Page 36 of Fueled Fury

22

Lainey

I hear the metal door creak behind me, but I don’t turn around. I already know who it is.

“How’d you find me?”

Strong arms loop around my waist, his sturdy body presses against my back as I feel his warm breath float on my neck as he whispers, “Because I know you.”

“You shouldn’t be in here,” I respond, not knowing what else to say.

“Neither should you.” His arms tighten around me, enveloping me in comfort when it should make me anything but serene.

My head falls back to his chest as my eyes close. “Just go home, Austin.”

“I’m already there. I’m with you.”

“Nothing has changed between us.”

His arms suddenly release me. He won’t give up that easy but when he moves in front of me, I’m caught off guard as he bends forward, his arms hitching around my thighs as he tosses me onto his shoulder and begins to walk across the hangar to the exit.

Slapping his back, I scream for him to let me go but am only answered with a slap on my ass as he holds me securely in place.

Kicking my legs, I squirm and thrash as my fury explodes. “Put me down, Austin.”

The caveman obliges by gripping my hips, pulling me off his shoulders, and dropping me to the dirt-covered floor with a thud.

Jumping to my feet, I shove him back as he stands firmly in place. There’s no one in this world who can make me as outraged as the brute standing before me.

“I don’t want you here, or in Texas. The only thing worse than the pain when you leave is the anticipation of it—waiting for the moment I have to watch you walk away. Go back to Florida, move on with your life, and leave me the fuck alone.”

“I was there waiting on you. I went there for you.”

“Sure, Austin. That’s perfectly logical, as usual.” Shaking my head erratically, I spin on my heel and stomp away.

He follows, his tone frustrated as he explains, “It was the summer before your junior year of high school, my senior year. You and Eli were at the ranch, as usual, sitting by the pool. He wanted to go swimming and you were complaining because you wanted to go back to your house and swim in the lake. He was being a little bitch and refused even after you told him it was because the freshwater didn’t make your skin itchy. His selfish ass refused because he didn’t want to swim there since he couldn’t see the bottom in the murky water, even if it was better for you.”

My feet halt as I vaguely recall one of the many arguments that Eli and I had about how we wanted to try and cool off during the brutal Texas summer heat.

Austin moves in front of me as he continues, “You told Eli you’d applied at the perfect university in Florida that was surrounded by freshwater springs nearby so you could swim without the chlorine irritation on your skin and he could ‘see through the clear water so he’d know the gators were coming after his chicken ass.’ You talked him into applying, and I did too. I went there the following year and waited, eagerly anticipating a day that never came. Eli talked you into applying at Haine, and you picked him.”

“That’s why you went to Florida? I thought you left to get away from your parents.”

“That was a plus, but I would’ve tolerated them if it meant being near you. I’d planned to transfer to Haine last fall but after everything happened, I just stayed at FSU. I thought it was for the best for you, but it was the worst decision I’ve ever made.”

“Nothing happened between us until last summer. We were nothing more than friends before that. I was nothing more than your brother’s best friend. Why would you go out there for me?”

“Even if you never gave me the time of day, I just wanted to be near you. Then you let me have a taste, experience what it would be like to have you. I can’t go back to before us. There is no going back for me.”

Unsurprisingly, Austin has my head spinning as I gawk at him and say, “That makes no sense. You only came back because you were kicked out of school, so don’t pretend it was for me. Haine was your backup option.”

“I wasn’t kicked out. I withdrew knowing I’d lose a semester of credits but transferred to Haine anyway. For you.”

He left a school where he had a free ride on an academic scholarship and then lost credits to move to Sunland for me? So many thoughts race through my mind, but only one makes sense. “You really are an idiot.”

“So be the smart one and go after what you want.”

“I’m not ready.”

He walks a few steps back, sitting on one of the old, worn chairs that has seen better days when it was more than likely used for a lobby. Gently, he pulls me onto his lap, my legs falling into the seat next to us as he hugs me against him.

“I’ll wait. Anything I have to do. Leaving you isn’t an option. Use me, break me, love me—whatever you need. Because if I do have anything good inside me, it’s only meant to be yours.”

Words. Words are meaningless without actions. But I want him to mean them. Unhurriedly, I snake my arms around his waist, tucking my face against his chest where I listen to his heart beating. How can he bring me to the pit of heartache and pinnacle of solace with the same swiftness?