Chapter 44

He raised his eyes and met Rory’s steady gaze.

“You’re here.”

“I am.”

Silence.

“I’ll just be downstairs if anyone needs me,” Stella said before fleeing the room.

Libs cursed her in his head, the displaced feeling escalating as she slammed the door shut behind her, leaving him to his fate. He’d never been so melodramatic before this stupid situation had occurred. He stayed still now that Rory shifted in his chair, facing him, without taking his eyes off him.

“You’re here,” Rory repeated, as if amazed. He looked away, a tint of red on his cheekbones. “I didn’t think you would be.”

“I chose my side,” Libs said and hated his voice for sounding uncertain.

“You chose—”

“Don’t think that I chose this side because of you!” It sounded false to his ears, and he cringed at how transparent he’d suddenly become. “I couldn’t just abandon Stella. She’s my only friend in the world.”

That part was true, too, but he could see Rory trying to hide a smile behind his hand.