“Home,” Grey says. “The fire department wanted to take her to the hospital, just in case. But she lost her shit. These two cops came by, I think they plan on filing a report.”
“Fuck,” I say slowly. “Okay… I should be able to jump on the last bus. I… Fuck.” I shake my head. “Thank you so much for letting me know, Grey.”
“I’m just next door if you need me. Let me know when you get in—I’ll swing by and pick you up from the bus stop.”
I nod. “Okay. I’ll call when we’re close.”
When Grey hangs up, I just sit there, the phone pressed to my ear, my arm stiff and throbbing, like my heart is slowing down. In away, that’s exactly what’s happening here. The carefree Carrie from the past few days was just a mirage. Now I’m back to the old me. Back to reality as I know it.
“Carrie?”
It was all too good to be true, in the end. That perfect life I was living never existed—I just pretended it did, because I wanted so badly to see what it could feel like to be normal. I’m crashing back down to planet Earth, and I’m landing hard and fast.
“Carrie?”
The air is suddenly cloying. I feel trapped, sitting here like this, with my knees jammed under the dashboard, my elbow pressing into the door, Donovan fussing to my left, making everything feel so much worse. I need to get out of here.
“Can you drop me at the bus station?” I manage.
I’m sick to my stomach, rage flickering at the edges of me, pushing me to the brink of tears.
“Is there a problem with your mom?”
“I need to get on a bus. Now.”
He frowns. “What bus? Let me drive you.”
“No!”
The last thing I want is him coming home with me—seeing the state my mom has been in since Dad left. Every time I’m back in Cincy, I do my best to shake off all the trauma he caused. Every time I leave, the cycle starts all over again. I run through the math in my head, realizing with a start that it’s been weeks since I was last back there.Fuck. This is going to be a total shit show.
“It’s better if I just catch a bus. Greyson can pick me up from the station.”
“Greyson?” He tenses up. “As in, your neighbor? Your strip-basketball buddy?”
He remembers that?I shrug inwardly. It doesn’t matter. None of it matters anymore.
“It’ll take us less than two hours to drive—”
“I don’t want you to come with me!” I snap.
Unbuckling his seat belt, he shifts around to face me.
“What is going on back home, Carrie? What did your friend tell you?”
He spits the word friend at me, and there’s a light going out in his eyes. Something is flickering between us, but I’m too upset to figure it out. All that matters now is getting the hell out of here.
His phone buzzes—a request for a ride. He needs to work, and I need to go clean up one hell of a mess. Alone.
“You know what? Forget it. It’d be faster for me to just walk.”
I’m just about to unclip my seat belt when he covers my hand with his.
“Stop.” He leans over, forcing me to meet his gaze. “Tell me what’s going on. All those times you headed back to Cincinnati, I could tell something was up, but I didn’t want to overstep.” He sighs. “I wanted you to start trusting me, and now it’s time. You can let me in now, Carrie.”
I look at him. “Can I?”
“I’m your boyfriend. I’m here for you—like a boyfriend should be.”
