Page 117 of From Us, Forever

Even a tired Tyler dropped by to check on him.

Eventually, they all got kicked out by a very angry nurse who insisted her patient needed rest and they were all disturbing him.

“What’s wrong?” Jay asked as soon as the room emptied.

“Nothing,” I replied, walking up to him. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes,” he whispered, circling my wrist. “But tell me what’s wrong?”

“I told you nothing is wrong.” I shrugged, tucking in his sheets. “You need to sleep.”

“I think I slept long enough, don’t you think?” A small smile curved up his pretty lips.

I gritted my teeth. “Don’t joke about it.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled, sighing. “But will you please look at me?”

I huffed out a breath, meeting his eyes. “What?”

“Sit here.” He patted the side of his bed. “Please.”

I eased in beside him, and his fingers hooked under my chin, holding my gaze. “Are you alright?” he asked softly.

My teeth clattered as I shook my head. Suddenly, every emotion I held inside me crumbled, taking me along with it.

“Come here,” he said hoarsely, grabbing the back of my neck as he pulled me to his chest. My cheek touched his skin, and I shifted my weight, careful not to touch his plaster.

He ran his hand smoothly over my back. “It’s okay. I’m fine now.”

Something in me broke as the edges of my vision started to blur, and a sob left my lips. “You left me.” Tears started to stream down my cheeks as I leaned over and cupped his cheek. “Why would you do that to me?” I sobbed, “Leave me like that. Do you…know… how sca-scared I was?” I wailed, burying my face in his neck. “You don’t get to do that to me. I can’t lose you too. I can’t lose you like I’ve lost everyone else.”

“Fuck, don’t cry,” he rasped as his hand smoothed over my back. “I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“And it’s all my fault,” I cried. “I did this to you.”

“You didn’t do anything to me. It was my choice to go in there. I don’t regret it, and I never will.”

His words reached my ears, but they did nothing to soothe the guilt and hurt gripping my heart.

“I’m so sorry, Jay,” I said in a broken whisper.

“I told you, Evelyn. It’s not your fault.”

But he didn’t know everything. All the things Dennis told me—he didn’t know. I needed to tell him; I needed to let himknow that every fucked-up thing that ever happened in our life was because of me too.

“It was because of my moth…” I cleared my throat. “The woman who gave birth to me was actually…”

“Shush.” He placed a finger on my lips. “I know. She was his stepmother.”

“You do?” My eyes widened.

“Yes, I know everything. It wasn’t long before we put two and two together.” He ran a soft thumb over my wet cheek. “And I still don’t blame you. I never will. But all that’s over now, and we get to start over, okay?”

“For real this time?” I sniffled.

“For real,” he repeated, bringing my lips to his.

And for the first time in a long while, I truly believed it.

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