“Alivia!”
He had the door open.
Fuck!
I got inside the driver’s seat and shut the door behind me, immediately locking it. My hand was quivering just as badly as I tried to put the key in the ignition, turning it enough that the car would start.
“Alivia!”
In my rearview mirror, Dean was holding his pants up and rushing down the steps toward the road that he had to pass to reach me.
I couldn’t let him get close.
I couldn’t let him get his hands on me.
Because once I was within his grasp, I didn’t know if I’d be able to get out.
I put the car in reverse and slammed on the gas, speeding backward, the steering wheel jolting as the car spun. I bore down on the brakes. The vehicle slowed just enough that I could shift into drive.
Dean was past the road and only feet away from my trunk. “Alivia! Stop!”
My foot punched the gas, my tires peeling out as the car lurched forward.
But even with his arms extended, I was too far ahead.
He couldn’t reach anything but air.
I blew through the Stop sign at the end of the road, not realizing how slick my hands were until I was turning and they were slipping over the steering wheel.
I didn’t know how many lights I went through before, “Oh my God,” fell from my lips.
What just happened?
How did I even get out of there?
Was he really going to …
My stomach flipped, and I put my palm over my mouth, gagging behind it until I could open my door and throw up on the pavement. With each heave, I felt his boot in my gut. I felt every organ he’d kicked.
And I felt the tears.
They were like lava as they pooled in my eyes. As they fell from my eyelids. As they soaked my lips when I shut the door and began to drive. As they clung to my chin before they dropped.
Where am I going?
I needed to think, but my brain wasn’t working.
I reached toward the passenger seat and felt nothing. My purse wasn’t there because I’d left it at Dean’s, my phone on the carpet inside.
Damn it!
I couldn’t contact anyone.
I didn’t know a single phone number by heart.
Lex was too far. I didn’t have enough gas to even get to her apartment, and I didn’t have any money on me to refill my tank.
Walker. I wanted Walker.
