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“No, I’m showing her that sometimes you have to walk away and put yourself first,” Layla snapped.
“That’s bullshit.” Jesse yelled so loud I was sure the Armstrongs heard him two houses over.
“I don’t want to leave,” Lucy cried. “I can fix this with Harris if you would just give me time.”
“The boy’s head isn’t on straight and neither is yours,” Layla told her daughter in a tone that was full of pain. “You can’t fix this when you don’t even know how you feel right now, baby.”
“I do know. I love him. That’s all that matters.”
Lana finally turned around and sat down on the edge of her sister’s bed. With a watery smile she pushed Lucy’s tangled hair back away from her face. “Lucy, Layla’s right. You need time to clear your head. So does Harris. Give yourself some space, honey. Go to Georgetown for a semester. Focus on school and let your heart heal a little.”
Lucy went still at her sister’s words just as everyone else in the room seemed to suck in a deep, pain-filled breath. For a moment Lucy looked like she was going to argue, but at the last second her face crumbled and she fell against Lana’s chest. “It hurts, Lana. It hurts so much I can’t breathe.”
Lana wrapped her arms around her, gently rocking her back and forth. “I know, baby. I know.”
Both Jesse and Drake seemed to lose all steam for the argument as they watched the two sisters. With a haunted look in his blue-gray eyes, Drake moved to stand beside them and rubbed both their backs as Lucy cried. Jesse lowered his head, tears already pouring down his face.
“You’re right, Layla,” he muttered. “She needs to go.”
Jace
At his stepmother’s urging, Harris went home with his parents.
I thought it was better for him to go with them rather than return to the place where he’d nearly died. Plus, I doubted he could get much rest with the way things were going with Jenna right then. Jenna was basically trapped in her apartment for the moment. Even though she was an adult, she lived off of the allowance her brothers put into her bank account every month since she didn’t make much off of her artwork. With the threat of having her livelihood cut off, she had no choice but to listen.
I felt bad for her but at the same time knew Jenna had only brought it on herself. She should have told her family about rehab. She should have broken up with Tessa before she’d even come back. Fuck, she shouldn’t have gotten involved with a drug addict in the first place. Her bad decisions had brought her to this point, no one else’s.
Since Lana had pulled Kin along with her, I went home alone that night. I was glad Gray wasn’t home when I got there, but at the same time I wished he was there so I didn’t have to think about all the things going through my head right then.
Trying to keep myself o
ut of my dark thoughts, I showered and crawled into bed. I hadn’t slept in anything but a plastic chair for four days and my body ached for some real rest, but my brain wouldn’t shut down. I lay there, staring at the ceiling for the longest time. I thought about calling my sister but didn’t want to disturb her with what was on my mind. I thought about texting Kin, but didn’t want to interrupt whatever she had been dragged off to deal with. From the look on Lana’s face earlier, it had been important.
Being front and center while Harris’s life had been tossed upside down made me take a harder look at my own life. My friend had had everything going for him. A successful club that he’d built up on his own. A girlfriend who loved him and would do anything for him. It was a life that anyone would be envious of and one that had turned to ash overnight. He’d nearly lost his life, had lost his girl, and he didn’t even want to talk about his club. Thankfully he had a full staff who could handle his absence effortlessly.
What did I have?
A girlfriend I loved more than life. A career that was showing some kickass potential of success. A sister and adopted mother who loved me.
It wasn’t a bad life, that was for sure, but I felt like it was missing something.
I was still trying to figure out what that something was when my phone rang. Without looking at the screen I put it to my ear. “Hello?”
“Hi,” Kin’s voice came out on a husky sigh but I still heard the quiver.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m outside. Can I come up?” she asked, but I was already jogging through the apartment.
“I’m on my way down, babe.” I punched the call button for the elevator but it was three floors up. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve been better,” she muttered. “I’m just tired, Jace.”
Finally, the elevator arrived and I stepped on. There were three other people already inside and two of them gasped when they saw me. I grimaced and looked down at myself. I was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and nothing else. Not even shoes. Shit. In my rush to get to Kin I hadn’t even thought about clothes.
Ignoring the other three people, I tightened my hold on the phone. “It’s getting late, baby. I thought you would’ve gone back to your dad’s.”
“I should have, but I couldn’t bring myself to go. If you don’t want me to come up, I can just take a cab back to Malibu.”
