Page 81 of Dreamscape Therapies

She glances down at it and smiles faintly. "Thanks. Made it myself."

Of course she did.

The woman who knits sweaters for cacti also makes profanity-covered mosaic furniture. Somehow, it tracks.

Cacti? Cactuses? Cacties? Whatever. It's fucking adorable.

Dany folds her hands on the table and takes a slow breath. She's been quiet since we came outside, watching me with an expression I can't quite read.

"I think I need you to start from the beginning," she says. "Not every little detail. Just... tell me what the relationship was actually like from your perspective."

I scratch at my beard and lean back in the chair.

"That's a pretty big question."

"I know."

I look at Jay.

He's sitting beside me, one arm resting on the table, his expression calm and attentive. He's not going to answer for me. This is my story.

So I take a breath.

"Trent and I were together for about three years."

Dany's eyebrows lift slightly.

"Three years?"

"Yeah."

She doesn't say anything else, but her expression says plenty.

"I know what you're thinking."

"I'm not thinking anything."

"You definitely are."

The corner of her mouth twitches.

Jay coughs into his hand, suspiciously covering a smile.

I sigh.

"Anyway. We met when he was a beautiful omega and I was stupid enough to think being attracted to someone was a good enough reason to date them."

Dany watches me quietly.

"He wasn't awful in the beginning. That's the part people don't understand when they hear about relationships like this. He could be incredibly sweet. He knew exactly how to make me feel needed. He'd tell me I was the only person who understood him. That I made him feel safe."

I pause, staring down at the ridiculous rainbow table.

"And I believed him."

Dany's fingers tighten together.

"I loved him," I continue. "At least, I thought I did. Looking back, I don't know how much of what I felt was love and how much was me desperately trying to make the relationship work because I'd already invested so much of myself in it."