It destroys me.
But I can’t argue.
I can’t stay and make this worse.
So I do the only thing that feels right, even though it’s fucking killing me from the inside out.
I nod slowly, backing away with my hands up like I’m the danger here.
Which, I guess, right now?
I am.
“I’ll go for now, Sunshine,” I say quietly, throat so tight I’m choking on every word.
“But this isn’t over.”
Her response?
Cold. Final.
“Goodbye, Doug.”
It guts me.
I swallow hard, turn away before I crumble right there in front of her, and walk out like my feet weigh a thousand pounds each.
Outside, I don’t even make it past the front steps before I punch the nearest brick wall.
Hard.
I definitely broke it. Pain shoots up my arm.
I put a hole in it. Concrete shards fly and some even hit me.
Good. I deserve that. I deserve all of that.
I rake my other hand through my hair, pacing like a fucking lunatic, breathing too fast, on the verge of going full-on feral.
I can't leave her vulnerable, no matter how badly she wants me gone.
Not after what happened with that Cat bastard.
So I do the only thing I can.
I pull out my phone, thumb hovering for half a second before I hit the name I never thought I’d actually need in a pinch.
Horace.
Grumpy Bear. Happily mated. Big brother type, apparently.
And the only fucking friend I have in the whole world.
It rings twice.
“What the fuck do you want, Dog Breath?” he answers, voice thick with sleep and zero patience.
“Not the time,” I growl, already pacing again.