Page 164 of If You Claim Me

“Maybe…” I hiccup.

He lifts me so my feet are dangling and carriesme over to the couch. Once I’m arranged in a not-awkward position, I continue sobbing into his shirt. For the briefest moment, I wish my feelings for him weren’t solely platonic. Flip is broken too, but at least Iknowthat he loves me, even if it isn’t the kind that dreams are made of.

When I can finally take a full breath, and I’m not hiccupping my way through every attempt at speaking, Flip grabs us both a drink, piles two bowls with half-melted ice cream, and settles in next to me, letting me hug his arm.

Before I can explain everything, there’s another knock on the door. “Hello?” Rix’s questioning lilt filters down the hall.

“Maybe Flip’s checking on the place,” Tristan says.

“We’re in here!” I call out.

Tristan and Rix appear in the living room a few seconds later, Tristan carrying several containers, likely filled with Flip’s weekly food-plan items.

Rix’s eyes go wide. “Dred? What happened? Are you okay?”

“Connor and I are over.”

“What? Why? But he’s so in love with you.” She wraps me in her arms.

Flip gets two more bowls of ice cream, and they join us in the living room for sad story time.

“I fell in love with him, and he fell in love with me, but he refuses to own his feelings,” I explain.

Flip nods slowly. “Do you want to start from the beginning? Because usually people marry each otherafterthey fall in love, not before.”

That he’s made it this long not knowing the whole story speaks to how amazing he is as a best friend. And the rest of my friends showed up for me too, the whole time.

So I start from the beginning—with Callie’s hockey games and Connor coming to the library looking for Meems’s books, me putting together who she was and how connected I already felt to her before Connor proposed the arrangement to alleviatethe possibility of me losing my apartment, and then signing the contract.

Tristan arches a brow. “You signed a contract to marry him?”

I explain the parameters.

Flip’s expression darkens. “You know I would have helped you with the apartment, and I wouldn’t have made you sign anything.”

Tristan and Rix share a look.

“What’s that about?” Flip motions between them. “You can’t tell me you think what he did was okay.”

“We both stood to gain something,” I reason.

“Connor did a lot more at our wedding than just fix the accommodations,” Rix says.

“What do you mean?” Flip asks.

“My mother showed up,” Tristan explains.

My eyes widen. “What? When?” Tristan hasn’t seen his mother since she abandoned their family when he was twelve.

“The day before the wedding. I didn’t see her, but Nate did. I wasn’t there, but Essie and Nate explained what happened after the wedding. Connor paid her off. He gave her three million dollars to stay out of our lives. He made her sign a contract, too, saying she’ll have to pay it back if she ever tries to contact one of us again. And he refuses to accept any form of repayment.”

“He said it was our wedding gift,” Rix adds.

“Wow.” Flip runs a hand through his hair. “That’s…wow.”

This absolutely sounds like something Connor would do, especially considering the circumstances. I let my head flop back against the couch cushions. More tears fall. “This just makes what’s happened so much worse.” I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Maybe he’s scared, like I was?” Tristan offers.