Page 95 of Between Love and Loathing

He took off his eyeglasses, sitting at his desk and shrugged. “She’s your friend, right?”

“Of course.”

“It made her happy?”

“Of course.”

“And you too?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then why does it matter why I did it? Just be happy.” He went back to working, but I wasn’t done.

“Because you don’t do that.” I tried to reason with myself. This wasn’t the man I knew when I’d first met him. “You were ruthless when I met you. You made us all feel inadequate.”

“And now? Now, we’re ready for the world. And you’re all a part of my world, right?”

“So what? Now, Paloma’s close to you?”

“She sits by me every morning.” He replied matter-of-factly.

“You barely talk to her!”

“So?”

“Is this how you’ve been? Quietly fixing everybody’s problems behind closed doors and then acting like a freaking jerk to our faces? Is this the oldest sibling in you?”

“My siblings know I don’t do anything they don’t deserve.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You think your siblings deserve the world though!”

His smile sliced across his face like he was happy I was starting to finally understand him.

I truly think I was.

DOMINIC

My little fighter had been battling a silent war the whole time I’d known her without ever giving me a heads-up.

She was strong. So strong that I was sure she’d be able to move a mountain if I goaded her into it. And it was brilliantly beautiful to see even if it was infuriating.

She’d kept the biggest secret of all so that I wouldn’t treat her differently not knowing that I treated her differently already.

Didn’t she get that? She was living in my house. I literally was eating sweets to try to curb my addiction to her and her treats.

Me: Did you know Clara has lupus?

Declan: Evie may have mentioned it once or twice.

Me: I’m going to fucking kill you.

Izzy: Cade said if you need help with that, he knows a guy.

Me: That’s not even funny, Izzy.

Declan: Well, it kinda is. It’s also funny that you didn’t know your own girlfriend had lupus.

Dex: That’s because, like I said, pretty sure it’s his fake girlfriend.