My chest heaved,every ragged breath visible in the cold air. The street was empty behind me. A soft meow drifted from my backpack, reminding me that while the events that had just transpired were absolutely horrible, at least it was over.
Any positive thoughts I had abruptly shattered as soon as I looked at Reid. His broken glasses sat lopsided on his face, and a cut marked the skin beneath his left eye.
“Your eye,” I choked out, still sucking in breath after breath.
Footsteps pounded the concrete behind us as Jackson and West finally caught up. I remained rooted in place, staring at Reid.
Jackson grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me lightly. “Holy shit, Hazel. Did you get him?”
I nodded, unwilling to take my eyes off Reid. He was still bent over and hadn’t yet met my gaze.
“Who was that asshole?” West asked.
“My ex’s best friend.” Damn, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even thought of Callum. He had seemed so harmless. Obnoxious, sure, but harmless nonetheless. He’d always beena little annoyed any time Paul chose to hang out with me instead of him, but the two of us had broken up months ago. How could I possibly have known he’d do something this unhinged? We hadn’t even spoken since the breakup, aside from the occasional shared memes on social media. Turned out he was secretly psychotic. I wondered if Paul knew. I hoped he didn’t.
“Good thing he spends all his time lifting and can’t do cardio for shit,” Jackson said through a breathless laugh. “He only chased us for, like, half a block before giving up.”
“Probably thought better of it when he considered the numbers,” West said.
Reid was stewing. There was no other word for it. He finally caught his breath, drawing in one last ragged inhale. He looked lost. In disbelief. Then his eyes found mine and his expression hardened.
“What the hell, Hazel?” he barked.
“Yikes. You look rough.” West squinted, taking in his friend’s face.
Reid glared at him. “Not now.”
This was a nightmare. A complete and total nightmare.
Jackson let out a low whistle as he looked between Reid and me. He turned to West. “I think that might be our cue to get the hell out of here.”
Part of me didn’t want to be left alone with Reid. I had a pretty good feeling I was about to be heavily reprimanded.
“What were you thinking?” he demanded, taking a step toward me.
West eyed Reid and then bumped Jackson in the ribs with his elbow. “I’ll drive,” he said.
Jackson shot me a thumbs up that honestly would have made me laugh had Reid not been staring at me so intensely right now.
They both backed away and I watched as they turned the corner. When I met Reid’s eyes again, it was clear he hadn’t even spared them a parting glance.
“I’m sorry,” I started to apologize, but Reid shook his head causing me to snap my mouth shut.
“I can’t believe you’d come here without telling me.” He shook his head. I couldn’t tell if he was more disappointed or angry. Or a solid mix of the two.
His eyes pierced me. Yep.Definitelya mix of the two.
“I thought I could do this by myself,” I offered, too emotionally exhausted to defend myself. Any adrenaline had faded away.
“What? Why?” His eyebrows drew together, a fraction of the harsh look melting away. “You didn’tneedto do this by yourself. I would have been here in an instant if you called.”
I knew that. Even if I tried to drag him into some hare-brained idea he was completely opposed to, he still would have come if I asked. What did that say about me?
“Looks like I needed your help anyway,” I muttered, completely deflated at this point.
Reid had gotten punched in the face. Because of me. There was no way to come back from this. I was a freaking inarguable monstrosity of a mess. It didn’t matter that this whole ordeal was over. I’d royally screwed up. I wasn’trightfor him. There was no way this hadn’t woken him up from whatever spell I’d managed to cast over him the past few weeks. He must want me out of his life for good now.
Any moments of closeness between us felt like distant memories.
