Page 30 of Heart Break Her

“He was…” she pauses to collect herself. “Wow, so you’re Myth’s sister. Damn. It’s starting to make sense.”

I’m not sure what she means by that, but she keeps going before I can ask.

“Myth was one of the good ones,” she says.

“He was.” I swirl my coffee in my cup. “I’m surprised everyone seems to remember him so well after this long. He made it seem like quite the party scene on tour, so I guess I just figured everyone was too wasted all the time to really care about anything.”

Quinn shakes her head, and it whips her pink ponytail around a little. “It’s crazy sometimes, not gonna lie. But we’re like family. Myth was part of that. I’m sorry for your loss.”

I nod my head but don’t say anything. My eyes are already glassy, and there’s a lump lodged in my throat thinking about how everyone has reacted to the mention of my brother.

Sebastian, and now Quinn.

I didn’t hear from him much the last couple of months before his death, and it worried me that he was pulling away and isolating. He shut me out. After he died, there was no way to resolve whatever was going on with him. But something about the look in Quinn’s eyes when she calls him family has me believing her, and I’m comforted to know that even if he wasn’t with his blood at the end, he had them.

“Now that you mention it, I see the resemblance.” Quinn smiles. “You both have those same eyes. Except his were full of way more trouble.”

I can’t help but laugh. “You’ve got that right.”

“He was a rolling stone.”

I nod as Quinn folds her arms on the table and moves in.

“I still remember the Halloween we spent in Amsterdam.” She laughs. “We had this club basically overrun with the band and crew. Instead of sitting down and chilling like the rest of us, Myth gets up on stage and starts stripping with this guy who was wearing nothing but assless chaps. It got wild. Even Megan jumped up there and joined in, which she rarely does.”

Quinn’s face sours, and I’m not sure what that means.

“It was a wild night,” she says, looking off fondly, before shaking her head. “Sorry, you’re his sister, you might not want to know those kinds of things.”

“Trust me, he was my brother, you can’t shock me.”

Quinn laughs. “Fair enough. Well, it’s nice meeting Myth’s sister.”

She reaches out and plants her hand on mine, giving it a squeeze that makes my heart constrict in my chest.

“I should go freshen up.” She pulls away. “We’ll be there any minute now.”

She gathers her laptop and papers from the table before disappearing into the back, just as a tear slips down my cheek. I wipe it away before anyone notices. The memories of Myth, no matter how wild and untamed, fill my chest with a painful warming. He was a hazard to himself, yet, at the same time, a light to so many people.

While I might be here seeking closure, I’m worried all I’m doing is pouring salt in unhealed wounds.

Be strong.

They need you.

I don’t have the option to let loose or break down, that was always Myth’s forte. Mine was to keep it together, even when the pressure wore me thin.

Enough pain and I was bound to turn into a diamond, right? Either that or get crushed alive.

I’ve been through enough this past year—watching my parents disintegrate under the loss of Myth—that I know I can get through this. I’m here to fix my mistakes and return home the rock I’ve always been for my family.

It doesn’t matter how good it felt to have one night of uninhibited fun with Sebastian. Misbehaving isn’t worth the pain it causes, and I’m not about to make things worse than they already are.

I need to keep my distance, avoid Sebastian, put the pieces back in place. I need to come to peace with my brother’s death and clean up my mess, so I can finally walk away.

This trip is supposed to be a solution to a problem, not more trouble. If I’m going to live up to my promises to my family, I need to lock my desire for Sebastian away, just like he’s done with me. I need to stay focused, I need to stay away, and I need to not look back.

9

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