Page 218 of Darling Venom
“Okay, it wasn’t exactly a yell. More like a strongly worded conversation.”
“What did he say?”
“He gave me an earful, telling me all the ways I mistreated you.”
“I didn’t tell him to do that,” I rushed out.
“I’m not mad. I mean, at first, I was, but I realized after that he was correct. I did mistreat you.” She offered me a sheepish smile, squeezing my hand. “Jonah was right outside. Which, in hindsight, is double the confirmation Tate did the right thing. Jonah would’ve stopped him otherwise.”
“Still…” My heart jackhammered so fast I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up in the ER.
“He wouldn’t have come to see me if he didn’t feel something for you.”
She held a question in her eyes, like she wanted to ask me about him, but she didn’t want to step on any toes so soon into the revival of our friendship.
“Yes, I’m falling for him,” I answered the unspoken question. “And yes, I think he feels something for me, too. But Kellan will always be between us, both as glue and a divider, and I feel like the worst person in the world for even saying this.”
“It’s okay to have feelings. It makes you normal. But it’s not okay to live in the past. Trust me. I tried. And it only made me angry, bitter, and full of regret.” She brought her legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees. “We can never change the past. The only way to move forward is to heal. And that’s an order.” She winked at me. “I’m your big sister. You have to listen to me, Lottie.”
Lottie.
She called me Lottie again.
Leah got up to grab the cookies while I stared at the kids’ show she’d put on for Row. Some high schoolers were singing and dancing before the boy looped an arm around the girl’s waist, declaring his love for her.
Just like that.
So simple.
People fall in love every day. Good people. Bad people. All the colors in between. They love fast, and hard, and deeply. And sometimes, they are lucky enough to be loved back.
And maybe…
Maybe I was worthy of love, too.
Row rushed out of the bathroom in fresh pajamas, wet hair flinging droplets everywhere. Leah squealed when they landed on her, pulled Row into a hug, and lifted her high into the air in circles.
Jonah let himself in, all greased up from an evening in the shop. Row ran to him, sprinting in circles when he tried to grab her with his dirty fingers. He paused briefly to kiss Leah’s forehead. She was beaming. Blossoming under the crown of Jonah’s affection.
Tate deserves the same relief.
I decided something then and there.
Something big, and daunting, and possibly impossible.
I vowed to save Tate Marchetti from himself.
The American Obstetrics Association decided it would be a good idea to invite me as the keynote speaker at their annual conference for obstetricians and gynecologists.
Despite the obvious fact that Bernard and Marchetti had a waiting list big enough to sell out Madison Square Garden and needed free publicity like Bezos needed money, Walter took it upon himself to accept the invitation on my behalf.
“It’s an honor,” he’d informed me, sounding way too salty for someone who planned on retiring within the next two years.
I was to motivational speaking what Tommy Wiseau was to acting.
Just didn’t have it in me to spend an hour telling strangers to get their shit together when the thing I wanted most, aside from my brother resurrected from the dead, was to screw his high school crush and possibly the love of his life in ways that would make a porn star blush.
Which meant, an hour before the speech at the Black Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, I found myself in a dive bar I didn’t know the name of, downing a double shot of bottom-shelf vodka.
