15
jenna
”It’s not as bad as it could’ve been,” Emma tells me as she brushes my hair away from my face and hands me a tissue.
We’ve locked ourselves in her parents’ bathroom as I clean myself up and examine my face. She’s right, though. The bright pink jagged circle on the high point of my cheek is nowhere near as bad as it could’ve been if Cole’s elbow had collided with my actual eye.
A soft sigh escapes me. What was I thinking? I shouldn’t have even attempted to hold him back. But Ihadto dosomething. I’m just glad I came out of the house when I did. Who knows what would’ve happened if I hadn’t stumbled upon them. An unsettling feeling creeps along my skin at just the thought.
A knock sounds at the door, and Emma hops off of the counter to answer it.
“Here’s the ice you wanted,” a man says, and I try to catch a glimpse of who he is because I don’t recognize the voice.
“Thanks,” Emma tells him, leaning against the door so I can’t see the man at all as they speak in low voices.
I smirk, then wince, as I turn back to the mirror to clean up. I’m a mess. On top of having the mascara beneath my eyes and the mark on my cheek, my eyes are red from crying, and I have a grass stain on my dress. Carefully, I dab beneath my eyes to remove the black drips.
The door softly closes and Emma walks back over to me.
“Here, let’s get some ice on that cheek.” Ever so gently, Emma places the cold bag against my face.
“Who was that?” I ask as I take over holding the bag for her.
“That?” Emma asks, and I nod with a smile. She lets out a soft laugh and crosses her arms as she leans against the counter. “Joshua the bartender.”
“Well, Joshua the bartender sounded pretty smitten with you from what little of your conversation I heard.”
“Yeah,” Emma says, and she tugs on her bottom lip. “We were kind of making out in the gazebo right before …”
“Right before I was stupid and tried to break up a fight between two Marines,” I finish for her.
She gives me a thoughtful look.
“What on earth could they’ve been fighting about like that?” I ask, though not to her in particular.
“No clue,” Emma answers me. “But I don’t think they’ve been on the best of terms for a while now—probably since they came back home from their tour.”
I shoot her a curious glance. “You think this goes back that far?”
Emma nods. “I don’t know what, but something had to have happened to put that rift between them. And whatever it is, I don’t think it happened here tonight.”
Myhead achesas I mull over her words. What could’ve possibly happened to make them want to destroy each other like that?
“Is Cole okay?” I ask and become a bit defensive when Emma shoots methelook. “What?”
“The man hit you and you want to know if he’s okay?”
“It was an accident,” I retort.
“I’m still going to kick his ass for being an idiot,” Emma tells me. “He should never have let himself get that far gone.”
I sigh and remove the bag of ice from my cheek. “I’m not going to make excuses forhimbecause he was pretty crazy. But can you please be a good best friend and just tell me if he’s okay?”
“Fine,” Emma says with a huff. “But he and I are going to have some words first, so just sit tight and I’ll come back for you soon. Keep that ice on your face so it doesn’t swell.”
“What do you mean heleft?” My heart is pounding as I pace the bathroom.
“My uncle said he tried to talk to him, but Cole muttered something about not wanting to hurt you and just … left.”
