Curtis clearly had not expected me to ask that. To my surprise, a faint flush rose to his face.
"Bella, don't tease me like that."
He gripped the edge of the bathtub so tightly that the veins stood out on the back of his hand, as if he were desperately trying to hold something back.
My tears spilled over at once.
"So you don't like me either? You all like Eira. Then I don't want any of you either..."
"Don't cry. It's not that I don't like you. It's just..."
Curtis panicked instantly, as though he had no idea how to comfort me.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
The sound seemed to rescue him at exactly the right moment, and he immediately stood up.
"Bella, I'll get the door. Wait for me."
Between the torment in my body and the hurt in my heart, I could no longer hold anything back. Al
