Page 159 of Thorne Princess

“I think you should go,” she said finally.

“Hallie—”

“You said we needed to see each other one more time to find out if it could work. You got your answer. It can’t. I want you to leave.” Tears made her eyes shine. “Respect my wishes and leave.”

I wanted to die a million times over.

But I couldn’t say no to her.

I turned around and began making my way outside. I didn’t have a plan or another destination in mind. At some point, I was going to strangle my best friend’s wife for misleading me, but other than that, no goal.

I walked out to the rain. My feet and clothes were heavy. The street was empty, save for a few cars sailing by and an out-of-service traffic light that signaled the beginning of a brewing storm.

About to round a corner, I heaved myself forward. Behind me I heard the echo of a voice. I needed to get to the hospital. Something wasn’t right.

“Wait! Stop!”

Hallie’s voice rang in my ears. It sounded like it was coming from the inside of my body. Shit. I was hallucinating. I needed to hail a taxi and hurl myself into the ER.

I stopped walking, calling a taxi on my phone. The app was down.Figures.

Something tackled into me from behind. I lurched forward, almost falling straight into traffic. A desperate hand tugged me back to safety, pulling me with it back to the curb.

“I called you! Didn’t you hear me?”

I blinked to get the person who spoke to me into focus. It was Hallie. Definitely Hallie. Her face animated and annoyed.Beautiful. And I’d lost her.

“I didn’t hear,” I said quietly.

Rain was pouring down on both of us with no shelter in sight. I was sure I looked pathetic. But for some reason, it didn’t bother me so much.

“Did you really mean what you said?” she panted, out of breath. “About wanting me?”

“All I want is you,” I admitted. “Trust me, I tried to substitute you with alcohol, training, work—”

“Women?” She cut into my words.

I shook my head. “I can’t even smell another woman without wanting her to be you.”

She laughed, and through her laugh, I saw some tears, too. “My little robot.”

“What doyouwant?” I asked. “Tell me. Because it seems like you’ve turned your entire life around in seven months. You have your own place, you work, you took control of your life. I trust this Hallie to make a good decision about her life. And I’m not sure if that leaves me in or out of it.”

“You’re in.” She grabbed the hem of my shirt, jerking me close.

“I’m an asshole,” I warned, in case she wasn’t paying attention.

“But you’remyasshole. And I love you.”

“I—”

I was going to tell her I loved her, too. But passing out on top of her seemed like a more appropriate plan, so I did just that.

I woke up two hours later with a drip infused into my vein in a pale blue hospital room.

Hallie sat by my side. Her forehead was scrunched in worry.

“You were saying?” She lifted an eyebrow, all sass. “We were kind of in the middle of a conversation when you decided to be all dramatic.”

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