Page 55 of Before We Break

“You must be Hayden.”

He swallows and gives me a jerky nod.

“You can call me Clio after one of you explains what you’re doing here so late at night.”

“Lexi said she was hungry, and I work at the Grove.” He stammers, jutting his thumb over his shoulder. “I was just bringing her some pizza. I’m not gonna stay or anything.”

Lexi holds up the triangle takeout box and makes an X across her chest with the other hand, which is wrapped around a bottle of pop. “Cross my heart,” she says sheepishly.

I smile and roll my eyes. They’re so nervous, it’s actually kind of cute. “It’s nice to meet you, Hayden.”

He turns back to Lexi. “I should go. I’ll text you tomorrow?”

Lexi nods. “Thanks for dinner.”

An invisible force tugs at my heart as I stand in the doorway and watch Hayden leave. I can’t help but notice the way Lexi’s eyes follow him down the stairs. If she’s not already halfway in love with that boy, I’ll eat my hat. It’s that first crush puppy love that gives you the warm fuzzies and ends in becoming a teen mom.

Clearly, I’m projecting.

“I swear I didn’t know he was coming. We were just texting, and I happened to mention that I thought I might order a pizza. Then he just showed up with some.”

“I believe you. He seems like a nice boy.”

“Yeah. He is.” She gets a wistful look in her eyes.

Oh boy. She’s done for.

FOURTEEN

REGRET IS A HELL OF A DRUG

♫ Collide - Howie Day

CLIO

Darkness surrounds me as I perch in a worn-down recliner with cigarette burns on the fabric-covered arms. I bring the glass in my hand to my nose and sniff. Vodka.

Voices drift down the dimly lit hallway to my right—one angry while the other lets out agonizing wails. Their shadows grow ever closer until a faceless man comes into view, holding Lexi by the hair. He shoves her to the ground at my feet, and she gazes at me with pleading eyes. I try to reach for her, but my body is frozen. My hands don’t belong to me. They’re wrinkled, with yellowing nails and scars from a life of suffering, given and received.

A piercing crack draws me back to the scene playing out before me. The man’s belt whips against Lexi’s back. I try to speak, beg him to stop, but nothing comes out. Tears track down Lexi’s cheeks as she cries out for help to no avail.

No matter how hard I try to break the spell, I’m stuck. All I can do is watch as the person I love most in this world is torn to shreds before me.

A tear escapes past my lashes, charting a path down my cheek, and I scream internally, my piercing cries drowning out all else until…

“I’m here. Open those pretty eyes for me, princess.”

NOAH

“See you Monday,” Gwen says.

A rush of air sends a chill coursing through me as she steps out onto the sidewalk. I follow her, watching until she’s safely on the road, then I lock up behind us and turn the sign to closed.

It was past midnight when I finished up with my last client. We stay open late on Saturdays and take Sundays off—not for spiritual reasons; we just realized that Sundays were our slowest days. It works better this way. We get an extra day off on weekends without losing any income.

Still riding the high from the last client, I walk back to my station to finish cleaning and sanitizing the equipment, then I grab my sketch pad and pencils and settle in. There’s nothing like the feeling of watching a tattoo come to life, from the initial sketch to the finished piece.

I built this place from the ground up, pouring everything I had between these four walls. When I bought the building, it was nothing but crumbling brick. I used up all of my savings to make it what it is, and in eight years, I’ve more than tripled my investment.