Page 38 of Midnight Between Us (The Timberbridge Brothers #4)

Chapter Thirty-Four

Keir,

It’s quiet now.

Not peaceful.

Just . . . hollow.

Something inside me got ripped out and no one noticed.

I haven’t cried today. Maybe I’m all out. Or maybe I’m just too tired.

Tired of hoping.

Tired of replaying that call like it might end differently if I memorize every second.

You said I meant nothing.

But you used to say midnight belonged to us.

You used to sit with me in silence and somehow hear everything I couldn’t say.

Was that nothing, too?

I keep thinking maybe I imagined it all.

Maybe I wanted it so badly I that made it real in my mind.

But then I remember your hand on mine.

The way you used to tuck your chin to your chest and smile like I was the only good thing in the world.

The way you whispered my name when you thought I was asleep.

You can’t fake that.

I know you can’t.

So why did you lie? Why did you try to hurt me on purpose?

You said I should grow up.

Like I haven’t been growing up since the day I realized I couldn’t count on anyone staying.

Like I haven’t been holding my pieces together with trembling hands, pretending it didn’t hurt when people left.

Well. You left.

Then you rejected me.

And it hurt.

But I’m still here.

Still standing.

And maybe that means something.

I miss you so much it feels like bleeding.

But I’ll keep writing, even if I never send this letter and you never read them. I just need you a little longer. Just for a few more days.

Because somehow, these letters make me feel like I’m not disappearing.

Love you a little less than before,

Simone