Page 12 of Heartstring

Maybe buying it and giving it to me in trust is his way of showing he can still control me. To remind me of my place in the world. To take a dagger to my stomach, followed by a nice twist of the wrist and a final push in.

I kept my end of the contract, and in twenty-five years, I never broke a single clause.

Well, maybe once…almost…

The fact I can’t understand why he’s done it is messing with my head.

I take a sip of my beer, and my silence must have bored Levi because he moves to another side of the bar to speak to someone else.

My phone flashes with another message from Seymour.

Seymour: I’ll send out a search party if you don’t come home.

Tyler: You said you had a surprise for me. I hate surprises.

Seymour: Oh, boo, don’t sulk. It’s a good surprise.

Tyler: What part of I hate surprises don’t you get?

Seymour: Everyone loves surprises. You just haven’t had the best ones yet.

It’s been a week since Seymour descended into my life and has been trying to inject happiness and cheerfulness like he’s the fucking anti-Grinch.

Part of me wants to give in and let him do it. Soak up his light and enjoy the time he’s here. But at some point, he’ll go back home to Cali, and I’ll be on my own again, but worse because I’ll miss his company. I can’t get used to not being alone again.

“Ty, you’re here.”

I should have known that coming to The Academy on a quiet weekday evening meant I was bound to bump into someone I know.

Milo sits on the vacant stool next to me, and his boyfriend Ellis sits on his other side.

“Hey, guys. Date night?” I ask, trying to sound a little more normal to my friends than I did to poor Levi. I’ll need to apologize to him at some point.

Milo smiles wide. “Yeah. Sara is staying the night with Florrie, so it’s just us.”

Ellis looks at Milo like he hung the fucking moon. He leans over to shake my hand and then rests his hand on Milo’s thigh when he sits back.

That knife? It twists a little more every time I see them so happy together.

Not that I’m not happy for them. If there’s anyone who deserves to be loved and adored, it’s Milo. He’s had a difficult life and has handled everything, including raising his niece as his own daughter, with grace I haven’t seen in people older with more resources. But they have what I once thought I would and now have no chance of having.

Each other. A family.

“And what brings you to The Academy on a school night?” Ellis asks.

I raise a brow. He’s the teacher, after all. If anyone has to pay attention to school nights, it’s him.

“You know what I mean,” he adds.

“Just grabbing a drink. Didn’t feel like sitting at home.”

Milo narrows his brows. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Don’t know, you don’t seem…yourself.”

I snort. “Well, I can’t be anyone else.”No matter how much I sometimes wish I was.