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“I was doing that to protect us.”
Deklin gave me a look that was more big brother than little brother. “How do you know she wasn’t trying to do the same? That she wasn’t trying to see if being with you would hurt her?”
I stared at him as if the thought hadn’t crossed my mind…because it hadn’t. I’d heard that she’d gone to a PI, and it’d never even crossed my mind that she might’ve been trying to protect herself.
“Fuck me.”
Deklin gave me a wry smile. “I’m pretty sure you did that to yourself.”
He was right.
Again.
“I know I’m the baby brother, and that usually means I’m the one getting advice, but let me give you some for once.” He leaned forward. “Maybe you should apologize to Linsey for having your head up your ass and hear her out about why she reached out to Royd in the first place.”
“What?”
“Don’t completely destroy the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”
With that statement, he got up and left. I stayed where I was and wondered if he was right. Not the part about how Linsey was the best thing that’d ever happened to me. That was a conclusion I’d already come to, even if I hadn’t acknowledged it. She’d never been just another sexual partner, even when I’d thought we’d only have the one night together.
No, the real question was, had I completely destroyed it, or would it still be possible for me to fix things?