Page 90 of What He Doesn't Know

But nothing changed when I opened my eyes again.

Blake was there, pulling the door open since I couldn’t do a single thing but stare.

“Guess my surprise really worked,” Blake said with a chuckle. “You’re speechless.”

I still couldn’t believe it. Nothing would register. My heart wouldn’t start again, my hands wouldn’t move, my breath wouldn’t pull the much needed oxygen to my lungs — because it wasn’t Charlie on my doorstep. It was Blake.

Blake, my ex-roommate.

And, technically, my girlfriend.

Charlie

Jane’s cage door was still wide open, the two swings within it empty, and I stared at the gold-plated bars of that little prison as I waited for Cameron to return.

He’d helped me into bed after my episode at the concert, and though I was lucky I hadn’t cracked my head like an egg backstage, I still somewhat wished I could just pass out again to skip whatever conversation was about to happen.

I missed Jane.

If she was in her cage, I could open the door and tickle her feathers while she nudged her little head into my hand and sang me a song assuring me everything would be fine. Then again, not even her comforting song could change the fact that my life was a royal mess at the moment.

Still, I couldn’t stop staring at her empty cage, longing for her company.

The sun had set long ago, well before the spring concert even started, and our room was illuminated only by the soft white glow coming from my bedside lamp. I heard Cameron’s footsteps coming up the stairs and down the hallway before he even appeared, but I still blinked when he entered, as if he’d shaken me from a dream.

“Here,” he said, taking a seat at the foot of our bed near my ankles.

I kept my eyes on the cage as he handed me a steaming cup of tea on a small porcelain plate. The floral aroma of it hit my nose first, and I finally glanced down at the hot liquid, letting the steam warm my face. It was a white berry tea, one of my favorites, and I hated that Cameron knew it would bring me comfort.

I sat it on the bedside table.

“You need to try to eat something soon,” he said softly, placing a small bowl of tea biscuits next to where I’d placed the mug. “I know you don’t want to, but you should try.”

I nodded as my only acknowledgement, leaning back against the fort of pillows against our headboard with my eyes resting on that damn cage again.

“Why?”

My voice cracked a little at the first word I’d spoken all night. I tore my gaze from the cage, and Cameron’s eyes were waiting for me, steady as ever.

“Why did you do it?”

“Because I love you,” he answered easily, as if the answer was obvious. “And I’m not losing you.”

I stared at him, willing myself to believe the words he’d said, tofeelsomething when he said them — but I only found rage.

“Damn it, Cameron!” I threw the covers back, kicking them the rest of the way off until I could climb out of bed. I needed to walk, needed to be away from him.

My hands ran back through my tangled hair, and I squeezed my eyes tight once I’d reached the far end of our room, standing right next to the cage with the door still open. I wanted to crawl out of my skin, out of the house, out of my life. It was too hard to breathe, my head swimming again like it had at the school, and I blindly felt for the handle on our window before throwing it open and letting in the freezing cold breeze.

The shock of it stole my breath, but then it came back in a slow, comforting exhale, and I braced my hands on the windowsill, letting the cold consume me.

“I know about you and Reese.”

His words should have shocked me, should have crippled me with guilt and sorrow, but they only elicited a snarky laugh that had never left my lips before in my entire life. I shook my head where it hung between my shoulders, fingers still curled around the white wood of our window sill.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yes.”