Page 101 of The Lake House

Yeah, that must have taken a lot. Cheryl and I have always talked about everything.

“Okay, now that that’s out of the way, you need to go to her. Go to her and fix it.”

I chuckle. “Okay, sis. I will.”

“But first, go sit your ass back down and eat your food. You’re going to need your energy for when you go see her.” She winks at me.

Oh fuck. The last thing I need is my sister wanting to talk about my sex life.

“Declan, did you hear me? I said sit and eat!”

I chuckle and make my way over to the table. “Yes, Ma’am!”

ChapterThirty-Six

GIULIANA

“You can’t be serious.”

I look away from Liv’s gaze as her words register in my mind. We’ve been over the same thing for the past couple of days. She’s been grilling me about the way I ended it with Declan.

I’ve been staying with her ever since that whole stupid incident with Todd. I couldn’t bear to stay home. That was the last place I was before Declan and I broke up.

Or rather, I should say before I broke up with him.

Broke up and probably broke his heart.

Dammit. That wasn’t what I was trying to do. That was the exact thing I was trying to avoid. But of course, it backfired, and I know he’s hurting now.

I know it because of all the missed calls and unanswered text messages. He’s even called Liv and tried to explain things to her to tell me.

And she wanted to put him on the phone with me, but every time, I told her I couldn’t do it. I pulled away. I forced myself to shut Declan out of my life.

And it’s been killing me since.

But I know this is just the way it has to be.

I can’t be the reason he goes through all the drama that Todd will inevitably always bring to my life. Just because the cops took him away, eventually he’ll be out of jail, and I’m sure he’s always going to find a way to ruin my life.

Declan doesn’t deserve the drama. And neither does Lily.

I want them both to be happy. They deserve a good life with someone who makes them happy.

And unfortunately, that someone isn’t me.

“I’m serious,” I finally respond to Liv.

She shakes her head disapprovingly. “Don’t you think you’ve made a mistake?”

I shrug.

“Well, I do,” she replies. “I think you’ve made a huge mistake.”

I tilt my head to the side. “Come on, Liv. What else was I supposed to do? He got into a horrible fist fight with my ex. There was blood, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more than a few broken bones.”

She raises her brow. “What were you supposed to do?What were you supposed to do?Oh my God, Giules! You were supposed to take him inside and ride his cock for protecting you from dickwad!That’s what you were supposed to do!”

I shake my head. “Seriously, Liv. I’m not playing around.”

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