Page 34 of Not Your Shoe Size

“A remote.”

He touched the silver heart necklace she wore. “And what’s this?”

“My necklace.”

“Very good.”

Kate took a deep, shuddering breath. “Ty, what’s wrong with me?”

“Absolutely fucking nothing, Middleton.”

“But—”

“But nothing. And this isn’t the time to talk about what’s happening. Just breathe and tell me five things you can see.”

She did, slowly but without hyperventilating, and Ty held her as close as he dared. He’d stay here all night if he had to. Until Kate was okay again.

****

It took over an hour for Kate to breathe normally again. When she was able to stand, Ty ran her a bath in the huge tub in the bathroom. He slipped her into the water and made her a cup of tea, and when he came back, she looked better. Her eyes were clear and her cheeks were pink.

“Thank you,” she said when he gave her the tea. “I have no idea why that happened.”

Ty didn’t believe her, but he knew not to push. He sat on the closed toilet lid and searched his phone for music. He settled on one of Kate’s Spotify playlists, full of indie rock and gentle acoustic pop. He hit play on ‘The Dirt’ by Tor Miller and put his phone next to the basin.

“Ty? Don’t you want to know what happened?”

Ty considered the question. “Yes, but telling me doesn’t matter. You being okay matters.”

Her laughter was strained. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew what it was. You’d hate me.”

For the first time all night, Ty felt genuinely irritated. “That’s bullshit.”

“It’s not,” she said, sounding miserable. “You would hate me. You wouldn’t love me the same way anymore, you’d—”

Ty had heard enough. Ignoring her protests, he kicked off his shoes and climbed into the bath.

“You’re insane!” she squealed. “You’re ruining your pants! Your nice shirt!”

“Fuck it.” He settled across from her, hot water billowing in his clothes. “They’re already covered in come.”

Her smile was small and shocked, but it was real. Ty took her hand. “Middleton, I won’t say this again, so listen up. There is nothing you could do that would make me hate you, nothing I wouldn’t forgive you for. Nothing that exists or did exist or could exist. Got that?”

Kate stared at their joined hands. “Promise?”

“I’m your daddy. I’ll take care of you forever.”

“And if I made a mistake?”

He thought of the man Kate had coffee with. Had they kissed? Had sex? The idea went through him like a sword. For a second his grip on Kate’s hand loosened, then he looked at her, the woman he loved. The woman who’d given him her twenties, her heart and all her secrets. Strength Ty didn’t know he had filled him like pure gold elixir. “Whatever happened, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be here for you.”

Kate exhaled a long shuddering breath. “I went over to Rapunzel’s place early because her new housemate—you know, the one she has a crush on—was coming sooner than she thought…”

“Go on,” Ty said, his heart in his mouth. “I’m listening.”

Later it seemed to Ty that he’d been there with her, standing on Rapunzel’s porch, watching the battered blue van park in the driveway. He could picture himself beside her at every step of her story—walking with her as she and Mr. Peterson headed for Choukette, listening as the guy flirted with her and cajoled her into talking about her family and relationships. He heard Mr. Peterson break her heart with one selfish piece-of-shit sentence.We were always more than friends.

Kate didn’t cry as she repeated his words, she sounded numb. Hearing her, Ty wanted to hurt Kane Peterson more than he’d ever wanted to hurt anyone, but he didn’t say so. Even as anger pumped through him like lead, he knew how he felt didn’t matter. Kate mattered. She’d suffered a huge betrayal and it wasn’t going to be solved by him going away for assault.

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