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“You think you’re better than me now?”

I shook my head because I’d heard him say the same thing to my mom when she walked out the door.

“No.” I paused.

“I think I’m just done letting you make me feel like it’s okay to treat people this way.”

A flash of something dark crossed across his face.

“You’ll come around.”

I looked at him. “No, I won’t.”

Julia’s eyes widened slightly.

Bryant pushed himself up, stumbling slightly as he moved closer.

“You’re making a mistake.”

“Maybe.” I nodded. “But it’s my mistake to make.” I turned toward the door.

“Lane.”

His voice carried a warning. I looked back.

“What?”

He stared at me for a long moment. Then he smiled. That smile. The one that used to make my stomach drop because it always came before punishment.

“You really think you can just walk away from me?”

My heart raced, but I didn’t let him see it.

“I already have.” I opened the door. The cool evening breeze drifted across my face, and for a second, I felt lighter, like I could finally breathe.

“Don’t walk away from me, boy.”

I kept moving until I reached the porch steps.

“I don’t want you calling me or texting me. And keep her name out of your damn mouth,” I said, leaving no room for misunderstanding.

He was standing in the doorway, and for a split second, something almost human crossed his face. Like maybe he’d screwed up, but then it disappeared.

“I always knew you’d betray me the same way she did.”

My fists ached with how tightly I clenched them, and I turned to walk away. I’d said what I needed to, and it was time to leave. Nothing good would come from staying.

“Don’t!”

Julia’s voice cracked in warning.

Then everything happened too fast. A shift in the doorway. The scrape of something heavy against the floor.

A flash of movement.

The baseball bat came into view a heartbeat too late.

A high-pitched ringing swallowed everything except the sickening sound of impact. Pain exploded across the side of my head. The world tilted or maybe I did.