“Not even close.” I shift on the mattress. “I never felt like this for anyone, and I don’t know what it is, but I think we could have something good between us.”
“Even with the lack of trust on both sides?”
“I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy, but I’m willing to try. Are you?”
She blinks a few times. “Yes.”
“That means no more stunts like you pulled the night at the Steel Pier. Believe me, you wanna blow a hole in someone, wetalk about it first, ‘cause I nearly lost my shit when I saw you walking down that beach.”
“And if I had told you then what I had planned, you would’ve shut me down and told me no fuckin’ way.”
“Back then, yeah, but if we become a team, we both devise a plan.”
“Fancy words for telling me that the shit you do with the Kings is off-limits.”
“That’s for your protection, but if something affects the both of us, then we talk.”
“I can live with that.”
“One question. Where the hell did you get the gun?”
She huffs out a laugh. “I found it wedged in the back of a kitchen drawer when I started cleaning the room over at The End. Must’ve been my father’s. Then later, I stuffed it in the bag with the money. I never thought it would come to such a good use.”
“Shit, you handled it like a pro.”
“Another skill my father taught me, along with driving the big rigs.”
“But I’m guessing you never shot anyone before.”
She shakes her head.
“That shit can weigh on you too.”
“The one and only thing I’m truly happy about in this whole shit-show is giving Viper what he deserved. Don’t think for one minute I showed up at the Steel Pier because of you. I did it for me. I overheard you talking to Viper, and I knew what I had to do. I wanted to see him squirm like he’s made me squirm. I wanted him to hurt and for him to know it came from me.”
“I get it.”
“I think you do.” She nods her chin. “Like those scars on your back?”
I stay silent, and she prods, “I’m not the only one with demons.”
She’s right, and if I want this to go anywhere, I gotta be honest. Fuck Ace and his damn advice.
“My father was a vicious animal who beat me almost from the time I can remember. No matter how I begged or tried to be good, it didn’t matter.”
Sammie stays perfectly still, her eyes riveted to mine.
“His weapon of choice was his belt. Buckle side up as he’d tell me how useless I was.” The usual rage doesn’t fill me as I continue to tell Sammie the horrors of my early life with no one to defend me or come to my rescue.
When I fall silent, she wraps her arms around me and whispers, “I want you to promise me something.”
“What?”
“That you’ll never try to hide your scars, physical or emotional, from me ever again.”
I don’t know how she gets me to tell her shit about myself, but when I’m around her, something inside me opens up and frees me.
“Looks like Ace was right.”
