Page 79 of The Flame and the Forsaken

“It was, and you knew it and followed me anyway,” Destin said.

“Because I needed to get the feck out of there before I made an arse of myself!”

Nothing had prepared her for how awful it would be to see Erran so discomfited around his beautiful, perfect ex. Mariel longed for the days before the island, when she had no care of how he spent his time or how he spread his affection. At least then she’d known whoshewas still.

All she could think about was the two ofthemfucking in the cove, for hours and hours, like Sessaly had implied in the damned carriage.

“Do you not think he deserves some grace?”

Mariel spun on him. “Say that again?”

Destin pulled a patient breath through his nose. “Last time he saw her, he was still coming to terms with how he’d lost her. Does he not deserve a moment to put his thoughts together?”

“His thoughts?” Mariel shook her head. “You mean you couldn’t read his thoughts, which were full of her?”

“Not in the way you think.”

“And how would you know?”

“Because I know what remorse looks like on a man,” Destin said quietly.

“Remorse he can’t dilly her anymore,” Mariel muttered, quickening her pace.

Destin stopped in the sand. “You’re in love with him.”

Mariel’s breath stuttered as she turned, enraged. “How dare you suggest such a thing?”

“How dareI?” Destin laughed. “Is there some unspoken rule that one of us has to be a mess at all times?”

“ImplyingIam the mess?” Mariel asked in challenge.

“Implying precisely that.”

“Oh, you... You’re sober for a few weeks, and now you’re the reasonable one?”

“I’ll pretend you didn’t mean to hurt me, because I can see you’re hurting,” Destin said evenly. “But I have to admit. It’s unsettling to see you like this.”

She blinked in indignation. “Like what?”

Destin blinked back. “Unhinged.”

“You...” Mariel couldn’t speak. She marched farther down the shore. “Why would I take advice on relationships from a man who has had dozens of one-night trysts and never returned to a single bed?”

“Because the fear that keeps you from recognizing what’s in your own heart is the same fear that keeps me from wanting more for myself.” Destin grabbed her arm and stopped her. “You’re going to destroy your own happiness to mollify your pride, which is beneath you.”

Mariel snorted and rolled her eyes toward the cloudy sky.

“You need to trust him.”

“You saw?—”

“You need totrusthim, and give him time.”

“Time forwhat? To decide who he wants to snog more?”

“You’re being so crude.”

“Not crude enough apparently, for I’m still no match forher.” Mariel sank into the sand as the fight drained from her. She’d already wasted so much energy. “You think I want to feel this way? Like I am only good enough to live in her shadow?”

---