Page 57
“What a stupid thought, right?” She shakes her head. “Do me a favor? Can you all just leave me alone for the rest of the night? Please?”
“Vix, wait.” I stand, following her.
She makes it to her house, stepping inside. “Happy birthday, Rhenn.” The door slams shut between us.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
SUMNER
Iturn the water to the shower on almost as hot as it can go. It stings my skin, staining it red. For years, it had been how I coped. The heat was a way to cleanse myself, stripping away all the bad things. It wasn’t true, of course. Fire can’t rid me of what I wish to wash down the drain, but it always makes me feel a little better.
Something in physical pain helps ease the internal ache.
Rhenn doesn’t hurt me the way others have. With him, it feels personal, like I’m constantly doing something wrong, like he hated me before he even knew me.
There are things we have in common, devastating truths we share, yet somehow, we are nothing alike. It was by some cruel joke of fate that we ended up like this, me stuck so close, him feeling just bad enough to let me stay.
We cusp the border of what could almost be a friendship, except each time we get close enough to tipping the line in that direction, one of us has to flip it the other way. We aren’t friends, and we never will be. I give him nothing but anger, and he, in turn, gives it to me. That is all we are. Rivals with fractured backstories.
It was a mistake to try so hard today.
Birthdays shouldn’t hold so much weight for me. Rhenn’s should have been just another date on the calendar. Nothing more.
But I can’t help it.
Because the last time I saw my mother was on hers.
She was happy. So, so happy. I didn’t know it would be the final one. I didn’t know that day would become a memory I’d grip so tightly it would leave bruises on the edges of my heart.
That’s why they matter to me. Not because of gifts or parties, but because one ordinary day, wrapped in so much warmth and laughter, became the last chapter in a story I wasn’t ready to end.
It’s the one piece of her I have left, and for that, they are special. They make me feel just a little closer to the love I lost…
A knock at the door disrupts my thoughts. Wrapping a towel around my body, I step out of the bathroom, staring at the entrance to the house. Why is he here? What more could he possibly want?
I listen to the silence, wishing he would just leave.
And then he does.
The sound of footsteps grows fainter as he steps farther and farther away, leaving me completely alone. Just like I’ve always been.
My fingers wrap around the cool doorknob, twisting slowly. I know he isn’t there anymore, still, some small part of me sinks when I find nothing but open space filling the darkness of the doorway. I’d asked him to leave me alone, and he did.
I’m getting ready to close myself back inside when I catch sight of something out of place. Nestled at the center of the doormat is a small, poorly wrapped box with a card beneath it.
Maybe he’s finally asking me to leave and the box is a place to put the key. Would he kick me out like that? Rhenn and I have never been on good terms, but we’ve certainly been on worse terms than this. It’s fitting though. I’ve never been in one place for long. Why should this home be any different?
Sighing, I lift the items, flipping the card right side up.
For your birthday.
-R
Wait, what? Today is Rhenn’s birthday, not mine.
I think back to earlier, when I’d given him his present. It wasn’t anything crazy, since I had absolutely no idea what he would have wanted. The way he stared at the globe, searching its flecks of snow like he was searching for answers, gave me such a good feeling. I don’t think he’s ever gotten many gifts. I’d hoped that would be a turning point for us.
Letting out a breath, I pull out my link, send him a text, and change into my night clothes.
