like?”
“It’s…” Her throat shifts with her swallow. “It’s different. I go to an all-girls boarding school, so I don’t really see him. But, he finances everything.” She shrugs. “So, there’s that.”
Disbelief washes through me, and I can’t hide it in time. I scoff and ignore her narrowed, heated eyes on mine. “Wait. So you go all the way to New York, to the state where your father lives, and then he dumps you at a boarding—”
“Don’t do that,” she cuts in, her voice slicing through the air.
I rear back. “Do what?”
“Don’t pretend to give the slightest shit about me.”
I stand, practically march over to her. “Mia, of course I care about you. What the f—”
“You say you do…” she rushes out, her hands going up between us. A barrier. A wall. Head tilted back, she makes sure I’m looking right at her when she adds, “…but your actions prove otherwise.”
“That’s bullshit,” I snap.
“Yeah?” Her shoulders square, defiant. She doesn’t break our stare. “Where’s the lie in my statement?”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes.
“Exactly,” she says.
And that knife in my heart? She’s twisting it. With every single truth she speaks, she creates another cut, a larger wound.
“Do you want me to leave?” I ask. “Because if my being here is pissing you off—”
“Why are you here?” she cuts in.
I shake my head, keep it low. “My dad sent me.”
Her voice is softer now, but each word is terse, concise. “Why? What’d you do?”
“I didn’t do anything,” I retort. And that’s the problem.
I.
Didn’t.
Do.
Anything.
I saw the red flags. I saw the way Laney’s ex, Cooper, treated her. I even saw the bruises she tried to hide.
I.
Didn’t.
Do.
Anything.
I watched Laney, my so-called best friend, turn into a shadow of herself. I watched her become distant. I saw the fear in her eyes when Cooper was around, and yet,
I.
Didn’t.
Do.
Anything.
“Leo?” Mia’s watching me, her eyes searching mine, and I don’t know where I went just now, but it wasn’t here.
It wasn’t anywhere.
I heard everything my brothers said about Mia that night. Every name, every insult. And when I realized she was there, and she heard it all, too, still,
I.
Didn’t.
Do.
Anything.
“Leo?”
I blink hard, come to, and release all the air in my lungs. Knees weak, I sit back down and admit only what I’m comfortable with. “I’m just going through some stuff right now, that’s all.”
“Are you okay? Your family… is everyone…” She’s no longer angry or unsure… She’s the fifteen-year-old version of the girl I once fell for. “Is your dad—”
“We’re fine,” I interrupt to stop her mind from wandering. “It’s Laney.” I lean forward, rest my forearms on my knees, and take a breath. “She was in an abusive relationship, and the guy—he tried to kill her. Shot her at point-blank range. It’s a miracle she survived.”
I look for a response, but her stare is blank, her expression, too.
“I’m just… I’m struggling a little to come to terms with it, so Dad sent me here thinking it might help to get away from it all.”
“Right,” she says, then inhales as if she’d forgotten to breathe. “Well, I’m sorry that happened to her. I know how close you are.” She’s looking at me, and I’m watching her, and we’re only feet apart, but this world, the entirety of the planet we live on and everything that’s occurred on it, seems to divide us.
“I do care about you,” I murmur, and it feels like such an empty statement, one screamed into a void.
She stands up, done with the conversation. “I’ll pray for Laney and her recovery.” Yeah, a lot of fucking good that’ll do. “Goodnight, Leo.”
I sigh. “Goodnight, Mia.”
Chapter Eighteen
Leo
I think I’m running away from my guilt.
That thought pops into my head, completely unprovoked, and I trip over my own damn feet, stumble, and land on my knees first, then my forearms, ass in the air.
Grace has always been one of my best qualities. Obviously. Luckily, there’s no one around to see it.
With a groan, I roll onto my back, the sharp edges of loose gravel digging into me. The morning sun blares down, right into my eyeballs, and I use my arm to shield it, wincing in pain when I realize I’ve broken skin. Awesome.
The day’s just started, and already I want out.
After replaying my conversation with Mia last night, over and over, I hadn’t been able to sleep for hours. I’d woken up at almost seven this morning, way later than the 4:20 I’m used to, and my first thought was: how do I leave?
My second