I’m such a fucking idiot.
“Harlen, I’m-”
“Don’t.” He shakes his head. “Just fucking don’t.”
Harlen drops his hand, stepping away and pulling his phone out of his light denim jeans. His pained eyes stay locked on mine when he pushes it to his ear and says, “Rusty.” I watch him clench his teeth as he listens to his father at the end of the line, then he says, “Look, I’ve got some shit to tell you. We are gonna head back to Devil’s Peak tonight.”
He nods, even though Rusty wouldn’t be able to see it.
“Get Skinner to come to the house too. Oh, and hey, don’t tell anyone else we are coming back.”
The phone call ends, and Harlen’s eyes are completely broken. He’s wounded,by me.
“Get your ass on my bike,” he rasps, before turning around and striding for the door.
Harlen didn’t question me, didn’t ask me how I knew it was Manic. He trusted me, when I didn’t trust him.
I’ve really fucked up.
I gaze over my shoulder when he disappears through the front door, seeing Cameryn standing at the back of the stage, having just emerged through the black suede curtains.
“You good to close–”
She cuts me off with a nod.
When I turn away, Cameryn coughs, forcing me to spin back around.
“Make that motherfucker bleed red, Cherry.”
I nod.
And then, I run, right after Harlen.
The man I never should have doubted.
Again.
Everything.
Just.
Fucking.
Hurts.
And though her accusations pulverized me, I still couldn’t fucking blame her.
She had every right to question me.
And I had every reason to react the way I did.
We are only humans doing the best we can in this fucked-up world.
We’ll be okay.
We have to be.
It’s our fucking end game.
