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When my lips twitch, I get irritated. “Don’t make me smile right now. I’m trying to be angry and strong.”
He cocks an eyebrow. “I don’t give a damn what you’re trying to be, but I know I’m stubborn. Hope you have a guest room. I’m not sleeping on the floor, and after what you’ve put us through, I’ll take your bed if there’s not another one available. I won’t even feel guilty about it.”
He smirks as he walks down my hallway, digging out a wedgie as he goes, and I blow out a long breath while dropping my head back to stare at the ceiling. Going back to Hayden is not an option. I hate this cabin-in-the-woods setup, but it’s best to stay detached from people. Hunter and my brother can’t follow me around to take care of me, damn it.
Why won’t people let me be selfless? I’m trying to do the right thing for them.
Chapter 49
MIKA
After a few minutes of just standing beside the couch like a motionless idiot, I walk outside, needing fresh air. Hugging myself, I step onto the porch, staring up at the full moon.
As my eyes drop down, I glance over at a truck… What the hell?
Confusion hits first, then my stomach tilts. Why did they drive Chase’s truck?
As the question marks start to form, I feel someone step in behind me, and my entire body tenses all over. His scent washes over me, and everything on me twists and grows tight, making it hard to breathe or move.
“I bet the moon would look better from the roof. Too bad you picked a house with a deep-slope roof instead of a flat surface. Makes it a little more dangerous to hang out up there.” His voice is calm, as though this is a casual day.
There’s just a tiny chill in the air, but my entire body feels like I’m sitting in a tub of ice. I actually expect to blow out a puff of fog when I finally release the breath I’ve been holding.
No fog. Just surprise gets blown out.
“Not talking to me?” he muses, sounding just as confident and cool as he always does, while I try not to let my teeth chatter.
My eyes are wide and unblinking as I stare at absolutely nothing, finding myself picturing him in my mind. I bet he’s smirking.
“Not a problem,” he goes on. “I came here to talk to you, anyway. Glad you’re more in a listening mood.”
My breath gets lost once again when he steps in front of me, but his face is just a shadow with the moonlight at his back, and he looks like a silhouette of bad decisions and trapped pain.
“Once upon a time, some skinny girl showed up in my town, and my life finally had something good in it,” he says, a smile in his voice.
“That was ages ago,” I say hoarsely, wincing at how pathetic my voice is. “That girl is gone.”
I hug myself when I feel unwanted tingles running up and down my body, every nerve-ending being ignited from his close proximity.
“That girl is different, but not gone,” he says on a sigh.
He moves toward me, and I stumble backwards in my haste to keep him from touching me. He stops, freezing in place, and I feel him studying me.
Damn it. I’m out here in just a t-shirt and panties.
“Remember that first summer that I was eleven and had bruises all over me, along with a few scrapes and cuts?” he asks randomly.
I swallow hard at the painful memory.
“Your father had gotten drunk and you stepped in between him and your mother when things got physical,” I say quietly.
He nods. “I limped all the way to your house, and you hugged me. It was your first reaction. You didn’t ask questions. You didn’t press me to spill everything. You didn’t do anything but soothe me with your presence. Then… Then you got angry when you learned what happened.”
“Once upon a time, I didn’t think it was possible for a parent to be so cruel to a child. I thought Clyde had a demon in him,” I mumble, then sigh. “What does this have to do with anything?”
“You demanded Milton go do something, and he did. He sent the cops over there like any normal citizen would. Cops were on my mother’s list of freebies, so as long as she didn’t press the issue, they let it go. Despite all her drug use and alcohol abuse, she was beautiful and had power over any man who walked in. Nothing got done about it,” he goes on.
My heart aches in my chest.
