Page 43 of The Man I Love

Only Penny knew he was there today. In the past few weeks, he’d completely isolated himself. Shutting himself in, and everyone else out. By choice, he’d faced this all alone. The testing, the meetings, all the loopholes he’d needed to get through to become a donor, because he couldn’t bear to let anyone see him fail at one. More. Thing.

In a way, it saved his life. It gave him something to wake up for each morning, a reason to keep putting one foot in front of the other each day.

Because he’d single-handedly ruined everything else. His relationship, his business, his whole fucked up life would never be the same––but the possibility of being a match to Liam had given him a reason to keep breathing.

It gave him hope.

It gave him purpose.

Sitting here now, the weight of the world was on his shoulders. What if it didn’t work out? What if he was too late?

His head fell forward as he gripped his forehead, wishing for a hand to hold, for someone to tell him things would be okay.

Tristan picked up the phone again and dialed a number.

“Hello?” Renee answered on the first ring, but there were voices in the background, which became muffled when she placed her hand over the receiver.

“Hey, is this a bad time?” he asked quietly.

There was a long pause, then a door opening and closing in the background “No.” She spoke up, “What’s up? Everything okay?”

He hadn’t spoken to her in weeks. She sounded worried, anxious, and he didn’t really blame her.

He cleared his throat, then sat a little straighter, not knowing where to start. “I’m a match, Ren,” he blurted out.

She was quiet for a moment, but he could hear her breathing grow shallow. “When did you find out?”

“A few days ago.”

“And you’re just telling me now?” She sounded hurtandconfused. “Where are you?”

He glanced around the waiting room, eyes locking on the portrait across from him. It was of a father and son, though he imagined it to be brothers. He and Liam holding hands and walking toward a sunset. “I’ll be prepped for surgery in a few minutes,” he stated. “I thought I should tell someone.”

She pulled in a ragged breath. “I could have been there with you. You didn’t have to face this alone.”

“You have your own life, Ren,” he stated.

“Which includes my brother.”

He looked to the floor, unsure why he’d kept this a secret for so long. “I’m scared.”

“Why?”

“What if I’m too late?”

“You can’t think like that,” she said softly. “You can’t control what happens next.”

He swallowed hard, holding back the tears that welled in his eyes. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Have you talked to her?”

A moment passed, then another. “Of course I have, Tris.”

This was the first time in two and a half years that he’d talked to her about Samantha. It had been an unspoken agreement between them up until now. He didn’t get involved in her relationship, and she didn’t get involved in his.

He clenched his jaw, feeling ashamed that he’d come to this point, but he needed to know. “How is she?”

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