Page 78 of Fractured

There was always an air about Lauren that reeked of insanity, and if others weren’t seeing it yet, that was good. It meant there might still be hope for me.

Inhaling deep, I centered myself before knocking on the door. Muted rustling came from the other side, and before I knew it, she swung the door wide.

“Hey, stranger.” She smiled. “What are you doing here so early?”

“I just wanted to spend some time with you. You were right—we haven’t been spending enough time together.” I tried to look pleasant, but something told me I wasn’t successful.

“Hell yeah, I’m always down for a little girl time. And I told Brett I needed a few days to myself anyway.” She shut the door behind me and then went straight to the couch where she had her laptop open and few files spread out around her. A cinnamon pumpkin candle burned on the coffee table, sweetly scenting the small space.

For the first time in forever, I felt out of place with Harper.

And I hated it.

In seconds, she was engrossed in her work and didn’t pay me a bit of attention, so I walked to the kitchen and pulled a water bottle from the fridge, then sat down on her loveseat. That was the thing about Harper—she was dedicated to her work and helping people in the way she knew how. When she was in the zone, she was in the zone.

For her, I pushed away everything but this moment, so she wouldn’t see the turmoil that raged so violently inside me. I was pretty sure once I made the descent, I’d be unfixable, and I didn’t want to break her heart when she failed.

Just like I didn’t want to lose the men who’d come to mean so much to me.

“Guess who I saw this afternoon?” she asked absently as she chewed on an end of her pen before making a note in her file.

“Who?” I injected as much cheer into my voice as I could.

“The sexy man you bumped into in front of my office.” She waggled her eyebrows when she glanced at me.

Atticus. She had seen Atticus today.

I prayed to any higher power for him not to have said anything about us. If today hadn’t put my entire existence into perspective, I might have told her, but now, I wanted to keep everything close to the vest to have as little collateral damage as I could.

“Okay…” I drew it out as if I had no idea why she’d bring him up.

“Oh come on! I know you thought he was sexy. He could totally be a great addition to your harem.” She twirled her pen at me before turning her attention back to the computer screen.

“Har har,” I deadpanned as my heart calmed down to a normal beat. He hadn’t said anything.

“I’m just joking with you.” She turned her attention back to the screen.

Anxious to turn the attention away from me, I did something I never thought I’d do. “Did you talk to Brett?”

Harper took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Kind of. I chickened out. I don’t know, Lilith. He’s such a good guy, I think, and I’m not ready to shatter my ties with him just yet. Do you mind if we stay in and not go by to stalk the bar?” she pleaded with sad eyes.

“Of course I don’t care. We can just watch a show or sit on the patio. That sounds amazing actually.” Not to mention, seeing Kenzo right now wasn’t high on my list. He’d know something was wrong as soon as he caught a glimpse of me, and if he acknowledged it, I thought I might cry.

Again.

‘No more tears’ was going to be my new motto.

They were becoming less of an emotional outlet and more of a nuisance.

“Yes, yes, and yes.” She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something else, but she squinted her eyes and then closed her mouth, turning back to her work. “I’ll be done in just a few minutes.”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t need to.

When my phone dinged from a text message, I didn’t immediately open it.

“You going to answer that? Or is there trouble in paradise for you too?” Harper asked.

“No, everything is good there…” It would be weird not to look at it.

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