Page 68 of Crazy Love

Tears spring to my eyes before I can stop them. I’m an idiot. A hot-headed, dramatic, ridiculously stupid, soon-to-be-crying,idiot.

Patrick surprises me by reaching out and swiftly pulling me into a side hug. The act of kindness sets off the pooling tears and they cascade down my face as I stare at the floor, willing them to stop.

“I don’t say that to upset you,” Patrick says quietly, rubbing my back. “You’ve been a shining light to my brother the past few months. He’s happier than I’ve seen him in years.”

I wipe a wayward tear, biting the inside of my cheek until I taste blood. “But I ruined it.”

Patrick shakes his head. “You didn’t ruin anything. No one can blame you for being wary of Anthony’s behaviour. Hell, it’s taken me years to stop babysitting him.” Patrick sighs, his frown deepening. “But he doesn’t need a babysitter. He needs his brother to trust him. He needs his friends to treat him as an equal. He needsyouto believe the good in him and not jump to conclusions because he’s made some questionable decisions in his life.Extremelyquestionable.”

Patrick’s words sting, but I don’t lash out and bite back like I normally would, because he’s right. Anthony opened up to me, trusted me, put everything out on the table. And how did I repay him? By immediately getting suspicious and not listening to his side of the story. I accused him of dealing and shattered everything we’d built in a matter of seconds.

Wringing my hands together, I take some deep breaths. I concentrate on my breathing and use that as an anchor to stop myself from spiralling. I know Patrick’s watching me, but I’m not bothered. I don’t care how stupid I look. I need to calm down so I can think clearly and figure out what to do next.

“You know him better than you think,” Patrick says. He gives me a nod of encouragement “Where would he go to help him think straight? A place which brings him comfort?”

It takes me a few seconds before I’m hugging my thanks to Patrick and flying out the door.

* * *

I reach the top of Mount Tamborine and pull into a parking space. A couple of hang gliders are out, with two more getting ready to run and jump. There’s every chance Anthony came and went in the time it took me to get up here. Driving up the windy roads in my beat-up old car alone, was nowhere near as fun as when Anthony had driven us.

I search the area before my eyes land on the sinewy frame under a tree, standing with his hands tucked into his pant pockets as he watches the gliders fly over the cliff face.

I make my way to him, wringing my hands as I imagine every worst-case scenario. What if he blows up at me, or worse, he ignores me and walks away? What if I blurt out something hurtful and stupid like I did last time?

He must sense me standing nearby, because his gaze leaves the gliders to land on me. For the tiniest moment, he locks up, almost as if he can’t believe I’m there, but it fades as quickly, and I wonder if I’ve imagined it. “Figures you’d find me.”

“It didn’t come to me straight away,” I reply, moving to stand beside him.

The two of us look at the devastatingly beautiful view, the morning sun blaring down on the hill as several hang gliders swerve in and out of each other.

“Did you know the longest hang-gliding flight lasted eleven hours?” Anthony asks.

“No, I didn’t know that. How did they pee?”

Anthony’s mouth twists, but he doesn’t look at me. The energy between us is tense and uncomfortable.

I hate it.

“What’re you doing here, Kali?”

“I came to apologise.”

He still hasn’t looked back at me. “For what? You were only ever yourself and you gave me the facts upfront. You can’t apologise for that.”

He’s matter of fact and grown-up andcold.I hate this side of him. What’s worse is thatI’mresponsible for bringing this side out. For unfairly assuming he was up to no good and acting like an idiot.

“I’m sorry.” Anthony blinks, so I take that as my cue to continue. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m irrational and hot-headed and I tend to disregard most people in my life unless they’ve been in it for longer than a few months.” I take a sharp inhale and breathe it out deliberately. “I’m ashamed of the things I said and thought. I should’ve acted like an adult and spoken to you about it calmly. I’m sorry for being crazy.”

Anthony glances at me. “Possibly, but you’re not a bad type of crazy, Kali. You own who you are. Don’t apologise for who you are.”

I reach out and rest a hand on his flexed forearm and he turns to look at me. “But that’snotwho I am. Not anymore.”

Anthony’s eyes flash with something, but he doesn’t speak. “Since you came into my life, I’ve felt happier and safer than I have in years. I’ve been able to be completely myself. But I didn’t know how to deal with that, and it wasn’t until I lost it the other day, and took it out on everyone else, that I realised I’ve got some serious issues to deal with. One being my inability to give myself over to a good thing. Especially when it’s right in front of me.”

Anthony surveys me and relief floods through me when he reaches for my hand and gives it a squeeze.

“You are that good thing, Anthony.” My vision blurs. “And if you’ll let me, I’d like to see if it can become something great.”

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