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“You were in one of them,” she argued.

“It was still extremely reckless.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t.” Her mouth trembled.

I slid my hand behind her neck and drew her closer again. “We’ll argue about it later.”

Sloane made a small, broken laugh against me. “I’d really like there to be a later.”

“There will be.”

She pulled back again, searching my face. “Does that mean you forgive me?”

There was so much fear in her question that I wanted to answer quickly. I didn’t. Forgiveness deserved more than panic and relief.

Sloane seemed to understand the delay.

Her gaze dropped. “I know I lied,” she said. “I know it wasn’t one lie either. It was a hundred choices to keep lying after I had opportunities to tell the truth.”

I listened.

No excuses yet.

“I got scared,” she continued. “At first, I thought I was protecting myself from all of you because I knew too much. Then I realized you weren’t going to hurt me, and I should have told you.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Her eyes filled again. “Because you loved Loany.”

“No. We loved you.”

“You didn’t know me, though.”

“I knew parts.”

“Not the most important one.”

“No,” I said. “You took that choice away from me.”

She nodded. “I did.”

The admission carried no attempt to soften it.

“I was terrified that if you knew I was human, I would lose everything. The group chat. The family. You.”

“So you decided not to give me a choice.”

“Yes.”

Her grip loosened on my shirt. “I kept telling myself I needed more time. I thought there would be a perfect moment where I could explain everything and nobody would leave. Patty told me that moment didn’t exist.”

“She was right.”

“She was.” Sloane looked toward the lawn. “I wasn’t willing to lose this family I accidentally found. I told myself that meant I loved all of you too much to tell the truth.”

“And has that changed?”

“Now I know love doesn’t give me the right to control how people respond to me.” Her eyes returned to mine. “I used your affection to protect myself. I hate that I did it. I hate that I hurt Caldwell and Grandma Ruth. I hate that I made you question everything we had.”