“We need to move.” Rooke’s calm voice cuts through my confusion. “Standing around isn’t going to make this easier.”
He claps a hand on my shoulder and heads to the back of the Land Rover, opening the trunk.
I’m rooted to the spot, staring at Haven like I’ve never seen her before.
“What do you mean,trust you?” I scoff. “Have you been back here?”
She pulls away from my grip, turning toward the car. “Help me with this, and I’ll explain everything.”
“No.” I grab her arm, spinning her back around. “You’ll explain now.”
“God, Kai?—”
“Now, Haven.”
She glares up at me. In the dim light filtering through the trees, her face is pale, her eyes huge and dark.
“I’m asking for a few minutes of patience. After everything—“ She cuts off, making an angry sound as she crossed her arms and glances away into the darkness pressing in around us. “That’s all I’m asking.”
I know what she meant to say.
After everything I put her through.
After everything I’ve doneto her.
After everything Ididn’tdo.
The fact that she didn’t say it out loud, where Rooke could hear, makes me even more ashamed for acting like this.
She must see the struggle on my face, because she shrugs and goes to help Rooke, bumping into my arm when I don’t move out of the way.
“Big surprise,” she murmurs just before she’s out of earshot.
Yeah, big surprise.
Everyone’s fucking changed…except me.
Guess no matter what happens, I’ll always be the pussy ass bitch who’s too worried about what other people think, even at the expense of my own happiness.
And the woman I love.
I scrub my hands over my face, eyes squeezed shut as I try to wring some fucking courage back into my cowardly mind.
I want answers. I want this to end. I want it to be tomorrow, and none of this matters anymore.
Fuck, who am I kidding? It willalwaysmatter. All I’ll be doing is avoiding yet another nasty part of my history.
My past is littered with bad memories and terrible decisions. The only way I’ve managed to stay sane is by playing pretend…just like I did with Haven when we were kids.
Guess it’s time to stop pretending and start accepting.
We carry the dead guy through the woods.
Rooke takes his shoulders, I take his feet, and Haven leads the way with the flashlight Rooke gave her. The beam bouncesoff tree trunks and rocks and the occasional pair of glowing eyes that vanish as soon as the light touches them.
None of us speak.
The only sound is our breathing and the crunch of leaves beneath our feet and the distant rush of the creek, getting softer with every step.
