Where We Belong (A Touch of Fate #1)(90)

“Fine. You want to take his side? Go on, convince me that I’m wrong.” Her eyes soften at my false bravado and she kicks a chair out, motioning for me to sit down. I fall into it with a huff and she laughs, scooting closer to me.

“Why did you get so mad at Ty?” she asks without missing a beat.

I tip my glass, draining it, and she pushes hers across the table to me.

“We’ve gone over this, Quinn.”

“Humor me.”

“Ugh. Fine,” I huff, crossing my arms over my chest, simply because it makes me feel less vulnerable. Knowing I’m about to rip open some wounds that haven’t seen the light of day in quite some time, I need all the help I can get. “Once Dallas,” I cringe at the mention of his name, “was brought into the picture, Tyson lost all faith in me. In the blink of an eye, everything I told him became a lie. He couldn’t believe that Dallas was capable of doing something so heinous, and he said so himself.”

Quinn nods. “And when he second-guessed you like that, how did that make you feel?”

“What are you, a goddamn psychiatrist?” I ask, receiving only a pointed look in response. “Fine,” I sigh. “It made me feel terrible. That was the worst night of my life and to this day, every time I close my eyes I can still—” My voice cracks and tears start dripping from my eyes before I even have the chance to stop them. “I can still smell him. I can still feel his weight against my back. His breath still fans across my face like it did when he—”

“Stop,” Quinn whispers, snatching up my hand to cradle it in hers. My watery eyes blink several times and I furrow my brows in confusion. Isn’t this what she wanted?

“I don’t want you to relive that night, Harley. You’ve lived it once and somehow, by the grace of God, you were able to come out on the other side, and I don’t ever want you relive that moment again.” I take a deep breath and squeeze her hand tightly like the lifeline that it is.

“Let me rephrase my question, so I can get you to see what I see.” I nod, knowing I don’t really have a say in the matter. This is Quinn we’re talking about, and if she wants to have this conversation, then—like it or not—we’re having this conversation.

“Why do you think Ty instantly thought Dallas was innocent?”

I laugh mirthlessly, but her cool demeanor doesn’t budge. “Because he has Dallas on a pedestal. He’s idolized him for as long as I can remember.”

“Okay, what if Levi walked up to you right now and told you that I killed someone?”

“This is ridiculous, Quinn.” Pushing up from the table, I grab my bowl of ice cream, which is now a heap of melted cream.

“Why is it ridiculous?”

“Because you wouldn’t do that,” I answer, hating that I’m finally seeing where she is going with this.

“But how do you know I wouldn’t do it?”

“Because I know you, Quinn. I know the kind of person you are. I know that even though you’re crazy and reckless, you don’t have that in you.”

“Don’t you think that that’s how Tyson feels about his brother? That the brother that he thought he knew wouldn’t have that in him?” My hands fly to my mouth and my swollen eyes widen as realization slams into me. A heavy sob slithers up my throat and busts free. “You didn’t give him a chance to accept what you were telling him,” she finishes.

“I get it, Quinn.” I hate that she’s right, and more than that, I hate that I was wrong…but I was. My body, weak with exhaustion, flops down into the chair that I had just vacated, and I drop my head onto the table as my body rids itself of seven days worth of anguish.

“He needed time to process this, Harley. Trust me, that boy believes in you and he trusts you, and he knows that you wouldn’t lie about something like that. But you should have given him the opportunity to talk through it and accept the fact that the brother he thought he knew was not who he thought he was.”

“I said I get it!” I yell.

“Do you?” she questions skeptically. “Because I don’t think you do.” I bury my face in my hands, resigned to take the beating that she’s about to give. “He is destroyed right now, Harley.” I flinch at her words, but she pushes on. “That man has bent over backward, trying to get you to talk to him. He’s left you message after message and text after text. Hell, he even wrote you something.” My head twists to face her and I wipe my eyes as hope slowly starts to bloom in my stomach.

“That’s right,” she nods at my questioning look. “And I’m going to give it to you, but not for your sake…for his. I know he has screwed up before, and I know that he didn’t handle it well when he found out about Dallas, but right now you’re in the wrong. Right now, you need to swallow your pride and fight for the love that that man is trying so desperately to give you.” Quinn pushes away from the table and walks into the living room. When she comes back into the kitchen, I see a bright red piece of paper clutched in her hand. She stops in front of me and smiles.

“I love you, Harley, and as much as I want to see you and Tyson end up together, I don’t want that if it isn’t going to make you happy.” She drops the piece of paper on the table in front of me. I inhale sharply when my gaze lands on one of the coupons I gave Tyson for his birthday. My chest physically hurts as though a bullet was shot straight through it.