Page 76 of Try Line Hearts
She sighed, long and heavy.
“I’m not raging at you,” she said — which meant she absolutely was. “I’m worried you’ve just hurt someone who didn’t deserve it. Someone who’s been trying to meet you where you are, not where Twitter wants you to be.”
Lucas stared at the floor.
“He hasn’t said anything to me,” Maeve went on. “Which is worse than shouting. When Eli goes quiet, it’s because he’s deciding whether something’s worth the hassle.”
The words lodged under Lucas’s ribs.
“I didn’t choose her,” he said hoarsely.
“I know,” Maeve replied. “But from where he’s standing? It looks like you chose safety over honesty.”
Lucas flinched.
Maeve kept going — relentless, but loving in the way only she ever managed.
“You don’t get to keep doing this,” she said. “You don’t get to let Declan and his brand-strategy bollocks turn actual people into collateral damage. Not someone you care about.”
“I do care,” Lucas said quietly.
“I know you do,” Maeve said. “That’s whythis matters.”
The silence stretched.
“Listen to me,” Maeve said finally. “You haven’t done something unforgivable. But youhavebeen careless. And carelessness cuts deeper than cruelty when someone’s already taking a risk by wanting you.”
Lucas closed his eyes.
“What do I do?” he asked.
Maeve didn’t hesitate.
“Nothing,” she said. “Tonight? You do nothing. You don’t explain yourself. You don’t spin it. You don’t go trying to make yourself feel better because you’re uncomfortable.”
Lucas tensed. “That feels wrong.”
“Good,” Maeve said. “That’s what learning feels like.”
Then, quieter: “Tomorrow, you talk to him. Properly. You own that you let your agent talk you into something that put appearances before people. You don’t downplay it. You don’t ask him to reassure you. You listen.”
Lucas nodded even though she couldn’t see him.
“And Luke?” Maeve added.
“Yeah.”
“If you fuck this up,” she said calmly, “it won’t be because you’re gay or scared or famous. It’ll be because you didn’t believe you were allowed to choose happiness over optics.”
His chest burned.
“I don’t want to lose him,” Lucas admitted.
Maeve’s voice softened, just a fraction. “Then stop acting like the worst thing that can happen is people talking.”
A pause.
“Also,” she added dryly, “for what it’s worth — Evelyn Cross seems perfectly sound. So don’t go turning her into a villain in your head just because you’re furious at Declan and yourself.”
