Page 109 of Catch You

“Look up, H,” Brooke says quietly. She stands aside, and I gasp.

Right at the other side of the church, shadowed by overhanging trees, is a bench.

“Oh my God.”

As if he knows I’m staring at him, his head lifts from where it was hanging between his shoulders, his elbows on his knees, and our eyes connect.

Something crackles between us. Something I remember all too well even from that very first night.

He’s here. He came. For me.

“What do you want to do? We really need to be moving toward the wake.”

I’m silent for a beat, my connection with Corey as strong as ever, before I say the words that gut me. All I want to do is run into his arms, feel his strength wrap around me, and hear promises that he’s never going to let go.

But I can’t. That can’t happen until we’ve talked, and that can’t happen until I’ve done this for my aunt. She deserves my full attention. Well, as much as I’m capable of right now.

“One thing at a time,” I say, repeating my previous words.

“Okay. So, we go?”

“Yes.”

I hold his stare for one final second before breaking it and turning away from him.

A sob rumbles up my throat, but I catch it before it escapes. Everything feels wrong about walking away, but it’s all I can do right now.

“Everything okay?” I ask Brooke as she drops her cell back into her purse as the car pulls away.

“Yep. I’m good. You don’t need to be worrying about me.”

She takes my hand once again, and I blow out a breath.

Did I just make a mistake?

26

COREY

I fucking hate funerals. After the last one I attended, I told myself I wouldn’t go to another until it was for, God forbid, my mum or sisters. Everyone else, I’ll mourn from a distance, because even just sitting outside of one brings back haunting memories that I don’t need.

Yet outside of a funeral is exactly where I find myself.

It’s been over a week now since my last regrettable encounter with Harlow, and I’m fucking dying. My anger over what she did has somewhat diminished as my desperation has taken over.

Fletch’s words from the other night are on repeat in my mind. I knew he was right the moment he said them. It’s the reason I’ve been standing on the wrong side of her front door for the past four days.

I need to see her. I need to hold her. Tell her that I’m here for anything she needs right now. But Brooke successfully kept me away. Only once did she allow me inside, and that was only because I turned up at the same time as a flower delivery.

Knowing that she’s lost someone important to her put the issue with my flat and the money into perspective. Money doesn’t matter, not in the grand scheme of things. But family, people you love? They are everything. I also can’t ignore whatan incredible thing she’s done for me. She’s lifted the weight that was pressing down on me, allowing me to both support my family and live a life here.

She doesn’t see me before the service starts, as per my intention. I need to be here for her, but equally, I don’t want to be a distraction. There’s time for us after.

I’ll be waiting.

I’ll do whatever it takes, because while I might have tried to turn a blind eye to what was developing between us while we were spending time together, it was impossible to ignore when it was gone.

I’ve missed a lot of things in my life. My family when I was on tour. My boys after the accident. My mum and sisters now. English chocolate. Fry-ups. But none of it compares to the massive hole she left when I ruined what we had. It was like a dark crater I was teetering on the edge of.

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