Page 236 of Did They Break You

I don’t want to do that anymore.

Ever again.

But I hold her face in my hands, just like I did that night. “I knew you could handle it, though. With Sloane andVan,”I can’t quite keep the bite out of my words when I say his name. “I knew you’d be okay.” I bend down close, pressing my temple to hers. “It hurt, watching you hurt, you know?”

Her eyes flutter closed as my chest tightens.

“Not just on my porch. But...that night.”

I sink to my knees, running my palms up her thighs. She keeps her head bowed and her eyes closed.

“I meant what I said. I’m sorry for everything I did.”

I see her nostrils flare as she breathes in, and out.

“But I want to make this work. I don’t give a fuck anymore, about who finds out what. Chase and his dad aren’t gonna fuck with us anymore. My dad is moving to West Virginia with Tristan, and Mom is backing off, and I want you to meet them and I just... I just want you, Remi. No matter what it takes.”

CHAPTER

SIXTY-SEVEN

CORTLAND

Tristan’s stitchesare angry and red, his skin pulled together in lumps.

“He hit deep,” the doctor says while my little brother sleeps.

I have my arms crossed, and Mom still isn’t here. Dad is inside the room, his head bowed. I see him through the glass.

“This wasn’t just a cry for attention,” the doctor continues as I stare at my brother’s pale face. “Whatever he says, I think he wanted to die.”

I see the wound in my head, his palm upturned.

Vertical.

My stomach lurches. “What do we do?”

The doctor sighs. For a moment, he doesn’t say anything. Then he does. “You just have to be there.”

I wakeup in a cold sweat, sitting up in the dark as my heart races. I fling my arms out, feeling along my mattress, but she’s not here.

My heart skips a beat as I call her name.“Remi?”

Nothing.

Silence. I can still taste her on my tongue, and when I take a deep breath, blinking my eyes in the darkness of my room, I can still smell her, too.But she’s not here.

My throat is dry as I flip the covers back and swing my legs off the bed, my bare feet hitting the floor.

I’m here, baby. Where are you?

She fell asleep with me last night, and if it’s up to me, she’d fucking move in with me. But I know that might be pushing it.

Still.She was in my bed last night, and as I glance at the clock on the nightstand, I see it’s almost three in the morning.Where the hell are you?

I flip on my light and dart my eyes around the room.

She’s not here.

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