Page 65 of Stitches

“I told Sin. He’s the only one who knows what happened aside from Asylum. So I guess me, Sin, Asylum, and my angel are bonded together in a way in that darkness. I know I should tell Dante and Asher, but I also know they’ll fucking lose their minds. Honestly, I don’t want more harm to come to Sin. Deep down, I want him to come home, I guess.” There. I’d said it. I breathed out, feeling like a little less pressure was resting on my chest.

“Do you really love my sister?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “So fucking much.”

“Then why not tell her? Go to her and love her. I know it’s bothering her.”

“She came into my room and stayed with me one night. She hasn’t been back since, but I didn’t give her a reason to come back. I just … I feel like a failure. I don’t feel like I did enough to protect her. I have so much fucking guilt and remorse because of it. I don’t feel worthy enough for her. Sometimes I can’t stop thinking about dying. About finishing what I started.”

“Do you think you’d do that again? Try?”

“I am who I am, Claws. I don’t know. Sometimes I don’t feel in control of myself. Those are the times we should worry.”

“And now?”

“Now? Now I’m just fucking lost and hurting.” I hated to admit it but fuck it. May as well lay it all out. It felt good in a way to say it.

I sighed. “That was way more than one truth. You owe me, like, four now.”

She released my hand and tilted her head, contemplating it.

“OK. I already slept with someone here. He had a tiny dick.”

“Body shaming is never nice, Claws.” I smirked at her, making her grin.

“It’s not shaming if it’s true, stranglehold.” She bumped her shoulder against mine. “Let’s see. Uh, I like you guys more than I let on.”

“We’re aware. I mean, we’re cool, right?”

“The coolest.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s just Rina. She loves you, and I love her. So as long as she feels that way, I’ll accept you guys, but I absolutely will fight you if I have to.”

“We’re aware. Speaking of which, where did you learn to fight like that?”

She shrugged. “While Rina was singing and dancing, I was taking martial arts. My dad taught me a lot too.”

“Your dad did martial arts?”

She nodded. “In retrospect, it’s weird since he was just a normal dad. But he’s gone now, so really, fuck him.”

I could get on board with that train of thought. I felt that way about my family as well.

“I continued on after he left. Been doing it for years. I spar with the boys both in bed and out.” She winked at me. “Spoiler. They fucking love it.”

I snorted at her, feeling lighter than I had in a long time.

“I gotta go. They have me down for therapy this afternoon. Go talk to Rina. Maybe give her some dick? Ashes said you haven’t yet. If you do, tell her I saidyou’re welcome.”

“Fuck off,” I said, grinning through the comment.

“I hope so. I heard Adam is a sure thing. He has a few personalities, one of them has to be loose, right?”

I shook my head at her as she waved goodbye to me with her middle finger.

Who needed therapy when you had Cadence Lawrence to talk to?

SIRENA

Iwas still upset with the guys over Bryce, but I was warming up slowly to them. It made me mad that they wanted to dictate who I kept as my friends. It wasn’t like I had a lot to choose from, but Bryce meant something to me. He was all I’d had when I’d arrived at Chapel Crest, and I cared deeply for him to the point it bordered on confusion.

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