Page 133 of Stitches

It made me nervous, but I couldn’t help but think about how much he meant to me and how my feelings were growing.

It was a cornucopia of cock as Cady had said over dinner the night before when she’d come to visit us. She’d been referring to the guys playing some racing game and giving each other a hard time in the living room, but I figured it was a good use of the phrase in regard to my entire situation.

I’d liked Bryce when I’d met him. I’d felt for him then. A twinge of potential. I knew I had in retrospect. Now here I was with the opportunity to try, and I just couldn’t. The timing wasn’t right. He could get hurt. He wasn’t like the watchers. If they didn’t kill him, this life would.

And I didn’t want anyone else to suffer for me.

Bryce would be better off with someone normal. Someone he could hold a real conversation with.

“Not me,” I whispered into the darkness of my room.

But why, in my silence, did I want it to be? I wanted him with us. I wanted to at least try. I just didn’t want to lose him. It had been a thought on repeat since the night he’d told me he wanted more.

All of this led me back to needing to go to the clearing.

I exhaled.

Tonight.

* * *

I stared around the dark,empty clearing, holding my breath.

“Hello, pretty girl,” Mirage’s voice called out from behind me. “It’s been too long.”

I turned to face him in his mask.

“You’re sad,” he said immediately.

“Confused.”

He cocked his head to the left. “Tell me.”

I closed my eyes and thought about Bryce and how much I cared and how lost I was about it all. How I didn’t want to lose my best friend but how I couldn’t stomach not knowing what could be. How he was so sweet. And caring. And really, everything any girl could ever want.

He wasn’t a watcher. He was just Bryce.

“Ah, I see,” Mirage murmured. “Is he truly your best friend?”

I licked my lips. “Seth,” I whispered.

Mirage let out a soft laugh. “You can have two best friends you know.”

But can I love them both? And the watchers?

“You can love as many people as you can fit into your heart, Sirena. The heart extends past our chests. It’s infinite. So is love.” He reached out and chucked my chin up. “Now smile for your rabbit.”

I gave him a tiny smile.

“Love who you want to love. Be who you need to be. I can guarantee these guys won’t be sad about any of it. And if you can’t be who you want, be a mirage, like me. I’m who I need to be when needed the most.”

“You’re an enigma,” I said, reaching for his hand and tangling my fingers with his.

“Everyone has a nickname for you. Mine never quite seemed able to compete. Perhaps you’re just a sweet little monster.”

“Yours was always the best,” I said, my voice thick as I gazed up at him.

A tiny smile curled his lips up beneath his mask.

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