In the end, she didn’t scream or cry. I was waiting for one reaction or the other, and had steeled myself for both. Instead, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and took a deep, shuddery breath that hurt my heart to hear it. She kept her face turned from me, though I saw a tear course down her cheek. After a long moment, she wiped after it with the back of her hand.
“Damn,” she murmured softly.
I reached for her. “Brin, I’m sorry—”
“Don’t touch me.” She shrugged off my hand and turned another few degrees away. “You no longer have the right.”
“Brin…”
But what could I say, exactly? What words would calm her emotions and make her feel better? None that I think of.
Suddenly she raised a hand to her mouth and sobbed into it. “All because you’re too damn stubborn to go back to takin
