Page 299 of By His Vow

“It’s… going,” he says, his chest decompressing as all the air rushes from his lungs. “It’s fucking hard, T. I knew it would be, but fuck. Letting people go is really fucking hard. Every day something is changing; it’s hard to keep track of everything.”

“It’ll be worth it,” I promise him.

“I wish I had you beside me.”

“You’ve got King, you don’t need me.”

“Don’t we?”

We.

Fuck, if that one word doesn’t slice my chest clean open.

“Miles,” I whisper, my voice cracking with emotion.

“Sorry, but it’s true. I’m not the only one who needs you.”

It’s the first bit of evidence that maybe King isn’t as okay with all of this as I assumed he was. But while I might have thought that hearing he was suffering too would help me, it really fucking doesn’t.

I don’t want to hurt him.

I don’t want to hurt either of us, but I feel like I’m bleeding out right here on the swing seat.

“I-I can’t hear this, Miles.”

“What happened, Tate?”

I shake my head, closing my eyes and trapping the truth behind my lips.

“It all just got too much. Dad, King, the wedding, work. Everything just?—”

His eyes narrow, making me wish I could put a barrier up between us so he can’t see the truth playing out in my eyes.

“It’s more than that. My little sister can cope with more than what’s been thrown at her recently. It takes a hell of a lot more than that to break her.”

Emotion bubbles up faster than I can control.

“Shit. No. Don’t cry,” he soothes.

“I’m sorry. I just…I can’t keep it up anymore,” I confess weakly.

“I wish I was there,” he says sadly. “I hate that you’re alone.”

Steeling myself, I wipe my eyes and hold his through the screen. “I’m okay. I need to be alone right now.”

“But you don’t have to be,” he says, detecting my lie the second it falls from my lips.

Silence falls between us. It’s not uncomfortable, but the unanswered questions lingering in the air between us ensure I don’t fully relax.

“Is there anything any of us can do to change your mind?”

“About King or work?”

“Both, either. Anything. I miss you.”

I shrug. “I don’t know what I want or where I belong right now.”

“Here, Tate. You belong here. You always have.”