Page 164 of Please Save Me

His lips parted as his brow furrowed.

“I–when?”

My shoulders raised in a shrug. “I ain’t really sure.”

Somewhere within the last month or so, my view on Sebastian shifted. It didn’t happen at once; if it had, I’d have fought it. Instead, it crept up on me. All I knew was that my love for him was the best kind.

Unexpected, reckless, and undeniable.

The pink of his cheeks morphed into crimson as he looked down at his lap before mumbling a barely perceivable. “I love you too.”

And that’s when I knew I had to get his goat.

“What d’ya say?”

His head snapped up, and his eyes narrowed in a familiar glare.

“I said I love you too!” he snapped. “What, are you toooldto hear?”

“Not at all.” I chuckled, scratching my beard. “Just wanted to make you say it twice.”

Sebastian huffed as he crossed his arms. “Seriously? That’s the only reason you’re wasting our time?”

“I don’t think telling you I love you is a waste of time.” This sort of meaningless conversation felt good, but it wasn’t a feeling I could hold on to. “I actually have something else I want to talk to you about.”

“What? That you want to kiss me?” He scoffed.

And, to be honest, I did. But, with Seb’s history, I wasn’t comfortable being the one to make that move.

“It’s about Mae,” I said, my voice steady despite what was about to come.

His expression shifted from mild annoyance to dread as he sat a little straighter. “What about her?”

I took a deep breath, trying to steel myself for the conversation about to happen. Instinctively, I offered Sebastian my hand, and he took it. My thumb ran across his knuckles as I savored his last moments of being blissfully unaware.

“She ain’t gonna wake up.” Even just saying those words left me hollow.

“That’snotfunny,”Sebastian warned.

My eyes started to burn, and I had to look away from him as an all too familiar ache infested my chest like termites in an old house.

“I know it ain’t.”

Sebastian’s grip on me tightened, his nails pressing into the back of my hand.

“Then make another joke.” His voice cracked.

My tongue swiped across my painfully chapped bottom lip. “She’s brain dead, Seb.”

“No,you’re brain dead,” he sneered. “Mason is a fighter. She’s been starved and abused, and–”

“And she won those battles,” I interrupted. Hearing about how many hurdles Mason had overcome didn’t make this any easier. “But, she’s tired, Seb. She’s fought for three weeks–”

“Then let her fight for three more weeks!” Raw desperation ruled his words.

“Seb, it ain’t about time…. There’s nothing left for her to fight for; keeping her on life support won’t bring her back.”

He yanked his hand from mine, and I looked back to see anger blazing in his eyes.

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