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She already had How did these stupid fuckers not see it? "If you look in her room, you’ll find she’s not there You will find her with Sean Mackenzie, where I’ her very happy, which is what she deserves, so get offback!"

Thorpe winced There he went, losing control again Son of a bitch, he needed to get hiet theather the pieces of hi to happen

"Here’s the deal," Jack began, pacing up to hie "Tell o"

Four words All he had to do was say "I don’t love her," and this goddamn torture would be over It should be simple Open his mouth, let shit come out, end the pain

Thorpe quickly realized that if he couldn’t admit out loud that he loved Callie, he also couldn’t say that he didn’t love her It was a betrayal of everything he felt, and he refused to do it

Logan was right When had he become a pussy? These le day They were still standing and whole Blissfully fucking happy even If all he had to do to hold Callie again was tell her that he loved her, would that really be so hard? If love bettered a ood for her?

He sat again and hung his head, feeling a shudder work up in his chest, the luhtest it had felt since leaving Vegasand Callie "I love her and I sent her away"

"Do you regret it?" Deke asked

"I’h for her I’m too" Bottled up for her

"She doesn’t see it that way, I’an said

"And that isn’t what Deke asked," Hunter reret it?"

"Yes" He scrubbed a hand through his hair It was too long, but he just hadn’t found the energy to have it cut Or to give a shit about it "I regretted it instantly"

The door to his apartain "That’s all you had to say"

Thorpe whipped his head around at that familiar voice Sean Mackenzie stood in the entry, then closed the door behind hi to his feet, Thorpe approached the , it felt physical Suddenly, he didn’t have an elephant sitting on his chest

Instead, he had soerous: hope

It occurred to hiood-bye to Callie, he hadn’t just lost the woman he loved, he’d also lost a partnera friend He’d come to like Sean Rely on his you here?"

"Callie, of course" He looked around the roouys?"

Most nodded Deke looked disappointed

Tyler sighed noisily "I thought I was going to get to kick sorinned under that put-out expression

Luc slapped him on the back "You really are an asshole"

"Is that supposed to be news?" Tyler snapped back

Collective uys filed out

Logan hung back "Listen, I owed you for helpingyou Someday, you’ll thank me, and we’ll be even Noork it out with Sean, tell Callie how you feel, and fucking be happy I want an invitation to the wedding"

With a wink, Logan shut the door

The silence suffocated Thorpe His palan to sweat A million words crowded his brain He didn’t knohich one of the, he sat at the bistro table, picking at Luc’s plate and took a bite He hoped that looking busy would cut through the aardness, but no He still wasn’t sure what to say And daood

"How are you not horrifically pissed off at h, but it still slipped out "Who’s to say I’m not?" Then he sobered "But Callie toldthat was A betrayal at every level But you knoas a long tireed quickly

"And you know Callie is nothing like the woe of you as a kid"

"Absolutely It’s me I just closed myself off and refused to care about anyone much I’ve been abreath "I just didn’t kno le person that I love them"

It had always terrified hiain Callie wouldn’t hurt him on purpose; he knew that in his head But he truly loved her in a way the boy he’d once been, blind with adolescent lust, couldn’t possibly comprehend In a way his own father had never been capable of This was so ave her so much power to hurt him

So now he’d come to a fork in the road He knew that safety came with loneliness, sharper now because he knew exactly how precious the wo that just wouldn’t rest again: his heart But loving without risk was impossible