Page 99 of The Music of Us
It’s just that, sometimes, it was easier to put the blame on something or someone logical, even if that person was myself. I did that when Mom got into her accident too.
But life’s not like that. Sometimes we failed at keeping what we wanted, no matter how hard we tried. Sometimes the people closest to us got hurt even when we had better intentions. Sometimes we lost our connections, and it wasn’t even our choice.
We just had to figure out where to go from here.
Jake moved to reattach his bandage, but I reached out and carefully caught his hands in mine.
“Hey,” I said softly, entwining the tail end of the bandage around my fingers before it could unravel any more. “Let me.”
Obediently, Jake stood still as I rewrapped his wrist and palm. He watched me as I did, his eyes trying to catch mine beneath his dark lashes.
“My wrist getting sprained isn’t your fault,” Jake assured me softly. “You moved as fast as you could. You saved Bunny. Thealternative would’ve been worse if you hadn’t acted as quickly as you did.”
I didn’t even want to imagine it.
Finishing up, I tucked the tip of the bandage under the piece beneath it, then gently smoothed over the remaining tape with my thumb. I couldn’t bring myself to meet Jake’s gaze, but he still tried to talk to me.
“Neither of us could’ve known what was going to happen when I stopped the lights from falling.”
I pursed my lips. “If only we did.”
“It wouldn’t make a difference,” Jake promised. “Even if Ididknow what was going to happen, I would’ve done everything the same, anyway.”
The words brought me to a full stop. I couldn’t move my hands from his. “What?”
“You think I’d rather it hurt you instead? Lucy, look at me,” he said, and I forced my eyes up to meet his hazel ones. “I’d choose running toward you again in a heartbeat. You getting hurt’s the last thing I’d ever want.”
My thumb did a half circle across the palm of his hand, tracing a crescent moon.
If that’s true, then why didn’t you talk to me for years?I wanted to ask.
But before I could, I saw the vulnerable look in his eyes. Did Jake not think he hurt me before? Did he really not know how much he meant to me back then?
“Jake, I—”
The elevator dinged and the doors swept open, breaking the spell.
I took in a shaky breath, then blew it out steadily. “We need to figure out the livestream.”
Jake nodded. “Leon texted Marie I hurt my wrist before we left for the hospital, just in case we needed to delay the livestream another hour. This went faster than I thought, but we need to get back to the café.”
Jake strode out of the elevator.
Part of me wanted to stop him. To ignore all my logical reasoning and ask all the questions I’d saved up. There was one that burned on the tip of my tongue above the others:
Did he mean all this as a friend to another friend? Or did his words mean somethingmore?
But I had a café to save first.
Later, I thought as I snuck a look at Jake.We’ll talk about this later.
And I made it a promise.
***
When Jake and I entered the café, Phillip, Leon, and Aspen were on a video call with Marie. Judging from the looks on their faces—and the nervous ones on Mom’s and Amber’s as they stood to the side, listening—the meeting was not going very well.
Even the crew looked awkward as they hung around, eavesdropping.
