Page 42 of From Us, Forever

They exchanged worried glances with me but didn’t say a thing as we all ascended straight to my floor.

“I’m going to go put all this away,” Evy said immediately as we entered the apartment. “I’m going to make a cake.” She nodded to herself as if she was reassuring the statement in her pretty little head. “Yes, cake, Jay. That’s what I was going to make.” Her sad brown eyes met mine before she bid goodbye to the boys and darted toward the kitchen.

My heart was heavy in my gut as I watched her leave.

“This is fucked up,” Mikey muttered, shaking his head.

They both sighed, offering me a squeeze on my shoulder and telling me to call them if I needed anything as they left.

I stood in the foyer for a minute, trying to wrap my head around all this shit that’d been screwing up our lives lately because every breath of air filling my lungs felt like a forest fire.

A bark shifted my focus from the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. A small smile lifted my lips when my eyes landed on Strawberry, trying to get my attention with her barks and her nose pointed toward the hallway. She ran a few steps inside, trying to get me to follow her, and when I didn’t, she only barked loudly, rushing toward me and digging her teeth into my shoes.

I crouched, petting her soft fur. “I know, girl. I know.”

She whined as if she understood what I was saying. She clearly felt something was wrong with her mommy and wanted me to fix it.

“I’ll take care of her, okay?” I let out one last exhale before I rose to my feet and headed straight to the kitchen.

The sight I walked into almost crumbled me. Evy looked so sad. The gash on her chin and scrapes on her wrist looked angry and painful under the bright kitchen lights. Her hands were frantically going over all the stuff she had dumped on the kitchen counter, almost as if she was searching for something. Her eyes were wild, glazed, and panicked.

“Evy,” I said as I made my way to her, and her glassy brown eyes looked at me.

“I bought you strawberry milk,” she said, shaking her head as her lips wobbled. “I…I saw it at the store, and I know how much you love it. You don’t drink it anymore, and that makes meso sad because I know it’s because of me. So I thought I’d buy it for you. But it’s not here anymore, Jay.” She pointed a shaky finger at the counter. “It’s not here. One fell off when… th… they pushed me down.” She swallowed the sob hitching up her throat. “But I got a bunch of them, and they’re not here anymore.”

I had to force myself to remain calm because all I wanted to do was punch something at the look on her face. I loved this woman so, so much, and she didn’t deserve any of this. It felt like hell to watch her fall apart because of me.

“Hey, Evy,” I said softly, slowly wrapping my arms around her trembling body while she mumbled about the lost drink. “Evy, sweetheart. Look at me.” I brought her flush to me, hooking a finger under her chin as I lifted her gaze to mine. “It’s okay. We’ll get another one, okay? It’s alright. You’re fine now.”

“But Jay… it was right there. I got it for you,” she sobbed, tears streaming out of her eyes like a river.

“Yeah, I know.” I gently held her head to my chest as she broke apart in my arms. Her wailings filled the room, breaking my heart into a million little pieces. I rubbed smooth circles down her back as I held her tight to me.

“They called me a liar,” she said quietly as her sobs slowed down. “And your mistress. But I’m not what they say I am, right?”

Fuck.I offered a small smile as I ran my thumb along her cheek. “Evelyn, don’t let them get inside your head, okay? You are not what they say you are.”

“But it still hurts.” She sniffed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I know, and I’m sorry. But I swear I’ll fix it. You’re fine now, and that’s all that matters, okay?”

She nodded, her lips curving into a small smile. “Okay.”

“Good.” I placed a kiss on her nose. “Now let me get that cleaned up.” I pointed at her chin. “Does it hurt?”

“No.” She shook her head, averting her gaze as she smoothed her hand over her leggings. “I should probably take a shower. I feel dirty.”

“Why don’t you go do that, and I’ll be right behind you, okay?”

She mumbled a quick yes and padded upstairs desolately. I could feel the sadness and the despair radiating off her, and it was killing me alive. I couldn’t drag my eyes away as Strawberry followed her like a protective shield, and they both disappeared down the hallway.

“Fucking hell,” I cursed, slamming my fists on the counter so hard, letting out my anger. I couldn’t even feel the pain zapping my nerves. I fucking hated watching her like this. It made me feel helpless, like I couldn’t do anything, and most of all, the knife plunged deeper into my heart that she was in this state because of me.Once again. Because of some sick bitch who was obsessed with me.

Shaking out of it, I streamlined all my anger to focus on her. All that was important at this moment was making sure she was okay. Knowing a mug of coffee would make her feel better, I powered the machine and went in search of the first-aid kit. As soon as the beep of the coffee went off, I gathered all the stuff in my arms and stormed upstairs.

Just seconds after I entered, I heard the shower quiet down. I carefully set the mug and the kit on the nightstand and stepped toward the bathroom.

Swallowing the heaviness down my throat, I clasped the cold door handle and twisted it open as I walked inside.

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