Make Me Dream of You

CHAPTER 24

HERO

I can't even see two feet in front of me, only red. My mind is swirling and I'm vibrating so much I want to crawl out of my skin. I've never wanted to wring someone's neck, but Kat might find I'm a new person.

Later.

Josephine first.

She winds down the dark hall and back into the same bathroom as earlier. I follow her, shut the door, and turn the lock. I have to unravel my fists to do it, they ache from being clenched so tight, my palms dented with marks from my fingernails.

My vision is still blurred, darkness creeping in on the edges, heart rate elevated, blood pumping full of adrenaline and ready for a fight.

But as soon as I turn around and see Josephine standing there, tears running down her face, it clears. Everything else melts away. She's the only thing that matters right now.

"I'm so sorry," she says, letting out a sob.

"Angel." I wrap my arms around her instantly and she reaches up around my neck without hesitation.

I scoop her up and set her on the counter and hold her tighter, basking in her warmth, the scent of her hair as I bury my face in it. She nuzzles into my chest and I'm never taking this feeling for granted again. This is where I belong. This is where she belongs. With me.

The front of my shirt is wet, but her sobs have subsided to hiccups.

After a few minutes, it's quiet again.

Her face is still smashed against me when she says, muffled, "So, you haven't been sleeping with my sister?"

"No, Jo." I say it softly, still holding her, but the thought makes me want to smash this sink with my fist.

She lifts her head, looking up at me with tear-streaked cheeks, red eyes, and a runny nose.

She's beautiful. She's mine.

"And nothing happened at the lake house?"

"The lake house?" I contort my face trying to figure out what she means.

She wipes her face with her palm. "I saw a text on Kat's phone. She asked you not to tell anyone about what happened at the lake house."

"Oh, that. I caught Kat and Jake together at the lake house. She didn't want anyone knowing about it. I didn't ask why. It wasn't my business."

Josephine starts crying again. "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you. I wouldn't have believed it if Kat hadn't said it to my face. I should have⁠—"

"Shh." I wipe her eyes with my thumbs and kiss her forehead. I kiss her nose and then both damp cheeks as her stuttering breaths start to ease. "You should have talked to me," I whisper against her lips.

"I know," she breathes. "I should have trusted you."

"I wish you had. But I gave you reasons not to."

"No." She shakes her head. "You didn't, I⁠—"

I take her face in both my hands. "I did. I was getting scared. Scared when I realized how in love with you I am. I started pushing you away because I was afraid if I let you all the way in, I'd just get hurt when I lost you."

But that was a lie. She was already in. Embedded so deep there's no way to disentangle her from my heart. No way to forget her. And I knew the day she walked out my door last week I was fucked.

"You're in love with me?" She sniffles. Her black eyelashes are wet, sticking together in little spikes around her big, blue eyes.

"Yes." And for a second, my heart stops, my lungs deflate, and I'm alone and vulnerable, about to crumble to dust.