Page 75 of Fragile hearts

My phone dings from where it’s lying on the dashboard. “Can you see who it is?” Alexis glances at me curiously, then nods. “Password is zero-eight-one-four. Her fingers move over the screen, her nails clicking as she types. “Wait—” Her brows pinch. “Isn’t that—”

“The day we met…Yes.”

“Your password is the day we met?”

She gives me an incredulous look, as if she doesn’t believe me. I wink. Her lips tilt up as she glances at the screen. “It was Connor who texted you. He’s asking if you can talk.” I drum my fingers against the steering wheel, pulling up into Alexis’s driveway.

Alexis touches the door handle, then looks over her shoulder. “I’ll wait for you upstairs.” She nods towards the phone in my hand. “You should talk to him.”

“Okay.” I know it was inevitable, but the thought of talking to him about my feelings makes my stomach clench.

“It will be fine. I’ll wait for you upstairs.” She closes the door, walks up to her front door, and blows me a kiss.

I pull up my brother’s contact. A few unread messages pop up.

Connor: Can we talk, please?

Connor: I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.

Connor: Talk to me, man. I want to make it right.

I blow out a breath. I didn’t mean to ignore him. It feels like it’s been years since I found out he and Killian used to date. It’s been only a few days, but so much has happened in that short period of time that I haven’t had the time to really talk to him. I don’t text him back, opting for the call button instead. It rings twice before I hear his voice on the other side of the line. “Carson?”

“I’m here.” I turn off my light, take the key out of the ignition bonking my head against the headrest. “Can we talk, please?” he pleads.

“Yeah, I’m sorry I haven’t reached out sooner. I wasn’t ignoring you on purpose. But the last few days have been a bit hectic.”

“It’s fine. How’s Alexis doing? I heard that they got a new lead.”

“She’s doing okay, all things considered.” I fiddle with the bobble head Alexis gave me and stare out the window. She’s standing in her bedroom, gives me a thumbs up, then closes the curtains.

“That’s good. That woman is resilient.”

“She absolutely is,” I agree. Connor sighs on the phone after a minute of silence.

“Can I just say something, please?”

“Yeah.” The words are barely out of my mouth before Connor starts to speak.

“It had nothing to do with you, okay? I want you to know that Killian and I were in a bubble, like a honeymoon phase. We were only thinking about ourselves,” he breathes heavily into the phone.

“I wouldn’t have broken you up,” I repeat the same words I had said to Killian only days before.

“I know that, I know. But we we’re just—Fuck, I don’t know. Too busy with ourselves, I guess. But we never meant to hurt you. I swear.”

“I hate the fact that you two lied to me. I know I haven’t been a very good brother the past year, but—”

“No, stop that. This has nothing to do with you. You were struggling, and we should have done more. We all knew you were hurting. That’s part of the reason why we didn’t tell you. You were already going through so much. We didn’t want to saddle you with our problems too.” I let his words glide over me. It’s the same explanation Killian gave. I guess I can rectify some part of the story, but I still don’t like that they thought it was better to lie to me.

“Do you love him?” I ask curiously. He doesn’t hesitate before answering.

“Yes.”

I don’t tell about the fact that I’m pretty sure Killian does not feel the same. Something happened between them that made Killian loathe the sight of my brother’s face. I want to ask what, but I know that’s none of my business. “I figured that. Will you promise me one thing?”

“Anything.”

“Will you take good care of him?” I hear Connor’s breath hitch. He clears his throat and replies with a hoarse voice.