dare she make this sweet woman cry like this?

I pat Yvette’s back, and she hiccups before pulling back to meet my eyes with her watery blues. She’s so heartbreakingly beautiful. “What if I tell her to choose, and she chooses to go through with the wedding?”

I cup her face and run my thumbs along her cheeks. Why do I care so much? This woman is a means to an end, but I want her to know her worth. I don’t want her to know this kind of pain; I want her to see that she deserves to be loved by someone who would do it freely.

Like how I love Quinn and he loves me.

Tears burn my eyes as I think about how this might have been how Quinn felt when I walked away, throwing his love back in his face. How he couldn’t even focus on school because of how scaredIwas of not being enough for him. Yvette just wants to be loved by the only girl she’s ever loved. I get it, and I feel for her. But damn it, this girl could have the world.

“Then you walk away, and you mourn the years you gave to her. Don’t hate her, but mourn your loss. And then you move on, because someone out there will snatch you up in a secondand love you more than you know how to love yourself.” Her lip wobbles, and I give her a soft smile. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Yvette’s eyes widen as I pull her up. “Where?”

“To y’all’s place. I’m sure Quinn is there.”

“But—”

“But nothing. This ends now.”

Chapter

Thirty-Eight

Quinn

Ava has never criedin front of me before.

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