Page 27 of Sweet Oblivion

Too tired.

Too damn breakable.

I can’t get the image of her on the ground last night out of my mind. Broken.

Up close, it’s worse. Her skin is pale. Eyes glassy. There’s atightness in her face she’s trying to hide but doesn’t fool me. Nothing about her does. “You look like hell,”I whisper and sign while my parents and Liv argue, my thumb brushing her knuckles without thinking.

Her lips twitch, and she winces.“Wow. You and Olivia should start a club.”

She gotwow,you, andstartright, maybe she’s getting better.

“Already a member,” I shoot back, not even bothering to hide the edge because yeah, I’m worried about her. More than I probably should be. Definitely more than I want to be.

My gaze drags over her, slower this time.

Cataloging.

Memorizing.

“Did you take anything?” I ask.

She hesitates, and my jaw clenches.“Lane . . .”

“I’m fine.”

I want to tell her good girl. She got both words right. But instead, I call it like I see it.“Bullshit.” I lean in slightly, lowering my voice to barely above a whisper. Tuning out everything else I typically strain to hear. “You don’t have to be fine with me, Delaney.”

Her breath catches.

It’s a fraction of a second.

But I feel it.

Across the room, the arguing doesn’t stop. Voices overlap. Hands move. Words are spoken and signed, but I tune it all the hell out. It’s noise. Loud or not. White fucking noise I can’t even hear and don’t want to process. And none of it matters. Because right here... right now, this woman is shaking, and I’m done pretending I don’t see it.

I pull her closer, bracing for the fight. But this time it doesn’t come.

“I’ve got you,” I whisper.

She doesn’t pull away or argue or deflect. She just looks atme. Really looks at me. Her gold-flecked doe eyes hanging on mine. One beat. Then two before they close. And when they open again, something’s changed. There’s a fierceness there that wasn’t before. She steels her spine and lifts her chin, like she’s holding herself together by sheer will alone, readying for war. “I’ll do it.”

And I’m the goddamned battle.

“Delaney—” I argue, already shaking my head. “There has to be another way.”

Across the room, I catch Mom saying the exact same thing as Delaney flinches the tiniest bit. She looks between my parents, nerves flashing across her face for an instant before she pushes them back down.

“Mr. and Mrs. Beneventi,” Delaney basically steamrolls over everyone in the room. “You don’t know me, and I really hope you don’t judge me on this, but I don’t really know sign language that well. Not yet. I’m trying though. I’ve been teaching myself... well, trying to teach myself. And right now, the only sign I’m sure of is probably wrong anyway, so I’m just going to look at Ryker while I talk. Please don’t think I’m trying to be rude to anyone.”

I’m not sure this woman took a single breath during that speech.

My chest tightens as she faces me. “I’ve got my hearing aids in, Lane,” I remind her gently. “These are new, and they work better than any I’ve ever had.”

Her eyes flick to my ears, lingering for a half a second before she nods. “Olivia, is this really the best way to keep him safe?”

“Unequivocally, yes.” Liv doesn’t hesitate.

And just like that, my stomach drops.