“Baby,” he chokes, stepping towards me.
I hold a hand up, halting him as I try to compose the tears running down my face. I’m broken, and maybe he will finally see that.
He has been desperately trying to piece me back together, cutting himself along the way, but maybe finally he will realize I’ll simply never be able to be put back together.
“I was a stupid, hopeless romantic girl who clung to the first boy who loved me in hopes of a future filled with promises he couldn’t keep. In hopes that, maybe, just maybe, he could love me the way I loved him. A girl who’d do anything to save what we had, desperate to make all my firsts my lasts too. And he knew that.He knew that. And he used it. He usedme,” I cry.
“You are not the problem, Ryan is,” he growls out. “None of this is your fault. You think my life was problem free before you? That is the absolute opposite. The farthest thing from the truth. You belong here, Sunny. Even if you feel like you have to run, you belong here. Withourfamily.”
I run my fingers through my hair, clutching the curls in frustration as another anger filled sob releases from me. I hate that I let myself do this again. To plant roots. To feel what I feel. To feel at all.I hate myself for loving you all.
But it’s too late. I feel it. And now I’m here. My soulmate is standing before me, begging to help me.
No one can help me, Tyler.
“He took so much that I’m not sure I have anything else left to give,” I say.
“Baby, can we just take tonight to breathe?” he finally asks. “Just stay at my place for now, please. You’ll be safe. I have security cameras everywhere. I can’t–” he cuts himself off. “I’m not leaving you like this. So it’s either here or there, but there has cameras and a security system and I can have some of my guys stand post outside all hours,” he assures me, grabbing my duffle now filled with god knows what.
I lick my chapped lips. “Okay.”
“I just need to text Sam and Mace and let them know you’re safe.” He pulls his phone out.
They love me. And I have to leave them.
I’m not only going to break Tyler’s heart, but all of theirs, too.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
TYLER
I unlockthe front door using the app on my phone as we make our way up the shirt steps. Moving to the side, I open the door to let her in first and follow after.
Useless is an understatement of how I feel right now. As she walks by me, I can still see her red ringed eyes and sniffling nose. It’s a visceral blow to my heart.
I place her duffle and keys on the kitchen island and run a hand through my hair with an audible sigh.
“I’m bad at love, Tyler.” I hear her say.
I turn to her. “What?”
“I said I’m bad at love.”
“Stop.” I shake my head.
“Look at me! Look at where I am. How I keep running. I am bad at love, and you deserve so much better –”
Before she can even finish the sentence my hand is around her neck, bringing her inches to my face. Tight enough so that she stops saying those stupid words, but soft enough so I don’t take her air.
“You aren’t bad at love, Sunny.He is. And I’m going to show you just how much better I am at it,” I growl.
Her eyes widen, but they’re challenging me, wanting to see just how far I’ll go to prove it to her. I feel the slow roll of her throat as she swallows in my hold, her pulse quickening under my grasp.
If only she knew…
“Bite me,” she says through clenched teeth.
My little fire. All that anger is finally coming to the surface now that it’s blazed and burned through the panic and fear.
