Page 104 of Worth the Trouble

He’d already won.

“How are you?” I look at her leg and know I’m seeing a lot more than a broken bone. I’m seeing a broken girl, a dancer about to miss out on a performance she’s spent months—years—preparing for.

“It’s a clean break,” she says, almost clinical.

I nod, looking back at her. “That’s good.”

“None of this is.” She wraps her arms around her stomach like she did in the forest. Like she’s trying to comfort herself or hold herself in.

I can’t help it, I reach out and take her hand, needing to feel her skin and offer her whatever I have left. But even though she doesn’t pull away, she doesn’t squeeze or return the comfort. Her fingers stay relaxed as I stroke the back of her hand with my thumb.

“I’m glad they let you out,” she says, but there’s not much emotion behind it.

“Yeah.” I swallow. “But why wasn’t he locked in there with me?”

“What are you asking me, Rome?” It’s snippy, like she’s already on the defense. I can feel her walls building, even though they aren’t physical.

“He did this.” I look at her leg. “He fucking put his hands on you.”

“It was an accident.”

“I’d never accidentally do anything like this.”

She pulls her hand away. “That’s because you’re you and he’s—he didn’t mean to.”

“Fuck that.”

“Just stop it,” she almost yells, but her voice is raw and croaks on the end. “It’s complicated.”

“Because he’s your boss?” I ask her, clenching my hands into fists. “Or because he’s your ex?”

I don’t know what answer I’m looking for because none of them are going to comfort me, but I’m pissed off, and I hate seeing her like this. It’s drawing out everything bad in me.

I wait for Lili to answer, watching her eyes close for a moment before she opens them again.

“You and I are over,” she says.

At least, I think that’s what I hear. It’s less words and more a blade slicing my chest open.

“Why?”

I just can’t help myself, so I open myself wider and see what more damage the girl can do. I’ve always been curious to test my limits on pain, and Lili seems to be the only one with the ability to bring me to the brink.

“What do you mean,why?” She’s cold in her posture, her delivery, her expression. She’s frozen. “We shouldn’t have done this in the first place. We don’t fit into each other’s lives. And Vaughn will—”

“I don’t give a fuck what he’ll do.”

“He had you locked up.”

“Not the worst thing I’ve ever been through, remember, sweetheart?”

Lili’s face softens, but it’s not with hope, it’s something else. She reaches out her hand, but somehow it feels distant when her fingers touch my skin. “I can’t be your sweetheart, Rome. No matter how much I want to.”

“But—”

“I’m sorry.” She squeezes my hand. “I need to heal. And you need to go. And we both need to leave this as what it was, something that felt good in the moment, but now it’s over.”

She pulls away and turns her torso as much to the side as she can without moving her leg in an effort to turn away from me. She wraps her arms around her center and closes her eyes. She shuts me out in every way I can see and feel.

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