“No, I don’t. This is my fault. He told me he was going to do this, and I blew him off. Let’s go to the house.”
He doesn’t speak again. Something quivers in my chest before smashing into a thousand tiny shards. I don’t care how desperate I sound or how scared. If we stay out here, someone’s going to find us, and if they find us, they’ll take him away?—
“Please,” I beg, taking his hand in mine while holding his face so he can’t look away. “Please come with me.”
Shade moves in my peripheral. He lowers himself to a crouch and starts touching Ezra. His throat, his chest, his face. “We need to call an ambulance.”
I can hear Ash talking to someone. His words go unrecognized as I bore my eyes into Rowe’s. He’s looking back at me, but there’s no sign that he even knows who I am right now or that it’s my hand he’s rubbing his scuffed cheek against.
Shuffling forward, I fight past the pain of rock shards digging deeper into my stinging knees and ghost my thumb over his lips. They’re so damn dry as I trace the shape of them. Over the dip of his cupid’s bow and the silver scar cutting through the top right corner. Finally, a hint of light returns to his dull grey eyes.
“I need you to come with me,” I whisper.
“Okay.”
I nod immediately and rise to my feet, pulling him with me. Removing my hand from his face feels like ripping two pieces of Velcro apart. It’s wrong, but I have no choice. I take him by the elbow and guide him away from Ezra’s body.
Ash falls to his other side, and I blink past the burn behind my eyes when he lifts one of Rowe’s arms and drapes it over his shoulder. The blood dripping down the front of my brother’s shirt is so, so red. It seeps into the fabric, glistening as it dries.
“Dad’s on his way. He called an ambulance,” Ash says.
He sounds like a ghost.
My chest constricts so tightly that I think my ribs are puncturing my lungs. “He’ll be arrested. They’ll take him, Ash.”
I loop my arm through Rowe’s and squeeze, hating how weak I feel but unable to find my usual strength. It was sucked out of me the minute I stumbled into this black hole. I thread my fingers through Rowe’s and sniff, swallowing back a sob that threatens to burst free.
Ash speeds up his pace, and I struggle to follow it. It’s the fucking alcohol still coursing through me. My muscles are failing in time with my crumpling mind. I need to keep Rowe with me. With us.
The bloody cowboy squeezes my hand and tugs me into his body. I go willingly, and that pathetic sob I’ve been holding back manages to escape. Our joined hands move to rest at the base of his back. My face meets his side as I cry, my tears falling too quickly to stop them.
“Don’t go. Don’t go,” I whisper before pressing the back of my hand to my mouth, forcing myself to shut up.
A different set of headlights flares across the road in front of us, illuminating the figure leaning against the trunk of a thick tree. Lacey’s eyes are wide and teary as they cling to us. She’s crying much louder than I am. A blast of rage ripples through me at her reaction, like for some reason, I hate her for not havingfollowed me anyway while still having the nerve to cry. She doesn’t know anything because she wasn’t there.
The venom on my tongue dies when Rowe drops his chin to my head and kisses my hair. The thump in my chest hurts.
“Let it go,” he breathes out.
I lift onto my toes to try and push closer to him, but he’s pulling away too soon. That thump turns into a crack.
“Why did you do that?” I whimper, choking on an inhale. “He wasn’t worth it.”
“You were.”
My knees give out. Everything’s moving so quickly now. By the time I’ve registered that Rowe’s holding me, car doors are slamming closed, and I smell exhaust. My nose finds Rowe’s shirt, and I inhale, hating that I can’t smell his cologne properly. I feel a body at my back, but I shake my head, clawing my nails into Rowe’s arms, refusing to leave their hold.
“Let go, Tilly. The ambulance is almost here,” Dad demands, his usual calmness nowhere to be found.
“No.No!” I scream. Sirens cling to my wet words. Heat envelops my cheeks, then the back of my head. “No.”
Blurry grey eyes are right in front of me. I try to blink away the film in my gaze and grab his wrist, finding it hot and sticky. Fingers curl in my hair, and I shake my head, ready to tell him to get in the car and run with me.
“I’m coming to the house. Get in the car. Don’t fight right now, hellcat.”
“Promise me. Promise me that you’re coming.”
He brings my head forward and kisses my temple, exhaling forcefully. My breath leaves me in a whoosh, and my fingernails release his skin. I close my eyes, touching the side of his neck before flattening my hand to it. His pulse is rapid when I press harder against it.
