Chapter 43

I turn on her with a sort of ‘

see

’ look on my face as though I am trying to convince both of us. Breathing heavily, struggling to calm the internal fear, shame, whatever the fuck this is, that’s consuming me.

“You’re broken-hearted and doing what every young girl does when she’s hurt this way. I’m not concerned with how you’re behaving because I do think that this is what’s wrong. The reckless lifestyle is not the issue. It’s a result of an issue and will end when you overcome it. It’s not your past coming to bite you again. I think you’re trying to replace a love you are in no way over and doing it in a reckless and immature desperate way because you don’t know how to navigate it. I think you’re harboring a lot of confusion because your gut tells you it’s wrong to feel this way about him, and you don’t want to face it.” Emma sits back, overlaying her hands delicately on the table, and motions for me to sit with an eyebrow gesture. I stare blankly at her, numb fr