When I saw Shane at the fight club inNew York, I felt confident, protected, furious. But that was with Wes and Noah by my side. Now it’s just me and Shane, who’s muttering under his breath as he continues to pace.
Where the fuck is my phone?
I concentrate on taking deep breaths through my nose. I can’t think straight with my heart beating so loudly. After getting some air in my lungs, I scan my surroundings. We’re inside a dark barn, the low light coming from flickering bare bulbs hanging from the barn ceiling. There are stacks of hay bales to my left along one side of the barn, and to my right is a tractor and snow plow equipment. I look over my shoulder into the dark back of the barn. I can’t tell what I’m looking at. A sliver of moonlight streams in from a door behind Shane, but all I see is dark outside of the barn.
I have a feeling we’re in the middle of nowhere.
My eyes settle on a pile of items by the door. My purse. A shadow of a duffel bag on the ground. A gun on top of the duffel.
Fuck.
For a second, hope surges through me as I spot my phone resting on the dirty floor next to the bag, far away, but at least here in the barn.
“Don’t worry. Your phone is off. No one is finding you here.” Shane strides over and reaches down to pick my phone up and hold it out to me. “Want it?” He laughs. “Nah. Not yet.”
My throat tightens. Fear grips my chest. Even I know that you can’t track a phone if it’s powered off.
“Oh, and I took the liberty of stopping by your apartment and grabbing these.” Shane walks over to the duffel bag and pulls out a blue folder. My stomach flips.
Thedivorce papers.
A whimper escapes my throat, and he drops them back on top of the bag.
“What’s that, Cals?” Shane strides over and rips the duct tape off my mouth, the sting eliciting a gasp from me.
“What the fuck,” I say in a voice so small it barely exists. Tears spill down my cheeks, and my mouth burns. “How?—”
“I know how to break into an apartment, Cals. Fuck, you’re stupid as shit.”
“What about Jake?” And Honey Bunny. I suppress a pathetic whimper.
“In and out of the window, Cals. As easy as walking through the front door. Don’t worry, no one noticed me.”
My fear for my brother and rabbit morphs to despair. So Shane broke into the apartment and Jake didn’t notice? Par for the course. And I bet Jake won’t check on me tonight. Sure, maybe it’s because of the way I blew him off earlier, but maybe it’s just always how it goes with people who are supposed to love me. I’m not anyone’s priority.
You know who didn’t do that? Wes. In the most important moment at the fight club, Wes even chose me over his brother, the one person he’s sworn to protect no matter what. I’m not proud that he did that. But it showed me he would choose me over everything else. No one’s ever done that for me.
And what did I do? I said the worst thing to him that I could think of. Because if I didn’t scare him away, I wouldn’t have been able to leave.
I could never be with someone like you.
What did I even fucking mean? I could never be with someone who chooses me first? Who is kind and deep and gorgeous? What is wrong with me? And now here I am. In a situation that I’ll probably never get out of.
My regrets come crashing over me. I wish it were Wes’s zip ties on my wrists right now instead of Shane’s duct tape.
Wes found Shane for me.
He protected me.
He chose me over his brother.
He made me feel like the center of his universe, not a side quest.
And I broke it off with that man.
What a fucking mistake, on so many levels.
“Fuck you, Shane.” Tears well in my eyes, then spill down my face.
