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“What?” I recoil. “No, I can’t. I have to make sure she’s okay.”
“I will let you know as soon as I hear something, but you have to go. Parker cannot see you here.”
Every part of me wants to stay. Tell Ivy to go fuck herself and refuse to leave. However, I know she’s right. If he gets here and sees me, he’ll start asking questions. McKenna will be forced to make a decision before she’s ready and that may not go in my favor. So, as much as it kills me, I swallow down the lump in my throat and agree to leave.
MCKENNA
I wake to the beeping of a heart monitor. As I try to open my eyes, a shooting pain radiates throughout my head. I groan and my hand goes to my hair, only to find it disgustingly matted down with what must be dried blood. Shit, the bar, the fight, Colton. The memory of what happened runs through my mind like a movie reel.
“Mac?” A familiar voice catches my attention. “Are you alright?”
“Hurts.” It’s not everything I want to say, but it’s enough.
The light in the room flicks off and I’m finally able to open my eyes. Ivy is standing at my bedside, but Colton is nowhere to be found. I blink as I look around, taking in my surroundings. When I look back up at my best friend, it’s like she can read my thoughts.
“I sent him home. I had to call Parker and I didn’t think you’d want him to find Colton here with you.”
A huge part of me wishes she didn’t do that, but deep down, I know she’s right. Still, I need to talk to him – let him know I’m alright. I look over and find my phone on the table beside me. When I go to reach for it though, Ivy stops me.
“You can’t keep doing this, Mac. Sneaking around with Colton and living with Parker.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Uh, do you not remember whose idea this was in the first place?”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “Yeah, I know, but that was when I thought you were only doing it to help make a decision. It’s been almost two months and you’re yet to do that.” I go to cut her off but she raises one finger. “If you want to be with Colton, by all means, be with him. But if you still plan on marrying Parker, you need to stop all this. It’s time to decide. You can’t have them both.”
21
MCKENNA
For the past few days, Ivy’s words have played on repeat throughout my mind. I know she’s right. I’d be an idiot not to acknowledge that. It shouldn’t have taken a blow to the head and three staples in order for me to see it. I’ve been playing a dangerous game of relationship roulette. The fight Colton got into the other night showed me a side of him I haven’t seen in years. His brawling tendencies aren’t new to me. He was known to get in quite a few fights during high school and the beginning of college. There just haven’t been many I’ve seen first-hand – and I’ve never been hurt in the process.
None of what happened was intentional. I know Colton well enough to know how badly he feels about it. And even if I didn’t, the 15 voicemails, 27 text messages, and box of chocolate covered strawberries sent to my house were enough to tell me. A huge part of me would love to go to him – tell him everything is going to be okay and hold him close to assure him of it – but I can’t. I have way too much to think about.
I throw myself backward on Tatum and Maverick’s couch, groaning to myself as I try to figure out what the hell I’m going to do. The only reason I came here is because I know Colton and Maverick are both at work. Usually I’d go to Ivy’s, but lately she’s been looking at me like the choice should be obvious. She likes Parker, don’t get me wrong, but she firmly believes that if I was meant to be with him, that Colton wouldn’t have ever been an option in my mind. She might be right, but having feelings for someone else doesn’t mean my feelings for Parker don’t exist.
Taking one of the throw pillows, I put it over my face and scream. I’ve never been pulled in so many different directions before. It’s absolutely infuriating. Maybe I’d be better off choosing no one. I could be single, become a nun. Yeah, right. As if that would ever happen.
“You’re adorable when you’re frustrated.” Tatum quips.
I pull the pillow from my face and throw it at her, hitting my target. “Tell me what to do.”
“Why? So that you can blame me forever if I choose wrong? Nope. No thank you. Not going to happen.”
My bottom lip juts out in a pout. “Some friend you are.”
She shrugs. “Sorry babe. I tried telling you what to do when this whole mess started. You didn’t listen to me.”
It’s not like she’s wrong – she isn’t. However, there’s not a single part of me that regrets getting involved with Colton this summer. He’s wild, and spontaneous, and makes me feel alive in a way I haven’t felt in years. It’s exhilarating as hell. But Parker… Parker is my safe space. He’s the one that I know will always be there to listen, or even just to hold me when I don’t really want to talk. My head says to choose Parker, but my heart isn’t hearing it. It’s too busy beating for Colton.
“That’s it. I’m joining the monastery.”
Tatum snorts. “They wouldn’t take you.”
“Why the fuck not?!”
She looks at me knowingly. “Well, for one, you have the mouth of a sailor.” I chuckle softly and flip her off. “Besides, with the way you and Colton have been going at it lately, you wouldn’t last a week.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
