Page 70 of The Game

She nods more firmly.

“I…became kind of attached to one of the…one of the guys. He was kinder. Gentler. He still hurt me, and I know it’s fucked up, but because he was different, I grew attached…” she trails off, her voice shaky with her admittance.

“That’s completely normal, Ellie,” I say to make her feel better. She sips her wine and raises her brows.

“Try telling Nick that,” she mutters. My brows furrow, but before I can push further into that, she asks me another question. “Have you seen Teddy yet?”

“No.” My answer is simple and hollow, and her next question is quick, almost angry.

“Why?”

“Because…I don’t want to hurt them any more than I already have,” I say.

“Alice…I know you were pregnant. You need to worry about yourself and your healing right now, and if seeing him helps you, then so be it.”

Shaking my head, I mutter, “I wish it was that easy.”

“But it is. You owe it to him, too, don’t you? You both went through that hell together. Tristan and Jameson will understand. And if they don’t, then they clearly have some soul searching to do.”

Her sudden burst of anger astounds me, for Ellie has always been the meek, quiet one, but perhaps what she went through changed all of that. She’s been healing for a few months now, and I am just beginning. Maybe I need to take her advice. Shocked as she reaches for my hand and grasps it tightly in her cold fingers, her eyes blaze into mine.

“I won’t pretend to know what you went through, just like I know you won’t do that to me. You’ve lost so much, Alice, and here I am, saying howIcan’t even imagine what you went through. But you need to know grief doesn’t have a timeline, and I’m not going to sugarcoat things and tell you it will all be okay, because that’s bullshit. But you’re hurting without him, and I…”

Her hesitation is weighted as tears roll down my cheeks.

“I know he misses you, and I know he needs you, too.”

And for the first time since that night, I smile.

CHAPTER 34

Tristan

Istand near the double doors of Jameson’s office, arms crossed, permanent frown on my face, and blood under my fingernails. One ear is attuned to Nick and my twin’s conversation, the other is straining to hear anything from the living room, any small snippet that will help me better understand how she could do that to us. If I was torn from Alice, would I fuck another woman?

“Sit down,” Nick’s smooth voice commands. “And leave them the fuck alone.” When he turns to glare at me over his shoulder, I swear his blue eyes blaze brighter. He’s obsessed with Ellie, I suppose in the same way we were once obsessed with Alice; wholeheartedly, possessively—psychotically. Catching Jameson’s warning tilt of his head, I smirk, cross my arms, and lean my shoulders back against the door.

Jameson rubs at his face as Nick’s scowl flourishes, tugging at his scars. I don’t give a fuck what they think of my insubordination; I’ll do as I fucking see fit. I waited around for months while God knows what happened to Alice, and in that time she grew so far apart from us she found solace in another man—a man who knocked her up. My palms tingle with the urge to choke the fucking life out of him, and the jealous side of me paces like a caged animal, wondering what the fuck she saw in someone who could barely protect her.

I’ll never know unless I ask, but to have her run off again would send Jameson to the fucking hospital and me to an asylum. I’ve never been one to tread lightly and skirt around the truth, always opting for the direct approach, but now that I can’t, it’s infuriating.

“How’s Ellie, physically?” Jameson asks lowly to Nick. The silence this time is unnerving, but I know why he asks. Seeing her that broken? It left its mark on us. I still don’t understand how the fuck she’s alive and functioning. This conversation has been a ball bounced between the two for months, often because I think Jameson was preparing himself to find Alice in that condition.

The way we found her was horrific in its own way.

“She’s…doing better. Physical therapy helps her wrist,” he says lowly. My heart clenches; she’d had so many broken bones the doctor had lost count, from her dainty fingers to her ribs to her fucking toes.

“And any headway on the rest?”

This piques my interest, and I stop straining to catch snippets of whatever the girls are speaking of. Nick leans back with a sigh, rubbing at his jaw.

“I have four of the twelve. I’m sure the rest will follow soon. Jonah’s still working day and night to track them.”

“If you ever need us—” Jameson says out of duty, but Nick cuts him off with a shake of his head before he can finish.

“You’re needed here. And if I had to leave for some reason, I’d keep Ellie here, too.”

Jameson’s eyes flash to mine, all steel and broken edges, now. I’ve never seen my twin like this, so cautious with every step, every fucking breath. Even after Oksana broke his fucking heart, he never acted like this. I suppose Alice’s situation is far worse, and nothing ever prepares you for sorrow of that magnitude.

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