“I mean, you helped me now, but also back in Hollow Creek… when Benny…” I swallowed. I hadn’t been able to tell Jonah the truth about that day, but he’d still brought me along with him anyway. He’d still trusted me. “You tried to follow us then too… tried to help. And then you brought me with you.”
“No offense, Harp, but you wouldn’t make it out here on your own,” he teased.
“Right.” I frowned. Of course he thought that. It’s what I’d manipulated him into thinking.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I’m just messing around,” he said, taking my distance as offense. “You just… you needed someone. So did I. And now we have each other, right?”
“Right,” I repeated, his attempts at reassuring me only adding to my guilt.
“Let’s go back to the motel… have some of that cake. Okay?”
I nodded, and we began on our way back to our room. But the whole way, I couldn’t stop my mind from spiraling.
Jonah didn’t need me here. And I didn’t need to be with him. Not really. I was only supposed to be with him as I tried to determine if he was ready for Dex to catch him. I already knew he was.
Jonah was tired, and he was lonely. That’s why he’d clung to me so quickly. But I wasn’t who he really wanted. His home waswaiting for him, and the longer I lied to him, the longer I kept him from it.
Being together made it easier for me, but he and Dex deserved to be reunited so they could sort their shit out and be together again.
We made it back to the room, and we dumped our haul on the small table.
It was time for me to get out of the way and do what I’d come here to do.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Jonah. I really mean that.”
He smiled for a second, until he realized I’d said his real name, and not the fake one he’d given me.
“What… what name did you say?”
I stared for a moment before faking a smile. We both knew what I’d said. “I said Jack.”
“No.” His chair tumbled to the floor as he stood up quickly. “No, you didn’t.”
“What else would I have said?”
“Who are you?” His hand dipped into his pocket. I knew he kept a switchblade in there, because I’d gone through his pockets while he was sleeping, checking on the condition of the tracker in the lighter before putting it back.
“Let’s not do anything hasty,” I told him. But there was a small part of me that almost hoped he’d use it. Then I wouldn’t have to struggle anymore. But I couldn’t do that to Benny.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“I told you who I am.”
“No. You’re lying.”
He was right. I’d been lying, and I deserved to be hated for it. So I’d play a new role for him. I’d play the bad guy, so he’d hate me and leave. Then I could call Dex and tell him to get his man,and they could go off and find their peace while I was hated like I deserved. “Fine.”
“Who are you?” he asked again.
“I told you who I am. That part wasn’t a lie.”
“So what parts were?”
“Oh, you know… just… everything else.”
He swallowed, taking a moment to process.
“Are you really running from Benny?”
