Her phone lights up in her hand, and she looks at it with a grimace. Then she points the screen toward me. “This.”
I lean forward to get a better look and see an incoming phone call from her husband across the top. “Hell, answer it.”
She finches back. “What? No way!”
“Give it to me. I’ll answer it.” I hold out my hand. When she still doesn’t hand it to me, I quickly snatch it and answer before she has a chance to protest.
I put the phone on speaker and listen to the man on the other line cursing and screaming at nothing. I haven’t even said hello yet. Once he takes a breath, I say, “Jesus man, no wonder she doesn’t want to speak to you. No one’s even said shit to you, and you already started talking.”
He is quiet for a moment until he says, “Who the fuck is this?”
I stand and walk to the railing to lean over the side. “Me? I mean, I can be whatever you want me to be, I guess.” I look over my shoulder at a wide-eyed Blake and smirk. “Or I could be whatever Blake wants me to be–”
“I don’t give a fuck who you are. You’re dead anyway for laying your hands on what belongs to me.”
“Did your mother never teach you manners? It’s not polite to interrupt someone when they’re speaking.”
“Did you hear me asshole? Give the fucking phone to Blake.”
I raise my brow and turn toward Blake, who shakes her head. “I don’t think she wants to talk to you.”
“It wasn’t a request. Give her the phone or I will—”
It's my turn to interrupt him now as I watch Blake visibly shaking in her chair. “What exactly do you think you are going to do?” I pause but only for a second before I start again. “You think you’re some tough guy because you make threats and beat women? That shit doesn’t make you tough. It makes you a fucking coward.”
“A coward?” he screams. “I will show you who a fucking coward is! Give me your address.”
Blake’s eyes plead with me not to. I can tell she is terrified in the way she holds her arms against her chest and rocks slightly back and forth in the chair. Everything in me wants to just meet up with this guy, put a bullet in him, and be done. But I know that wouldn’t win me any favors with Blake. “Why would I need to do that when I know where you live? No need for you to come to me. I’m sure I’ll be making an appearance soon.” I can feel the anger billowing off of me in waves, and I close my eyes to simmer it down. “See you soon, Princess,” I grit through my teeth and then hang up.
Chapter 13
Blake
I feel like the nonexistent walls are closing in around me as I try and ground myself to the deck. The beat of my heart is loudly thumping in my ears. The crisp night air filtering through my lungs lets me know that I am still alive.What if Craig still loves me and I am fucking this all up by being out here in the middle of no where?He was always so good at making me doubtmyself, twisting things until I couldn’t tell up from down. What if I just misunderstood? What if this whole thing has been my fault all along? I hurt him. I know I did. I made him angry. And now, I’ve made it worse by running.
Hunter holds my phone out to me, and I grab it quickly before standing and darting for the door. But before I even take a few steps, I’m being turned around and pressed against his chest. “Where are you going?”
I push against him. “Stop, let me go. I need to leave. I have to go back home.”
He gives me a severe look. “You will do no such thing.”
I stare up at his face. Who does he think he is? “Who are you to tell me where I can and can’t go?” I push off him once more, and this time he releases me. “You are no better than him if that’s the case.”
The look that crosses his face is like a knife to my gut. Pain. As if my words wounded him. But why should he care about what I say? I am nothing to anyone.Worthless. A burden.
I stomp off the back porch and head for the door before he has time to say another word. I shouldn’t have let him answer the fucking phone. Now I will have even more hell to pay when I go back home.
The next morning, I wake up in a fog. It takes me a moment to figure out where the hell I am. My mouth is dry, and my fingertips are raw from the amount of nail-biting I did last night before finally passing out. My mind feels bruised from turning over every possible excuse, every way I could explain this to Craig and somehow make it okay. But nothing feels right. No matter how I spin it, I know I’ve crossed a line that can’t be undone.
But maybe… maybe I can fix it.
Maybe he’s just hurt. Maybe if I go back and explain, if I tell him I’m sorry, if I take care of him the way I should have before—I can make this right. If I show him I didn’t mean to hurt him, maybe he won’t be so mad. Maybe he’ll forgive me.
He always says I make him this way. That I push him too far. That I don’t listen. That I make things worse.
What if this really is my fault?
I press the heels of my hands to my eyes, trying to block out the spiraling thoughts. He could find me anyway. And if I don’tgo back on my own, what will he do? Will he hurt Charlie to punish me?
