Like he already knew I was the love of his life.
A sob catches painfully in my throat.
Because tonight, that same boy looked at me like he hated me.
The SUV pulls into the driveway of my house but I don’t move.
I physically can’t.
Brayden suddenly grabs my wrist hard enough to make me wince.
“This is your fault,” he snaps, and I slowly look at him. One eye swollen shut. Blood crusted beneath his nose. Rage radiating off him in waves, and still… I feel absolutely nothing.
No guilt. No sympathy. Nothing.
All I can think about is Hayden bleeding in that cage while looking at me like he wanted to kiss me and ruin me all at once.
Brayden squeezes harder, and I bite the inside of my cheek. ”Did you know him?” he asks, and I nod.
“Yes.”
“Who the fuck is he?” he snarls.
The love of my life.
But instead, I whisper… “Nobody,”
Brayden laughs cruelly, and I want nothing more than to punch him in his broken nose.
“Well, your nobody is a fucking psycho,” he states, and something dark flashes through me instantly.
“You deserved it,” I spit, and he stares at me in disbelief.
“What?”
“You heard me. Might wanna get that wrist checked out,” I spit as tears stream harder down my cheeks now. “You deserved every second of it. He should’ve broken both of your hands,” I say, and his expression turns vicious.
“You fucking bitch,” he growls, but I rip my wrist from him and practically stumble out of the SUV before he can say anything else.
Cold air slams into my lungs as I walk to the front door, barely making it before completely falling apart.
I rush up the stairs, and the second my bedroom door closes behind me, I collapse onto the floor sobbing so hard I can’t breathe.
Alive.
Hayden is alive.
The realization crashes over me again and again like waves trying to drown me. I crawl towards my bed and yank open the nightstand drawer where I hid all the notes he’s left me. My fingers shake while I spread them across the comforter.
I’ve missed you, Firefly.
You still look at me like I hung the moon.
Would you cry for me again?
Fresh sobs rip out of me because he knew.
He watched me cry.
