The Shifter Romances The Writer

Page 48

Delaney didn’t smile. Roxy looked back at Alex. No smile there either. Delaney’s hand on her knee brought Roxy’s attention back around. “It’s not a joke.”

The cold seeped back into Roxy’s gut, and a thin ringing filled her ears. She was either going to faint again or throw up. “I don’t believe you,” she whispered. “Those creatures in my books are just…make believe.”

Delaney shook her head. “No, they’re not. We’re real. This whole town is filled with them. It’s what Nocturne Falls is all about. A haven for super—”

“I need you to leave.” Roxy stared at her hands. Darkness wavered at the edges of her vision. This couldn’t be true. Because it just wasn’t possible that the two people she considered friends had kept something this big from her for so long. And all the while knowing that she’d started to think she was losing her mind.

Alex walked into her line of sight. She kept her gaze on her hands, unable to look at the man she’d tried to take to bed only a few hours before.

“Please, Roxy. We can talk about this and you’ll see—”

“Why didn’t you tell me before now?” She stared at Delaney. “You’re the one who talked me into moving here. Don’t you think Nocturne Falls being a ‘supernatural haven’ should have been on the list of pros you listed? Or cons… I don’t even know right now.”

Delaney twisted her hands together. “We don’t tell people. It’s just not done in most cases. Not that you’re most cases, but…” She sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Alex moved closer. “I wanted to tell you, but—”

“He did,” Delaney cut in. “But I talked him out of it. I didn’t want to add to your stress, and I knew about your mom and—”

“You both need to leave.” Roxy tried to swallow the bitterness coating her tongue. Her best friend hadn’t thought she could handle the truth. That her mental state was so fragile she might have a psychotic break just like her mother if Roxy found out. And that’s actually what had almost happened.

What Delaney—and Alex—had almost caused. Because he was just as much a part of this as Delaney was. He could have told Roxy at any time. Like right after she’d agreed to date him so long as they were up front and honest about everything.

So much for that.

“Please,” Alex said. “Can’t we sit down and start over? Just talk it through? This hasn’t gone down at all like we intended.”

Roxy choked out a harsh laugh. “It sounds to me like you intended to keep me in the dark and let me think I’m losing my freaking mind instead of telling me the truth. Would you have even told me if I hadn’t seen you just now?”

He stiffened. “Yes, that’s why Delaney came back with me. We discussed it earlier and decided—”

“What?” Roxy glared at him. “You discussed it and decided? So you two, the two people in the world I consider my closest friends, maybe my only friends, are making decisions behind my back about what I can and can’t know about my new hometown. And my new boy—”

She cut herself off before the word “boyfriend” left her mouth. She was not calling him that now. She pointed toward the door, on the verge of losing it altogether. “Go.”

Delaney stood. “Roxy, please.”

“Get out.” Roxy whispered the words, then cleared her throat and said them again, louder. “Get out now.”

“I’ll be right next door if you need me,” Alex said.

But she was too numb from betrayal to look at him. The door closed and Roxy was alone again.

So very alone.

Alex checked out Roxy’s house as he did every day on his way to work. It had become his routine, the slow roll past. In the last three days, nothing had changed. The blinds stayed closed. The house locked up tight.

There’d been no sign of movement, other than the UPS man bringing packages or food-delivery guys bringing food, and from what he’d seen, all of it got left at the door without waiting for the bell to be answered.

He hadn’t seen Roxy in all that time either. Not even just to catch a glimpse of her getting her mail.

He’d reduced his calls and texts to once a day. She wasn’t responding. And clearly didn’t want to. But at least she’d know he was thinking about her and willing to talk when she was. He hoped she was talking to someone. He knew it wasn’t Delaney. She hadn’t had any more luck than he had.

Roxy had shut them both out.

He’d left flowers (not roses) at her door the first day. Yesterday, he’d mowed her lawn when he’d gotten home from work.

No response to any of it. There wasn’t much else he could do but respect her wishes to be left alone. That didn’t keep him from being heartsick over what had happened. Especially because it was his fault. He should have talked Delaney into telling Roxy the truth sooner. Argued Roxy’s side of it harder.

Or just ignored Delaney and told Roxy the truth right away, consequences be damned.

Now, he had no idea if he’d ever get the chance to talk to her again. If she had been just a neighbor, he could have lived with it. But she was so much more.

She was the woman he’d realized three days ago was his soul mate, something that had since left him with a raw wound. Because if that’s really who Roxy was, why hadn’t he done more to protect her from this? Why hadn’t he listened to his gut and just told her exactly why she wasn’t losing her mind?

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