Page 132 of Head Over Heels

My throat was raw and hot, my eyes burning. Neville wound through my ankles, bumping his head against my legs.

“I don’t have time for this,” he said.

“For your daughter,” I added, my voice firm. “Finish that sentence appropriately if you’re going to have the balls to say it out loud. You don’t have the time for your daughter.”

He was quiet. “Not at the moment. My schedule is packed, Ivy. I have a million people who need a million things from me, and I can’t take time for this when there are other things of greater value pressing on my time.” Then he paused, and I heard a quiet sigh. “I’ll see you when you get home.”

He said it gently. Like that counted as an apology.

I was still holding the phone up to my ear when he hung up. When I tried to suck in a breath, it tangled deep in my lungs, a stuttering inhale that had my fingers tingling dangerously.

I was out of the house before I knew what I was doing, the door slamming shut behind me so hard that the entire house shook.

I stared up at the trees and felt my chin tremble dangerously.

A broken heart could come from so many places, and there was usually no warning of it.

It wasn’t just love or sex that caused the most damage. It was moments like this, when you were forced to rearrange an entire lifetime of what you thought was true.

I pressed my hands to my quaking ribs, and they felt like such a flimsy cage for what they were meant to protect.

A noise escaped my mouth, and I slapped a hand over that too, desperately trying to keep it in.

I’d never felt so alone, and I wanted … I wanted…

The pressure inside my stomach and chest and throat was too tight for me to breathe through it, and for a second, I wondered what would happen if I tipped my head back and screamed up into the trees.

“Ivy?”

I blinked, my eyes dangerously wet when I registered the sight of Cameron getting out of his truck. He must have been driving by when he saw me because the engine was still running, and he strode toward me, leaving the driver’s side door open behind him.

“What happened?” he asked. His eyes frantically searched my face, his hands cupping my cheeks. “Are you hurt?”

I nodded, my chin trembling.

The first tear hit my cheek before I could stop it, a hot strike that made my ribs quake dangerously.

Then the second.

His brow furrowed as he stared down at me. His thumb brushed underneath my eyes, but there was no stopping the flow of tears.

I didn’t even try.

Without my hand at my mouth to stop it, a sob crawled out of my throat—the first creak of the pressure valve. Then another, louder, and I swayed toward him. With a soft whisper of my name, he folded me into his arms, holding me so tightly that I knew I could release anything, and he’d keep me steady.

I gripped his waist, clutching at his back while I cried.

Chapter 26

Cameron

Ivy might not have cried for long, but she cried hard. I swept her up in my arms and walked her back into her house, the small sniffling noises she made against my neck causing an uncomfortable shredding sensation inside my chest.

When I settled onto the couch, her still in my lap, she took a deep, shuddering breath and tightened her arms around my neck. My hand moved in soothing circles on her back while she eventually quieted.

“You carried me,” she whispered. Her hand touched the edge of my chin.

I hummed, kissing the top of her head. “Good to know you’re still sharp as a tack.”

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