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The blast of a horn made me jolt, the oncoming headlights so close spots swam before my eyes as I squinted to see.
The impact was sudden and, despite the horn and oncoming lights, unexpected. The groan of metal, the crunch of glass, and an odd feeling of weightlessness made everything else silent.
The abrupt violence ended with a hardslamand a full-body jolt in which my head cracked against something so hard the metallic taste of blood coated my tongue.
I lay there in stunned, eerie quiet, blinking against the water still in my eyes.
And even though he hated me. Even though I hated my feelings for him… it was Max who was my first thought.
As I lay there on the side of the road, broken and bleeding, possibly even dying, I yearned for him while he was back at the diner trying to wash me off his skin.
The dinner that threatened to make its reappearance before made good on its threat. I retched and heaved as dizziness spun me around. My arms flung out to grab something, anything to anchor myself so the world would stop spinning.
My stomach heaved again, this time with such great force it turned my world fuzzy, and I stopped grappling for an anchor and let unconsciousness sweep me away.
4
Max
The booth wasempty when I came out of the bathroom.
Wes’s absence did not one favor for my precarious mental state. Irritated, I shoved out the door fully, intending on hunting Wes down and telling him what I thought of his little disappearing act.
The hit came out of nowhere, slamming into my shoulder and body-checking me sideways. Even as I fumbled for footing, my heart rate spiked, and adrenaline poured through my veins.
Someone had a lot of fucking nerve coming at me like that. Most people knew better. Guess I was going to teach someone else the lesson tonight.
Using the momentum of the hit, I planted my feet into the sidewalk and swiveled around, tight fist drawn back.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Jamie yelled.
In the air, my fist twitched.
Jamie scoffed. “You gonna hit me, bro? Go on then,” he said, widening his stance and gesturing with both his hands, daring me.
Ryan stood close by, hands at his sides but body tense as though he were also ready to fight.
“What the hell is your problem?” I asked, dropping my arm. A quick glance around, and I added, “Where’s Wes?”
Jamie snorted. “Like you care.”
That brought my rage right back up. My hands balled into fists as I took a challenging step toward Jamie. “The fuck you just say?”
Ryan’s hand slapped the front of my shoulder, his fingers tightening into the leather. “Step back.”
I knocked his hand off me, practically snarling. “Don’t start something you can’t finish.”
Ryan made a rude sound. “Look in the mirror next time you say that.”
My eyes narrowed into slits. “Excuse me?”
“I texted you because Wes needed his friends, and what do you do? Drag some random diner girl into the bathroom for a quickie,” Jamie spat as he stepped up beside Ryan, crossing his thick arms over his chest.
My stomach clenched at how dirty the accusation sounded. It wasn’t like that.
But it was.
“I talked to Wes,” I said, the words sounding pathetic even to me. I wasn’t even sure why I was trying to explain myself. Why I cared what these two assholes thought. I didn’t care. So why even try and explain something they wouldn’t understand? ThatIdidn’t even understand.
