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trista
All I wanted was to be alone, and that was the last thing that these people intended to allow. Memphis brought me back to her room and locked us in here. She pushed me down to sit on the edge of her bed, but she continued to pace around uncomfortably. I had no idea how long that went on before there was a knock on the door.
“No, Jersey Boy. Leave her alone for the night,” Memphis called through the door.
“It’s me, Angel.”
She moved to the door so quickly that she was a tiny, little pale blur flying across the room. I started sobbing all over again when I heard Jersey’s car start all the way from the fucking garage because the damn thing was so loud.
“You let him leave?” Memphis screeched. “Why? He shouldn’t be alone right now either, Utah.”
“I would’ve had to knock his ass out cold to keep him from doing something he wanted to do, Memphis.”
“Then why didn’t you?” She hissed. She went running around him like she somehow believed she’d catch Jersey and talk him out of leaving. When Utah knelt in front of where I was sitting, I was suddenly very aware that I was just wrapped in the throw blanket that sat on the bench at the foot of Jersey’s bed. I didn’t even remember picking it up. I very distinctly remembered just falling asleep wearing nothing because neither of us had bothered with clothes for most of yesterday or through the night.
“Sorry,” I said to him and tried to wrap the blanket a little tighter around me after realizing that that very much meant he and Memphis had a full look at both of us during what just happened in that room. He put his hand under my chin and pushed up until I was looking straight up at the ceiling.
“Can you breathe alright?” He asked. “Swallow?”
“It hurts,” I admitted. It still kind of felt like a weight was just sitting on the front of my neck every time I tried to do either of those things. Utah sighed when Memphis stomped her frustrated little feet back into the room with us.
“He said he wouldn’t come back here tonight,” Utah told us both. “That way you could sleep and feel safe about it.”
“I’m not going back in that room.”
“I figured as much,” he said and stood up. He pulled his shirt over his head and laid it across my knees. “Come on, ladies. Sleepover in the living room.”
Utah herded Memphis out of her own room so I could at least put his shirt on, but she was still standing right outside the door when I opened it again.
“What happened?” She asked. “Were you talking about something? Fighting? Something else that I don’t really want to think about?”
“Sleeping. I was sleeping, Memphis.”
I went to the living room and dropped down onto the opposite end of the sectional from where Utah had setup camp. I rolled so my back was to the rest of the room and squished my face into the cushions to try to muffle my own sobbing since everyone was determined to sit here with me in my little box of emotional turmoil.
“Will you follow him?” Memphis asked. God fucking knew she wasn’t talking to me so I didn’t bother to move.
“He thinks way too highly of himself to hurt himself, Angel,” Utah said quietly.
“Please, Utah?”
I felt the couch move while he stood up again before she’d ever even said his name.
“When he realizes I’m tailing him,” Utah said. “I’m throwing you under the crazy bus hardcore.”
I imagined she stepped all the way into him to hug him because I could hear him having to force his lungs to work and I could hear her muffled sniffles.
“I’m going out to Kyle’s before I leave,” Utah said. “I’ll have him come in to check on you both after a bit.”
“I’ll send Jersey’s location to your truck,” Memphis said.
The couch moved again when Memphis sat right next to me on the edge of the cushion where I’d planted myself. I rolled part of the way toward her when she put her hand on my arm. She was the only female that I’d ever considered my friend, but we hadn’t really become the kind of girlfriends who touched each other either.
Or maybe we had?
I was obviously the absolute fucking worst at navigating people.
“I know I’m probably supposed to tell you not to put up with that kind of behavior,” Memphis said quietly. “Fuck that guy and you’re better than this and don’t let men mistreat you because we’re strong women and all that.”
