Page 119 of Fragile Heart

“I’m not here to ask for you to cover,” I say.

I don’t even touch the whole subject of my stupidity. That’s not a conversation for here and now, not until I manage to convince Brielle to forgive me for it first.Ifshe’ll forgive me, at least.

I shove the thought away before the hopelessness can swallow me again.

Her eyes narrow, and she crosses her arms. “If you’re here to convince me to tell you where she is, you’ll need to do better than every single moment of begging in your damn life, Ethan.”

I force a swallow and start up the steps.

“All right,” I say.

Caleb stays behind me, leaning against the railing of the porch, just to my left. His arms are crossed over his chest, his frown etched deep enough to look like one of mine.

“I fucked up yesterday,” I tell her. “And I want to fix it.”

“You wanted to fix it so bad you waited anentire damn dayafter I found her crying on the side of the road leading into the Monroe Ranch?” Melissa’s words grow rushed, her cheeks a dark red with her anger. “Doesn’t seem all that convincing to me.”

Anger drops my voice, and I take a step toward her.

“It took an entire day because she was already gone when I made it to Emily’s place.” I breathe through my nose, trying to keep my hands from shaking. Mint bleeds out of me, soured by my rage and frustration. “It took an entire day because after my sister punched me hard enough to split my damn lip while refusing to tell me where she might be, I got blackout drunk and had to wait until I sobered up enough to form words.”

Melissa sucks in a startled breath, her eyes widening.

“You went after her?” she asks. The rage is still coloring her voice even if her body has started relaxing.

I nod once, clenching my jaw hard enough it aches.

“Prove it, Ethan. Beg me on your knees.”

Melissa’s words are stark, brooking no argument.

I pull up short. Beg her?

I glance at Caleb. He adjusts his ball cap, a single eyebrow cocked. After a minute, he shrugs.

“You want her, then you’re going to have to do a lot more than beg Melissa, Ethan,” he says. “She’s spent the last eight months rebuilding her life after an asshat lied to her and made her feel absolutely worthless.”

My stomach twists.

Fuck Brett.

Slowly, I ease onto my knees, letting my hands rest on my legs. Melissa stares at me and then at Caleb.

“You love her?” she asks.

“Yes,” I answer, just as quickly as I did Caleb.

Goddamn, do I love Brielle.

Melissa blows out a breath and pulls out her phone.

“She said she was thinking about flying back to Faedra in Denver,” she says. “I’ll see if I can convince her to stay in Jackson another day.”

She taps a couple times, and then Caleb and my’s phones chime in unison.

Denver? Fuck me. I should have just told her in the moment, should have let myself think I’d lose Kayla. Chasing her all the way to Denver sounds miserable and exhausting.

Not that I won’t do it. I’ll follow her to the ends of the earth if that’s what it takes to prove I can’t live without her anymore.

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