Page 67 of The Other Side of Green

Eva shifted back. “When you say your music is tied to Jack, what exactly do you mean?”

I sighed, unable to fight the truth. “I’ve been in love with him my whole life. He lived in the house just there.” I pointed at the window and the still empty house next door. “He was Luca’s best friend.” A sob tore from my throat.

Eva’s eyes widened so much I could only imagine the sting. “Ohhhhhh, brother’s best friend.”

I snorted a rueful and tearful laugh. “Apart from now he’s my brother too.”

Alex and Eva both stared at me in silence.

“Wow. That’s some fucked up shit.” Trust Eva to keep it real.

“I didn’t know. Luca told me a few days ago. Mom confirmed it today. She must be talking the truth.”

“But you don’t actually know? And she’s a junkie. Sure, she’s sober now, but are her memories accurate?”

I shrugged. How the hell could I know the answer to that? The woman had never so much as grunted in my direction. I was a curse on her existence and now I knew why. I wasn’t supposed to exist.

Wasn’t meant to be.

“Okay.” Eva gave me a bright smile. “So it’s not all that bad. You’ve been in love with your brother’s best friend. Now he might be your brother, but that’s okay. I mean sure it sucks, and it’s going to hurt, but hey, you’ve got two ‘hot as fuck’ brothers. I think you’re winning.”

I collapsed over my knees, sobs wracking my chest, my breath struggling to escape.

When I lifted my face, I found Alex staring at me. Of course he knew the terrible truth. He’d been the one to drop me to Jack the night Grams died. It didn’t take a genius to read the chemistry between us.

“What am I missing?” Eva asked.

I met her stare, unwilling to say the words.

She stared back, gaze widening. “Oh.”

“Now you see the problem.”

Silence suspended around us.

“Okay.” Eva took a deep breath. “The plan should still be to get out of here. Do you really want to see your mom again? And not just that, what are you going to say to Jack?”

My heart weighed heavy in my chest. “I’m not sure what I can say.”

“So come back to Boston, tonight. Let’s go.”

“But what about Evan and Rhian? They’ve come all this way to help me with the funeral. I can’t just leave without even thanking them.”

“Lyra, I think they will understand.”

My heart told me otherwise, but it wasn’t Rhian and Evan holding me back. It was Jack.

How could I leave without seeing him? Checking he was okay. The Lennox family had destroyed him—again.

How could I face him though?

What could we say that could make this better, make it okay?

My choice was taken away from me by the rattle of a stone against the window. “Shit.”

“Who is that?” Alex jumped up from next to me and paced to the window, twitching the drapes. “Oh.”

Downstairs, a shout of laughter rose from Mom’s post-wake party. Sober my ass.