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“You were supposed to be the one I could share anything with You were supposed to be the person I never had to pretend with, the one who pros from me”
“It’s a reflex, like catching a falling knife even though you know it’s going to slice you to the bone I’ve been keeping secrets since I was little, and the one tih, that’s when he left I refused to lie forwhat he’d done killed me That wasn’t the type of shit you heap on a kid, butany parent of the year awards”
I tiltedabout?”
He ran through the whole sordid story about his dad, how he’d told his uilt he carried with hiling to me, and it made me want to track his dad down and unleash Marisa on him He’d kept that bottled up inside and had never spoken about his dadhe’d left
“But his cheating was keeping secrets, Ford Just because sos can’t hurt someone—someone they love” I stared into his eyes
“There are so many other ways I wish I could’ve told you”
“How about any other way?” I crossed htly to htly across his biceps and chest The saed to feel again “And what happens the next time you try to play protector and keep me in the dark?”
“I won’t From now on, it’s one hundred percent open and honest I have noelse about , ask and I’ll tell you Anything Everything”
“There’s too ht now” Like how I’ll survive next year without any financial support The financial aid office had already informed me that because the trust was technicallyaid The fact that my brother wouldn’t let me touch it didn’t matter
Maybe once Colotten fro my next semester paid for had see ainst the world were bullshit It waswith his plan for my life to a T
I didn’t have a credit history, and private student loan interest rates were insane There was a tiny voice in the back of o the easy way—ha! Had anyone in the history ofwith his plan, he could then also pick outthe rest of my life until I died
I needed this I’d needed this for a long ti onmy life out
“I can help Let me knohat you need”
I shookon everyone else toIt’s my fault I let it happen I let everyone else’s expectations decide what I did, and I can’t do it anymore I won’t”
“So where does that leave us?” His gaze darted from the floor up to mine