AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’d used her.
I had in so many ways but refused to drive the dagger more than I should when it came to her.
I really was weak.
I was, but I wouldn’t hurt Red more than I already had. That girl had gone through shit because of me. She’d had enough of me for a lifetime.
She’d had enough.
I think we both had, but I was leaving myself out of this. I’d suffer a million times over so she wouldn’t have to.
I felt comatose as I faced Thatcher who was still behind the couch. He had his hands together, and the door was cracked behind him. He pointed toward it. “Hey, uh. Guess who’s at the door.”
I didn’t have the energy for games, facing forward. Dorian and Wells continued to button-mash their controllers in front of me. We’d all been sitting here for hours. It was a Sunday, and they’d given up on trying to talk to me. They knew I’d gotten in last night, but they assumed the worst when I’d said I didn’t want to talk about what had happened with Red.
It had been the worst.
My sister had been here too at one point. She’d ended up bowing out to get some studio time in at one of the spaces reserved for students on campus. She’d said she had a deadline for a class, but I knew it was just to give me my space. Normally, Dorian would have gone with her, but he’d stayed behind because of me. He didn’t say it, but he had. I’d come in moody as fuck last night, and he saw that. Since he had stayed here, I’d decided to use that as an opportunity to call all my friends over. To talk.
That was until I’d gotten weak.
I literally had nothing left after that conversation with Red, and it took me a second to realize her name had been mentioned. Thatcher had said it, and I turned toward the door. It was still cracked, and I couldn’t see out of it.
“She’s, um, here, my dude,” he said, smiling. In fact, he was grinning so big. He braced his large hands. “She said she wants to see you.”
Thatcher had to have been mistaken. I’d ended this, but no sooner had he said the words, and I was off the couch. Normally, I’d be intentional about such maneuvers. I was often stiff if I sat too long and didn’t need the guys seeing all that. I must have had some adrenaline backing me because I ignored my tight muscles and shot toward the door.
I was sure I’d be regretting that later, but at the present, I didn’t care. I passed Thatcher who was still grinning along the way, and in the far-off spaces of my mind, I knew the others were watching. There were no more game sounds behind me.
But I forgot about all that with her in front of me.
Red’s head darted up when the door widened, her face filled with an intense flush. She had her ripped jeans on even though it was barely above freezing outside, as well as that puffer coat I hated because it always hid her sexy curves. She had it open today, though, and her crop top revealed her freckled waist. It looked so soft, always so soft.
Who wears mittens, Red?
My Red did, and her hands were gripping like crazy inside them. She had those on and a little hat with a pom-pom on it. She basically looked like a sexy little Christmas elf, and I was well aware of what I’d internally called her.
Mine.
I knew it wasn’t right to associate her in that way. Even in my mind, it wasn’t all right, but I’d done it anyway.
And the guys were behind me.
I didn’t turn to see them, but I could certainly feel their presence. I also noticed Red gazed over my shoulder before focusing on me. She lifted a mitten. “Hi.”
The wash of dopamine that hit me when she said that literally loosened my stiff muscles. This girl was like a healing agent.
If only she could be.
If only she was the solution to everything that was going wrong, and she was to an extent. She fixed things in almost every way I needed. My hand gripped the door. “Hey. What are you—”
“Is your truck here?”
Uhh…
I must have not spoken fast enough because Red was scanning around the hallway. She was also shifting on her sneakers, and she huffed out a breath before looking at me. “Your Hummer. Is it outside?”
It was, but I was unsure why she was asking about it. I eased out into the hallway, closing the door. “Yes…”
