Dad and Larissa were cuddled on the couch. “You’re home early,” Dad said.
“Yeah, um, I wasn’t feeling well.”
That wasn’t a total lie. My head ached from the onslaught of memories, my heart splintered from the overload of emotions, and my eyes burned with impending tears.
“Oh, well, you should probably go lie down,” Larissa said.
With a curt nod, I ran upstairs, but instead of going to my room, I went into the office. The room and the boxes of pictures had quickly become my sanctuary, my refuge from my thoughts.
Locking myself in the office, I rubbed my hands over my face and blew out a shaky breath. My mind reeled with tonight’s revelations. I knew Trent. I’d been his girlfriend.
I loved him.
“Oh, God.” I cupped my hands over my mouth. “I love Trent,” I mumbled between my fingers.
Despite the lost memories and the time apart, my feelings for him didn’t go away—they’d simply been paused—but now that he was back, now that I knew the truth, I couldn’t deny it.
I was hopelessly in love with Trent.
A sharp pain stabbed at my temples as even more memories forced their way into my brain. Trent was cursed. He could never have true love. That was one of the biggest reasons I’d asked him to erase my memories—because there was no way we could have a relationship.
Tears spilled down my cheeks. He knew we were doomed, so why did he come back?
Part of me wished he never had. Life here wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine, but it was getting better. Yet, a bigger of me was happy he’d come back for me. The gaping hole I hadn’t been able to explain was now gone, and I knew it was because of Trent.
But… Simon. He’d been so sweet to me, befriending me when no one else would. Granted, he liked me a lot more than I liked him, but he didn’t deserve to be treated this way. He was too kind, too caring.
What was I supposed to do?
Every fiber of my being wanted to be with Trent, but that was impossible. And after tonight, Simon would probably never speak to me again. Even if he did, Olivia would only make my life a million times more miserable.
I couldn’t exactly call Jaxon about any of this, either, because I knew him, too. And I hadn’t liked him all that much. What game was he playing with me? Pretending he needed me to tutor him, spending hours talking to me. I’d confided in him.
Anger burned in my chest as I yanked my cell phone from my back pocket and sent Jax a text.
Me: I KNOW EVERYTHING, AND I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU EVER SHOW YOUR FACE IN FRONT OF ME AGAIN I’M GOING TO DRIVE A SHARP STICK THROUGH YOUR CHEST.
Me: I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU’VE BEEN LYING TO ME ABOUT THIS. I TRUSTED YOU!!!
Me: SERIOUSLY, I WANT TO SET YOU ON FIRE RIGHT NOW, JAXON!!!! I’M SO MAD AT YOU.
Groaning, I pushed away from the door and wiped my tears. Standing here thinking in circles wasn’t helping. I needed to get my mind off all this for a little while. I turned off my phone, not wanting to read whatever lame excuse or apology Jax sent me.
I hefted a box onto the desk and flipped the lid off. Grabbing a handful of photos, I sunk into the chair and began the mind-numbing monotonous job of scanning the pictures.
Lift the lid on the scanner.
Place the picture face down.
Close the lid.
Click scan.
Save the picture in the dated folder.
I repeated these motions several dozen times before I stopped cold. My hand trembled. The picture I held was of me, Mom, and Dad. I’d been six, and we’d spent the day at the zoo. That was the last time I remembered all of us together and happy before my father had abandoned us.
I flipped it over, but there was nothing written on the back. How on earth had this picture gotten into a box full of Larissa’s stuff?
Turning it back over, I stared at my mother’s smiling face. Her brown eyes were wide and sparkling. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, loose tendrils windblown around her rosy cheeks.
Raw, debilitating agony stabbed my chest. Fresh tears blazed a hot path down my face. “I’m so sorry, Mom,” I sobbed.
This wasn’t how my life was supposed to turn out. My mother was supposed to be alive. We were supposed to be living together in Florida, happy and doing our thing. We should be eating pizza and watching scary movies on Wednesdays, volunteering at the shelter and playing putt-putt golf. I should be telling her about my days and listening to her laugh at my lame jokes.
Instead, I was alone, living with a father who didn’t want me. All my friends were thousands of miles away, and I was in love with a cursed vampire. My one friend wanted more from me than I was willing to give him, and my other “friend” turned out to be a big fat liar who was probably having a blast making fun of me. If it all wasn’t so pathetic, I might actually laugh.
I let out a frustrated scream and shoved the box of photos off the desk. It knocked into the tower of boxes precariously stacked nearby, and they toppled over, littering the floor with hundreds of pictures.
Cursing, I dropped to my knees, but I couldn’t force myself to start cleaning up the mess I’d made. Every nerve in my body was numb, and exhaustion was a weight tied around my neck.
“Chloe?” Larissa’s voice sounded behind me. “We heard a crash. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just tipped over some boxes.” I kept my back to her so she wouldn’t see me crying. The last thing I wanted to do was have a heart to heart
