Page 155

But she isn’t here.

She hasn’t been since I picked her up. I don’t know what happened before I arrived at her house, but every instinct I have is telling me to fix it.

“Blair, can we stop pretending you’re fine?”

Her eyes snap to mine. “Excuse me?”

“You flinched when that horn went off, you’ve barely touched your food, and you’ve been somewhere else all fucking night.” I lean forward in my chair. “Something happened.”

“I told you I’m fine.” Blair folds her arms across her chest.

“And I told you I don’t believe you.”

Her eyes narrow. “Well, that sounds like a you problem.”

I’m taken aback by the sharpness in her voice. Blair and I give each other shit constantly, but I’ve never heard her speak to me like this.

I raise my hands in surrender. “I’m not trying to piss you off. I’m trying to understand.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“I don’t even know what I’m offering to help with because you won’t fucking tell me.”

“Exactly.” She sits back in her chair. “Because it’s none of your business.”

“None of my business?” I repeat, unable to hide how much that stings.

Regret flashes across her face. “Dean—”

“No. You’ve become part of every corner of my life, Blair. Pen. My family. My friends.” I hold her gaze. “You’re everywhere, and I wanted you there. I still do.”

“I never asked you to—”

“I know.” Frustration tightens my chest. “I’m not saying you owe me a damn thing. I’m saying I thought you trusted me enough not to sit across from me and lie to my face.”

“Then stop trying to fix me!” she snaps, slamming her hands against the table.

The words hit hard enough to shut me up.

Her chest rises and falls as she stares at me. “I don’t need you to save me, Dean. I don’t need anyone to save me.”

“I don’t think you’re broken,” I say quietly.

“Then stop looking at me like I am.”

Any anger I had disappears.

Blair looks terrified. Her eyes fill with tears, and she turns away before I can see them fall.

“Can you please take me home?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

Every part of me wants to refuse. To keep pushing until she finally tells me what the fuck happened.

But that clearly isn’t what she needs from me.

“Okay.”

One tear slips down her cheek, followed by another. It takes everything in me not to reach across the table and wipe them away, but Blair angles her face farther from me.