Page 132 of Hate Me Like You Mean It

“Let’s take a break.” I pulled her closer, brushing a kiss over the tip of her nose. “Five minutes.”

She slipped her arms around my neck with a soft sigh. “You know what I’m going to say.”

“I do.”

“So you’re trying to stall.”

“Can you blame me?”

She nuzzled closer, her fingers toying with my hair. “I know it’s not ideal, but the conversation with my parents needs to happen in person. I owe them that much.”

I was only half-aware that her phone was buzzing again as my hold on her tightened. “He’ll be back in less than two weeks. Go with him then.”

He’d been flying in from Victoria every twelve days or so to spend time with my mom. Sometimes they played backgammon. Sometimes they did tai chi in the garden. And sometimes they did nothing at all.

When Alice and I had visited yesterday, we’d found him snoring loudly in her rocking chair, his e-reader resting face down on the carpet. Mom had been humming in her knitting nook, trying to work through a tiny sweater for Maxwell as the bird pulled and toyed with the yarn.

I hadn’t seen her pick up her knitting needles or laugh so much in years.

“The longer we put this off, the higher the chances we get caught,” Alice tried. “And that would make things so much worse.”

I pressed my forehead to her temple, ignoring the panicked kick of my pulse. “I can come with you. We can take my jet, and I’ll stay at a hotel nearby. They won’t know.”

I swallowed roughly when she gently shook her head.

“I’ll come back. I promise.” She cupped my face, forcing me to look at her. “Ipromise. Okay?”

My teeth were glued shut, dread snaking around my throat. I pulled her into an embrace, one hand slipping to the back of her head.

I shut my eyes, memorizing the feel of her against me. The warmth of her skin. Her scent.

Every detail I could cling to in case her family managed to talk sense into her. Remind her of how badly I’d fucked up. How undeserving I was of her forgiv?—

Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.

Alice peeled her head away to yell at her phone across the room. “Oh my god,shut up!I don’t want to talk to you!”

Miraculously, it listened. The buzzing cut off, and Alice clicked her tongue, stuffing her frowning face into the crook of my neck.

Not five seconds later:Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.

She shoved off me with an angry “UGH,” stomping to where her phone was plugged in. She ripped it off the attachment, her teeth half-bared.

Until she looked at the screen.

At first, it was like she couldn’t understand what she was seeing. Then her gaze jerked to mine, wide and panicked.

“What?” I asked.

“It’s the care home.”

There was a split second of shock, and then adrenaline kicked in. I yanked my phone out of my pocket. Two missed calls while it’d been on silent.

“Hello?”

I jumped to my feet, my heart racing against the clock as I held out my hand for her phone. She put up a finger. “Yes, this is she.”

Then I had to watch as her expression changed. As confusion and worry morphed into something a hell of a lot worse. “Okay. Yes. Which hospital, sorry?” She sprinted to her bedroom and grabbed her purse. I snatched my keys. Opened the door for her. “Okay. Yes, we’re on our way now. Thank you.”