I didn't sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Skyler's face when Marcus had confronted him. The defeat. The despair. The way he'd looked at me like I was both his salvation and his destruction.
*I love you.*
The words echoed in my mind, unwanted and undeniable. Part of me had waited five years to hear them. The other part wished he'd never spoken them at all. Because now I couldn't pretend anymore. Couldn't tell myself he was just suffering from the rejected bond's physical effects.
He loved me. Had loved me. And he'd thrown it away anyway.
Around dawn, I gave up on sleep and went downstairs. Mom was already in the kitchen, looking as exhausted as I felt.
"Rough night?" she asked, pouring me coffee without being asked.
"You could say that." I wrapped my hands around t
