question I’d heard after clawing my way out of hell. It was a far-away voice that clipped the pounding in my head. “How long, Blakely?” Lance’s voice asked again, I wanted to open my eyes, but it felt like rocks were laid across my eyelids and weighing them down.
“It feels like forever, but months?” Blakely’s soft voice replied. I felt my chest constrict as hands wrapped around my arm and lightly squeezed. There was a constant beeping in my brain that pinged in time to my racing heart.
“Months? You’ve been hiding this for months?” Lance replied incredulously. I tried to open my mouth but couldn’t. I wanted to defend myself and protect my girl. Lance was obviously hurting, and I knew better than most that hurt people, hurt people. It shouldn’t have happened like this. Blakely shouldn’t have had to weather the storm by herself. But I couldn’t fucking wake up.
“We didn’t want to hide it from you, Lance. It started out as something we both denied, then it became something more. By then, it felt wrong to say anything.”
“It was wrong to start anything, Blakely,” Lance’s cold voice replied. My heart sank. “Did you not care about his job? He could have lost everything because of you.”
I wanted to tell Lance that I would have happily given my career up for Blakely. The risk was worth the reward. “I know, Lance. I know.” Blakely sniffled, and I wished I could open my eyes and reach up to wipe the tears I knew were streaming from her cheeks.
“And what about me, huh? He’s my best friend. Isn’t there some sibling code we’re supposed to stick to? You can’t be serious!” I heard a crash as if something was thrown on the ground. Blakely flinched beside me and removed her hand from my arm. Fuck. I tried harder to move. I commanded my legs to lift up, but couldn’t tell if it was actually working. “I can’t believe I was so fucking stupid!” Lance roared. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it. You seduced him, and now look!”
Though I couldn’t see, I could still feel their heavy stares on my body, lingering on the throbbing pain in my side. “I know, Lance. I’m so sorry. I never meant—”
“Never meant to hurt him? Never meant to drag him into your problems? Never meant for him to get shot trying to protect you? What were you thinking, Blakely?”
The room went silent for a moment, and I tried to open my mouth to speak. My body was a traitorous bastard, letting me down when my girl needed me most. Once again, I tried to make a sound, do something, say anything. Nothing worked. My body felt like a stranger, with my soul just occupying it. “It’s all so ironic,” Lance then said. “I mean, truly. The night before you arrived, Decker warned me about you.”
I could hear the beeps growing faster, mimicking the racing of my heart. “What?” Blakely asked.
“Yep. We knew about your mother, and he warned me. He warned me!” Lance was yelling now. I wanted to stop this. Blakely didn’t need to know about my jaded assumptions. Fuck!
I could still remember the night before Blakely arrived. I’d told Lance he was making a colossal mistake. I told him that this was yet another person that would come in with the intent of filling the void in his heart but would just steal more from him in the process.
“What did he say?” Blakely asked while pulling away from me. The moment her citrus scent left, I whimpered like a fucking pussy. I needed her near. I needed to squeeze her hand reassuringly.
“Decker told me it would be a giant mistake to let you live with us. He said you were probably just as bad—if not worse—than our mom, and that we would be better off without you. I hate to admit it, but he was right. Look at where Decker is right now! You almost got him killed. You almost lost him his job!”
There was a long, drawn-out silence. A war was raging in my chest. The old me was wrong, so, so terribly wrong. Blakely was selfless and kind. Compassionate. Smart. She fought to separate from her mother, and I hated that Lance was preying on her most profound insecurities. “You’re right,” Blakely finally whispered.
“I love him, Blakely. I love him more than anyone in this world. You almost took that from me, and I don’t think I can ever forgive