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“Liam will handle it if he has to.”
“Can’t believe he went to fucking Devil’s.”
“What? Since Liam bought it, the strippers have gotten way better. It’s kind of like family, right? Liam’s Cree’s grandfather, too, you know.”
Gage muttered a curse.
“I’m going to bed. He’s going through something, apparently,” Levi said, then yawned.
“What do you think Trinity is going to do if she finds this shit out? If he calls her drunk with ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’ playing in the background and whatever female he’s with talking, it’s gonna be ugly.”
I stepped back, then turned and walked quietly away. I felt as if I’d been punched in the gut. When I reached the steps leading upstairs, I walked up them and back to the room I’d been given here. Tears burned my eyes. Not just because Huck had chosen to go to a strip club and get drunk, but also because he’d felt he needed to. This was what I’d known would happen.
My reaction to seeing Roy had probably been the turning point for him. He had acted different since that night. As if his head was somewhere else. Could I blame him? Even though he’d been sweet and held me, the more time he had to think about it, he had to have questioned a future with me. I hadn’t told him what Roy had done to me as a teenager. He didn’t know the abuse I’d suffered from Tabitha and Roy. I didn’t think telling him about it would help. He would just see how completely damaged I was.
Closing the bedroom door behind me, I wiped the tears from my face and looked around the room. Perhaps it was time I left. He was getting drunk because of me. The weight of dealing with this and us was getting to him. I didn’t know where to go or how to go anywhere. There was one person I thought I could trust, but I might be wrong there too. It was my only option.
I took the time to pack up the things that were actually mine, then climbed in bed in hopes that I could get some sleep. I would call Maddy first thing in the morning. Either she would understand and help me or she’d tell Blaise, who would tell Huck. But if Huck was ready to end things, then perhaps he’d be relieved I was leaving.
Every hour that passed, I silently cried and stared at the ceiling. I had heard Gage and Levi go to their rooms and close their doors hours ago. I kept my phone beside me, waiting on something from Huck. I hadn’t known my heart could hurt like this. But then I had never been in love. I should have known once he saw me at my worst, he’d change his mind. How could someone like me be a good mother? It was clear he wanted kids.
Tabitha was dead. That house was gone. But the horror that had marked me there didn’t leave. The things that had happened in those walls had left its imprint on my soul. It was cracked.
When the sunlight began to fill the room, I stood up and began to get ready. My body working on autopilot. Poor Huck. He’d had no idea when he started this with me how messed up I was. He didn’t want to face me with it. Tell me the truth about his feelings. I was naive to believe that sex meant more. I’d even started to think we had a bond that was stronger than my demons. My heart had been the liar, or maybe that was just me.
Once I was dressed and my bag was zipped up, I called the only person who might possibly help me.
I made the cinnamon rolls with extra icing, the way Gage liked them, and was sure to make extra biscuits with sausage gravy for Levi. Huck had never said that anything I made was his favorite, and I wasn’t sure if he had come home last night or not. But just in case, I made his usual choices. Gage walked into the kitchen as I was washing up the dirty pots and pans.
“My favorite way to wake up,” Gage said, but I didn’t turn to look at him. I was afraid I’d cry.
“Extra icing on the cinnamon rolls,” I replied as lightly as I could.
He groaned.
“Huck still asleep?” Gage asked, but I could hear the note of uncertainty in his voice. He was feeling me out. Trying to see what I knew. If Huck had contacted me.
“We both know Huck didn’t come back last night,” I replied.
The chime went off and I closed my eyes in relief. Maddy was here.
I could hear Gage’s chair legs as he pushed the chair back and stood up. He was checking the cameras to see who had just driven through the gate. I walked into the living room and picked up my bag. Gage was standing in the doorway, frowning at me when I turned around.
“You leaving us?” he asked, looking at my duffel bag. “That why Maddy is pulling up outside? Did Huck tell you to go?” His tone took on a hard edge. Like he was angry.
“He didn’t have to,” I replied. “And he shouldn’t have to.”
Gage took a step into the room. “What the fuck does that mean?”
I would not cry. I would not cry.
“It means that I heard you and Levi last night. I know about Huck and where he was.” I shrugged. “He’s had enough. You saw me the other night. I’m messed up, and that won’t ever go away. The things …” I stopped. There was no point in telling Gage this. “I’ve just got a lot of twisted shit in my head. Huck saw it, and he doesn’t want to hurt me.”
Gage ran a hand over his head. “Trinity, I swear to you, that is not what last night was. Something else is going on with him. It’s not you.”
The front doorbell rang, and I wanted to hug Gage. This was goodbye. I wished Levi were down here too. But it was time to go. Prolonging it would make it worse.
“Goodbye, Gage,” I said with a teary smile, then walked to the front door.
