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Shuffling my feet, needing movement to warm me up, I reply, “The day we met.”
“Fuck me.” He drops into a chair near his hip. “You’ve made me a fucking cradle robber, Bunny. Fourteen fucking years.” Yeah, I most definitely hate myself an extra heap right now.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t turn back time,” he snaps; I flinch.
I don’t know how long ticks by before I say, “I’m going to call a ride.” My foolish heart hopes he stops me.
“That’s the best fucking idea you’ve had since we met.” That shatters me.
Biting my lip, I quietly rush outside and walk a few houses away so no one sees me. Pulling out my phone, my first instinct is to call Valentine or Summer. But they’ll have a million questions I don’t want to answer.
Instead, I call Roman. He picks up on the second ring. “What’s up?”
“Are you with Valentine?” It’s a stupid question because he likely is.
“No. She’s in the kitchen with your sisters. What’s wrong?” I hate that he can read me so easily. Roman’s astute, though.
“I need a favor, a big one, bigger than I have any right to ask.” I’m babbling.
“Okay…”
“I need you to come pick me up.” I rattle off the address and hear him tell my sisters he has to run out for a bit.
“Care to tell me what’s going on?” My head shakes as I lean against a fence and slide down to my butt in the lush grass.
“Not right now. And, Roman, I need you not to tell my sisters about this yet. Please.” I know he’s not going to like this.
“I don’t hide things from Val, Bunny; you know that.”
“I know. I do. But can I just have a day or two to figure this out?” My chest feels like it’s cracking wide open.
“Only if you tell me what happened.”
“When you get here.” He agrees and hangs up. I press the heels of my hands into my eyes for a moment, then drag my knees up to my chest and watch the road for Roman’s Land Rover.
Spotting Caspian standing on the sidewalk in front of his sister’s, his eyes focused on me, fury etching every line of his face, I hide my head again. I’d rather be buried in the sand than talk to anyone right now.
“Hey.” Startled, I look up to see Roman kneeling in front of me. “What the fuck happened, Bunny?” His eyes are glued to where Caspian stands, watching us.
My chin wobbles, and my throat tightens. “I ruin everything, Rome.”
His eyes soften as he shakes his head and picks me up, depositing me in the passenger seat before having a stare-off with Caspian and getting behind the wheel.
I lay it all out for him, leaving out the assaults I’ve been dealing with from Chester, and hold my breath, waiting for him to respond.
Scrubbing a hand across his jaw as he parks in front of the cottage house Summer and I live in, he finally speaks. “You’re not wholly at blame here, Bunny. You look young, so fucking young, and if he never asked, that’s on him. But, fuck, you may be eighteen in years, but your life experience is much older than that. You’re mature because of the shit you’ve gone through.”
“Thanks, Roman.”But I’m still to blame.Though, it’s nice to know he doesn’t hate me.
“Look, if he doesn’t get his head out of his ass and see things from your perspective, hear you out at the very least, then he doesn’t deserve you.” I pretend to agree, not really believing his words. With a promise to talk to Valentine in the next couple of days, I head inside and lock myself in my room for the night. Eventually, the tears just take me away. I can’t hold them back anymore.
CHAPTER8
Caspian
Two fucking weeks.
