Page 104 of Ghosts Don't Cry

She’s waiting on the porch, arms crossed, eyes blazing. The same look she used to get right before destroying someone with that sharp tongue of hers. “Took you long enough.”

“Kinda busy.”

She shoulders past me, and into the hall. “Yeah? Well, I’m about to make your day busier.”

I close the door and turn to face her. “What do you want, Cassidy?”

“I want to talk about the fact that Lily just got put on administrative leave from work because of you.”

I keep my expression blank. “That’s not my problem.”

“Really?” She steps closer, tone turning sharp as cut glass. “Because from where I’m standing, everything that’s happened to her in the past weekisyour problem. The gossip about Friday night. The assault on Saturday morning. And now this?”

I walk past her, needing distance, and head back to the kitchen. “If you’re done?—”

“They’re threatening herjob, Ronan. Beverly Walsh is pushing for a formal review. Parents are questioning whether she should be teaching their kids. All because she got caught up inyourmess.Again!”

I crouch in front of the sink, reaching for the wrench. My fingers close around it. “I didn’t ask her to get involved.”

“No.” Cassidy’s laugh is bitter. “You just kissed her against a wall where half the town could see, then pushed her away. You let her take a punch meant for you. And now you’re standing there acting like she doesn’t fucking matter.”

My jaw locks. “She doesn’t.”

“Bullshit!” She moves around until she’s in my line of sight again. “Seven years ago, I watched her fall apart because of you. I held her while she cried herself sick. I listened to her blame herself for not being here for you. For not being able to help you.”

Guilt crawls through my veins. I squash it down. “I never asked her to do any of it.”

“No. You just took it. Like you took everything else she offered, then threw her away when you were done with her.” She folds her arms and glares at me. “Sound familiar?”

“Get out.”

“Or what?” Her chin lifts. “You’ll find a way to ruinmylife too? That’s your answer for everything, isn’t it? Someone tries to help and shows you they care, and you run.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I knoweverything, Ronan! She’s my fucking best friend. Who the hell do you think she turns to every time you break her fucking heart?”

I slam the wrench down. “She’ll get over it.”

“Like she did seven years ago?” She laughs again, the sound scraping against my nerves. “Hate to be the one to break it to you, Ronan. She never fucking did get over you.”

I surge to my feet and into her space. The move surprises her, and she stumbles back a step, eyes widening slightly.

“What the fuck do you want from me?”

“I want you to stop being a coward.” She recovers quickly, meeting my glare head-on. “Either tell her you don’t care about her, and mean it. Or stop pretending that you don’t. Because this push-pull thing you’re doing is destroying her.”

“She’s better off without me. What she's done with her life without me in it has proved that.”

“But that’s notyourchoice to make. She’s a grown woman who can decide for herself what she wants. Stop trying to protect her by hurting her.”

The truth of her words twist like a knife, but I refuse to let her see that. “Are we done?”

She studies me for a long moment, then her lips curl. “Do you know what’s different this time around?”

I don’t answer. It doesn’t stop her.

“She’s not a kid anymore. This isn’t first love all over again. She has a career she loves. Kids who adore her. A life that doesn’t include having her best friend lie about where she is so she can sneak out to abandoned buildings to spend time with someone who used her feelings for what he could get.”