My heart constricts so tight, I can’t breathe. “H-how can it vanish?”
“I don’t know. What if Jake and Lachy are gone, June?” More tears run down his beautiful face. “What if they’re gone?”
“They aren’t gone.” I’m crying, too, when I pull him into a hug.
He hides his face in the crook of my neck and sobs loudly. “I won’t survive if they leave me too.”
I lean back and capture his face between my hands. “They aren’t leaving us.”
He doesn’t speak for a couple of beats, but he holds my stare. “I’m sorry I was a jackass to you, Peaches. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
Despite his ill-timed confession, his apology offers a balm to my heavy heart. “Don’t worry about that.” I drop my hands from his face and try to step back, but he holds me in place.
“I don’t want to lose you too.”
“You’re not going to lose me.” I rise on my tiptoes and kiss him hard, needing the connection so I don’t spiral. His tongue is as savage as mine. I can taste his fear and desperation, and they match my own.
Jake and Lachy can’t be gone.
They can’t.
*** TO BE CONTINUED ***
