Page 38 of Hidden By His Side

His mother had been right to not care about him. He’d waited until he stared down at her corpse before doing anything to help her. He deserved to rot in hell for all he hadn’t done.

Instead, Summer kept offering him heaven. A touch of something sweet and innocent and breakable, just like his father had gotten.

She’s yours.Take her.

The thought filled his ears with a rushing that made him dizzy. The inner voice even sounded like his father’s.

Taking her would be so easy. All he had to do was go back inside. Summer would forgive him anything for even a scrap of affection.

His fingers curled against the wall as his body shook with the effort of staying where he was. He sucked in a breath, holding it to the count of three. He exhaled, followed by another breath, another count.

The rushing in his ears slowly faded.

The vibration of his phone sounded loud in the silence. He dragged it out, finding Hayes’s message.

‘Don’t be an asshole. Get back in there.’

Ramiro clenched his teeth. ‘You watch Summer?’ That he did caused Ramiro’s blood to boil. He was going to have to teach the voyeur a lesson. He—

‘GO BACK INSIDE. NOW.’

The all caps shouting from Hayes cut through the anger in Ramiro’s head. Hayes never shouted like that. Hayes’s next text took away his air.

‘I’ve never seen her cry this hard.’

Summer was crying, and Ramiro wasn’t there.

He really was an asshole.

As soon as he opened the door, her sobs were all he could hear. He nearly tripped over her when he raced to her room. Summer was no longer on the bed. She was curled into a ball on the carpet, and the way her sobs hitched in her throat twisted his stomach.

Ramiro scooped her up, tucking her into his body as he settled them back on the bed, wishing he’d done that all along.

Hadn’t he always promised to take care of her? He’d failed at that.

He remembered all the times she’d cried over the years. Would she have cried half as much if he’d stuck by her side and let her love him, just as she’d always wanted?

“It’s okay, baby girl. I’m here. I’ll always be here.”

This time, maybe it wouldn’t become a false promise. He’d only ever given her pieces of himself, too scared she’d break if he gave her everything. What he’d allowed her to have had never been enough. She’d broken anyway.

If she would break either way, why shouldn’t he have her?

Even pressed up against his chest, Summer wasn’t quieting this time. If anything, her sobs grew louder.

“I’m sorry,” he said into her hair, closing his eyes when she just cried harder. “You’re not toxic at all. I’m the one who’s toxic.”

“N-no,” she protested, the word barely escaping her lips. “My… fault.”

She was always doing that. Blaming herself when she’d done nothing wrong. Arguing would be pointless, though. Once she took on the blame, it was almost impossible to ease the guilt she carried.

The way he’d run had already added one more scar to her heart. How many scars existed because he was trying to save her from herself? He’d still been treating her like a child, someone incapable of knowing her own heart.

Summer’s heart had always been full of him. She loved him, and she’d finally told him. He’d known. For years, he had known. So when she’d said the words, they’d felt like something he’d already heard, but he hadn’t.

She’d said she loved him, and he’d called her toxic.

The lash of guilt dragged out his own pained groan. He pulled her in tighter, wishing he could go back in time.

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