My head snapped up. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. Love you, M.”
“Love you too. Now, get out of the house for a bit after you pack so I can try to salvage my day off.”
Maybe a weekend at the lodge was exactly what I needed. Just me and the mountain air. I’d been wanting to go back for a long time. My dad had bought the lodge as a gift to my mother, and we got plenty of use out of it as kids. The second home was huge, with a four-panel window and six bedrooms, so our friends could join us whenever. We would snowboard all day and have a fire at night. Rinse and repeat the whole weekend until we had to go home. I loved it. We spent every Christmas there until we all grew up. I don’t think any of us had been there together in years.
I grabbed my bag from the floor and dumped the contents onto the bed so I could pack, ready to get the hell out of here and away from the one person that I would break all the rules for.
Chapter 5
SAM
Does the asshole even read the weather forecast?
I stared at the message on my phone and scoffed.
Marco:
Took Lucy to the lodge to cool off for a few days.
Be back after work.
Hope you didn’t do anything stupid last night.
I didn’t.
Unless having an erection for your sister counts.
If she had shoved me again, she woulda found herself bent over the kitchen table.
Marco:
Gross.
Come meet me for lunch, asshole.
With a sigh, I turned the key in the ignition as the car came to life. I hadn’t slept at all, walking aimlessly around the local cemetery. There was this area next to the gate that wasstill large enough for me to slip through, and I had learned enough to evade any security.
When I stormed out of the house, I had no idea where I was going. Yet I always ended up there. I loved it because you could tell the dead all your secrets, fears, and worries without judgment or the risk of the information getting into the wrong hands. My weaknesses would never be used against me again. Something about captivity rewired my brain, and when I came home, it was almost as if I was worse than before.
She could hate me all she wanted, but she would see in time that I couldn’t let her watch me slowly kill myself, in and out of treatment, and all fucked. My head was finally clear enough that these moves could be made without addiction hanging over my head. No longer a brewing storm, and with calmer waters ahead.
The quaint restaurant crossed my view, and I pulled in, ready to eat and then make a weekend trip, whether any of them wanted me to or not.
Marco stood in front of the restaurant, watching my every move as I crossed the parking lot, and my stomach twisted in knots. It wasn’t enough to have the love of my life upset with me, but my best friend’s, my brother's, trust had wavered, too.
“I’m clean, scout's honor,” I said, holding up my hand. A breathalyzer sat in his hand, and a laugh rumbled in my chest. “Really?”
He sighed heavily, tucking it into his back pocket. What would he have done? Arrest me for being past curfew? Eagerly, I met him halfway and brought him into an embrace.
“I didn’t tell her anything, but one day you will have to. She does deserve to know why you’ve been home for two years, and she’s gotten nothing but radio silence,” he declared, slipping on a patch of ice that was on the stairs, clutching the railing for dear life.
I shook my head, smiling.
Don’t worry, bud. Nobody saw you.
The scent of freshly cooked bacon filled my senses as weentered the empty diner and took a seat in the booth. Thankfully, we had missed the breakfast rush. I was never one for prolonged conversation. Over the years, I learned it was better to stay quiet and get to the point when needed.
I wanted people to be afraid of me. At least, for a long while, I did, wearing an ever-present grimace on my face to match the darkness that followed me around. It was easier than plastering on a fake smile like everyone else.
