Page 87 of Only You and Me

Fitz’s face falls. “Did she tell you about what happened at my parents?” I nod. “I lost it on my dad, Tri. Seeing my mom bleeding set me off. A few days later, I accidentally overheard Emily on the phone telling someone how afraid I made her feel, and that she couldn’t imagine what being with a man ‘like that’ would do to a woman long term or having a child with someone like me.”

We sit in silence for several long seconds as I think on the words he says he overhead. It makes no sense. I know Emily feels safe with Fitz, not afraid of him.

“Are you sure you heard her correctly? Because that doesn’t sound like something Emily would say about you. And if she really felt that way, I don’t see how she’d be as brokenhearted as she is right now.”

Fitz’s eyes dart up to mine and he grimaces. I presume from me describing Emily as brokenhearted. “I heard her right. Besides, she’s not wrong. I’m not surprised it scared her. And I can’t be with her knowing I could end up like my dad and destroy her spirit like all the men in my family do to the women who love them.”

“You are an infinite dumbass.”

Fitz’s mouth drops open in shock. “That was rude.”

“For God’s sake. You are nothing like your father. Not now and you won’t ever be.”

“You don’t know th?—”

I slam my hand down on the table between us. “Yes, I do. I’ve known you ten fucking years. You. Are. Not. Your. Father. That man took enough from you growing up. Stop letting him hold any power over you now. He’s a weak, pathetic man who doesn’t deserve you as a son. And you aren’t him. So, get that through your thick skull and quit letting him affect your decisions, because that’s what you’re doing.”

After that, we sit in relative silence until my phone buzzes again. I glance down at the screen and huff. “I’ve gotta get going or that maniac—not my stalker, the maniac I’m staying with—is going to make me nuts.”

Fitz walks me to my car. “Text me when you get home safely, okay?”

“Yeah. Fine.” I’m not usually much of a hugger, but I wrap my arms around him. “Listen, I know I was a little harsh out there, but it’s time you see yourself for who you really are, not the way he made you think you are. Because if you don’t, you’re not likely to get a third chance to let my sister know you love her. And you’ll lose her for good. I don’t want that for either of you.”

CHAPTER30

TRINA

“Ten years. They lost ten years of being together,” I mutter to myself as I drive from Fitz’s back to Ben’s. “For what?”

My heart hurts for my best friend and my sister at the years they lost. My only solace is that it’s obvious how they feel about each other. I have to believe they’ll overcome what they’re facing now and find their way back to each other.

I drive in silence except for the loud noise of my own thoughts. Desperately trying to ignore the knot growing in my belly and the dull ache settling in my chest, I try to clear my mind, but I can’t. I swallow past the lump in my throat and by the time I pull into Ben’s garage, press the remote to shut the garage door, and turn off my car, my vision blurs with moisture.

Ten years.

Ben and I also lost ten years. As much as I blamed him all these years, I had a part in our downfall, too.

Tears flow down my cheeks relentlessly, a foreign sensation to me, and I can’t seem to get a full breath. This isn’t me. I don’t cry and I certainly don’t sob. Or at least I didn’t until now.

I lean back in my seat and rub at my chest while I try to catch my breath, but it doesn’t work. I don’t think I can move to get out of the car.

At some point—how long, I don’t know—the car door opens and Ben’s voice breaks through my panic.

“Baby, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” His voice is frantic.

I sniffle, the tears still coming. “I-I’m o-okay,” my voice cracks as I struggle to get the words out.

“Clearly, you’re not okay. Let me get you inside. Wrap your arms around my neck.”

I listen without question because I don’t have it in me to resist. The next thing I know, Ben is scooping me out of the car, taking care not to bump my head on the door frame. Deep in my brain, it registers that I’m shocked it’s so effortless for him to carry my body weight, but I don’t dwell on it, instead clinging to him as he walks us inside.

He places me on the couch so gently and crouches on the floor in front of me, cupping my head in his hands. His worried eyes search my face for clues to the cause of my distress.

“Please tell me what’s wrong. I can’t stand to see?—”

“F-Fitz and Em-Em-Emily,” I choke out. “Wasted t-ten years. And, and… s-so did I.”

His eyebrows furrow together and it’s clear he’s still confused.

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