Unable to keep my hands to myself a second longer, I grabbed hold of her hips and pulled her against me. She fit so perfectly in my arms—her body, even as stiff as she was, clicking into place like the missing piece of a puzzle. Inhaling deeply, I took in the scent of her hair and touched my lips to the top of her head.
“Don’t,” she choked out, jerking away from me.
Swallowing a curse, I balled my hands into fists to keep from reaching for her again. “About Pixie—”
She looked up at me with wounded eyes, making my throat close up. “I thought that you were different, that I could trust you. I gave you parts of myself I have never willingly allowed anyone outside of my family to even come close to. And the entire time, you were just like everyone else. Was it fun, making me fall for you? Did you laugh with Pixie when I so easily gave you my heart?”
“Stop!” Covering her mouth with my palm, I fought against the sting of tears.
How had I not seen how fragile she was? She’d given me a small glimpse, but she’d hidden her broken pieces so well that I’d missed how much damage had already been done. I didn’t know who had destroyed her like this, but I wanted to put her back together.
“Pixie is my sister.”
She went still against me. “Wh-what?”
Blowing out a frustrated breath, I quickly explained. “She’s my honorary sister, not actually related to me by blood, but she’s all the family I have that actually cares about me. We met right after our brother Tyler died. Tyler and I shared the same dad, and he shared the same mom with Pixie. We met after his passing and became each other’s family.”
Her teeth sank into her plump bottom lip, but she kept her eyes downcast as she listened to me. “You never mentioned her name. Not once when we talked about your brothers and sisters.”
“I know. It’s complicated, but I swear, I wasn’t trying to keep her a secret on purpose. She’s just going through some stuff right now, and it’s hard for me to talk about it.” I cupped the side of her face, tilting her chin up so I could see her pretty blue eyes. When I saw that she believed me, I began to relax a little. But I still had to tell her the worst part. “Pixie is sick.”
My throat grew tighter just speaking the words, and I had to clear it before I could go on. Pixie’s illness had shown me that I was emotionally weak. That the possibility of losing the people I loved the most could and would destroy me. Doe had that same power over me. Between her and Pixie, they could annihilate me with just a few words. Pixie knew that, but Doe had no clue yet.
“She’s all the family I have, Doe. She was there for me from the day we met. I’d never had someone care about me before like her. A person who actually worried about my well-being. When I enlisted and got deployed, she sent me care packages every other day even though she didn’t really have the money to send them. Then I came home, and not long after that, she found out she was sick. I took the job with Barrick as Violet’s bodyguard just to get the benefits she needed for treatments.”
“But she didn’t even know who I was,” she whispered, unable to mask the lingering hurt in her voice.
“I know.” I groaned in regret. “She’s been through so much lately, and I didn’t want to freak her out by telling her about us. She’s just as protective of me as your brothers are over you, and I knew she would worry about me and us, so I didn’t tell her. I swear to you, I was going to explain everything soon. This week, actually. It’s what I wanted to talk to you about last night. But after everything that happened yesterday, I was so emotionally exhausted that I pussied out and distracted us both instead.”
Concern darkened her eyes as they flickered over my face. “What happened yesterday?”
“She started the first dose of her week-long chemo treatments to prepare her for the bone marrow transplant she will have at the end of next week. This is her last chance. If it doesn’t work, it’s over.”
Doe gasped and stepped back. “I-is your sister…Hazel Darby?”
I blinked at her question. “How did you know that? No one even calls her Hazel. She only goes by Pixie.”
Doe took a step back, swaying slightly. “Y-you should come in. I-I have something to tell you.”
18
Doe
My hands shook as I walked into Aspen’s living room. He lifted his head when Jenner followed me. I knew he’d been listening to us talk, and he was totally giving me an “I told you so” look. Maybe he had been right about the whole reason why Pixie was the only woman in Jenner’s life. He was going to be smug about that for years, I just knew it.
But then he saw how pale my face was and jumped to his feet. “Sit down, Doe,” he commanded, urging me onto the couch.
“C-could you give us a minute?” I asked in a shaky voice.
“Yeah, sweetheart, no problem.” He brushed his hand over my hair, giving me a supportive smile. Neither of us missed the growl from Jenner, but Aspen only laughed and turned for the kitchen. “I’ll make coffee. You two take all the time you need.”
As he walked out of the room, his phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket. It was only when I noticed the way Jenner glared after him that I remembered how Aspen had answered the door when I’d first gotten there, and I was thankful my friend had put on clothes since then.
Seeing Jenner’s obvious jealousy eased any lingering sting from Pixie’s earlier call. I’d never thought someone would ever be jealous over me, but witnessing it firsthand made me all melty. It was kind of sexy.
But then I remembered Pixie, and my chest squeezed with remorse and sympathy. It was crazy that the person I was going to be donating bone marrow to was so close to someone I cared about. It felt as if fate had stepped in, and given what Jenner had said about this being his sister’s last chance, it seemed like it was just in the nick of time.
He sat down beside me, but before I could open my mouth, he lifted me onto his lap and buried his face in my neck. The feel of his nose nuzzling against my skin made me shiver, and I squirmed against him, making him groan. “You can explain whatever you need to in a minute, little lamb. Right now, I need a moment. You scared the fuck out of me this morning when I woke up and saw all your things gone from our closet.”
I snuggled into him. “I’m sorry. I know I overreacted, but I was just blindsided. I thought…”
“I can imagine what went through your head. But baby, I love you. I told you, I’ve only ever said that to one other person, and that is my sister. I meant Pixie.” He turned my head and softly brushed his lips over mine. “I wish you would have just gone into a rage and busted up all my shit rather than put me through the fear of not being able to find you.”
“I’ll note that for next time,” I teased.
He tightened his hands on me. “You should have woken me up. Why didn’t you?”
My smile dimmed, and I told him the truth. “This thing between us seemed too good to be true. I guess I’ve been waiting for reality to drop on me like an atom bomb. When I answered your phone by mistake this morning, it felt like it finally had.”