Liam nodded in response, his expression wary and sad all at once, and I felt my chest tighten with guilt that I didn’t know exactly where to put.
“Drive safe.” I called knowing I was definitely going to beat them over there.Fucking rabbits.
Part of me envied their relationship, while the other part of me knew I wasn’t cut out for it, because even if I craved that sort of intimacy, there was always something holding me back.
I sighed as I hit the narrow road that led out to the countryside estates. There weren’t street lamps out here, and the stars speckled the dark night sky like an eerie, beautiful painting, casting a pale glow on the tall grass that flanked either side of the road.
I wondered if leaving Briar Rose was a mistake, but what other choice did I have? I’d tried to follow in my father’s footsteps for years now, and it was eating me alive. I hated it—making big numbers even bigger. What was even the point?Especiallywhen I didn’t have anyone to share it with.
Everyone around me seemed to find it so easy to carve out their spot in life, and I was tired of being miserable and alone. I needed to move on, try something new.
Liam was off in the city starting his new restaurant, and Sara was busy painting, pursuing her art degree. Theo would hardly talk to me, things had been strained ever since I bailed him out of prison. And Cade, as much as I loved the guy—whatever it was he was working on these days was most definitely illegal. He didn’t say, and I didn’t ask, but he was probably the next person I was going to have to bail out of prison.
Our tight-knit group was slowly drifting apart, and there was nothing left for me here. I was falling apart from the inside out, and the one thing that might put me back together was always just out of my grasp.
White-knuckling the steering wheel, I tried to hold on to something, anything that felt tangible, real.
Suddenly, as I came flying around the next bend, a blur of white flashed against the headlights, snapping me outof my rumination.
A split second before I ran it over, I registered the red-bottomed high heel in the middle of the road.
What the hell?
My attention snapped back to the ditch as the massive blob of white moved, and then pure shock washed over me as I suddenly realized what it was.
A woman.
I slammed on the brakes as the dark brown hair came into view—and then a hand.
Covered in blood.
CHAPTER 2
Yellow Gatorade
CARTER
The car came skidding to a stop, and I threw my door open, rounding the car in the next instant.
Heart pounding, I rushed to the edge of the embankment and peered over. My shadow blocked the light, but I heard a whimper and without a second thought I slid into the muddy ditch expecting the worst, and that’s exactly what I got.
“Sara?” I froze, fear slicing through me as I registered the horrifying red smears painted across her dress.
A split second later, I was moving, and my brogues squelched through the thick mud as I closed the space between us in several long strides.
“C-Carter?” She stumbled back, voice paper thin.
“I’m here now. Everything’s going to be okay.” I forced the panic down, but I could hear the unsteady pitch of my voice as I spoke. “Where are you bleeding?” I deftly unclasped my belt, yanking it off in one fluid motion, ready to make a tourniquet, but she just stared at me, a wild look in her eyes, and I realized she must be in shock. When I reached for her, she backed away, mumbling utter nonsense.
“Sara, it’s Carter.” I lifted my hands, palms open. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
She had her high heel in her hand and was just staring at it. “I can’t find my other shoe. I lost it.” She murmured, and then mumbled something about losing her buttons, and I wondered if she meant marbles.
She was definitely going into shock.
“We’ll find your other shoe.” I promised, and very carefully, I reached for her.
She stood there stiffly, as if she hardly registered me in front of her at all, while I frantically combed over her exposed skin, hunting for the source of the bleeding.
