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Meanwhile, I’ve done nothing but try to ruin hers.
She disappeared up the stairs to take a shower from the moment we stepped foot inside the house. She was so cold her teeth were chattering, her delicate body shaking like a leaf.
But me? I was numb.
Tragically and miraculously numb.
She’s probably in bed by now. I should do the same, but I doubt I’d get much sleep, anyway. And even if I did, I’d just have nightmares about the look on her face when the bridge collapsed.
The clock showed 5:00 a.m. by the time we managed to find Theo passed out with Lacey in her bedroom. Turns out I lost my phone while fighting for my life, and Gem’s phone was dead. Lacey said Theo was hammered and to take his car, that she’d drop him off tomorrow.
It’ll be morning soon, and knowing this day will be over in a few minutes brings me a strange amount of relief. I brace one leg against my chest, the other lying flat in the grass, and stare at the horizon for at least ten minutes before the patio door creaks open.
I guess she’s not in bed, after all.
I keep my focus on the sky, willing the sun to do its fucking job and mark the beginning of a new day. Hesitant footsteps approach me, and a small gasp slips from Gem’s lips when she sits on the wet grass by my side. I notice her shoulders are wrapped in a thick blanket, her curls still damp from the shower.
“I’m taking Lexie to the groomer tomorrow.” She tries to make conversation.
I nod in response.
I don’t fucking know how to talk to her anymore. A normal person would opt for “thank you for saving my life,” but it doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t feel like enough.
I was supposed to hate this fucking girl.
I was supposed to send her packing, and now?
Now I’m glad my mediocre father hired her for the summer.
That’s right, I’m glad.
What the fuck happened to me?
When I don’t answer, she picks up a dandelion poking out from the freshly mowed grass and offers it to me.
“Dandelion for your thoughts,” she says quietly.
I crack a smile and flip my head in her direction. Her big brown eyes are still a tad red and puffy from crying. Her mouth is pink, swollen from her nervous lip biting on the drive home. She looks up at me through a curtain of thick eyelashes, and I clench my fists to keep my impulses in check.
Fuck, the things I want to do to this girl…
Too bad I can never touch her again.
I see it now.
She’s too pure.
Too good.
Too innocent.
For fuck’s sake, she risked her life for me.When the bridge first caved, she could’ve left me there. Me, her boss’s asshole son who loves making her life miserable. She could’ve run. No one would’ve ever known. I’d just be another sad story in a small-town newspaper.
But she didn’t.
Shestayed, knowing damn well the bridge wasn’t going to last much longer. And she may act tough, but there is nothing but light in Diamond Mitchell’s heart. I would break her in a second if I got my hands on her again.
And she doesn’t deserve to be broken.
