Page 209 of Terms of Exposure
"What about the third time?"
Rosie sucked in a breath.
"The third time, I went back because I didn't know who I was without him." Her voice cracked. "He'd spent so many years telling me I was nothing—worthless, stupid, unlovable—that I believed it. I thought being with him was better than being alone with myself."
A tear slipped down my cheek. I didn't wipe it away.
"How did you finally stay gone?"
She met my gaze. Held it.
"Damien," she said simply. "He was ten. And one night, he stepped in front of me when Lucas raised his hand." Her bottom lip trembled. "But this time… Lucas… he…" She shook her head. "Something in me just... snapped."
"What?" I breathed. "He's never mentioned anything."
"I'm not surprised. He refuses to talk about his father. I doubt Emma even knows." She leaned back, blinking away tears. "I made a mistake, the wrong call, and he's paying the price even now as an adult."
"You did everything you could," I tried.
"I should have done more. And sooner." She met my gaze. "Don't be me, Candace."
My vision swam.
"I'm not—" I started, but my voice fractured. "It's not the same. Garrett never—"
The sob tore out of me before I could swallow it back.
The time he dragged me down the hallway by my hair.
The time he drove his fist into my stomach and told me to stop crying.
Rosie was on her feet before I finished the thought. She crossed the room and pulled me into her chest.
She didn't shush me.
She didn't promise it would be okay.
She just held me.
And I broke.
Lavender crushed between us.
The bathwater still running upstairs.
"I don't know how to stop checking," I shook my head. "The texts. I can't stop reading them."
"I know."
"I keep thinking if I just know where he is, what mood he's in—"
"You can stay ahead of it." Rosie nodded. "Prepare yourself."
"Yes."
"But you can't, honey. That's the thing." Her hands rubbed circles on my back. "I won't tell you what you should do, I can only tell you what I lived through and the regrets I still live with."
My purse buzzed beside me on the couch. I reached for it, the messages coming in one by one.
