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He lowers his voice as we weave our way back through the tables of diners. “I told him I got let out early for good behavior. But for him, I’d consider going back in… and that’s if I get caught.”
“You can’t say things like that,” I splutter, jabbing him in the side as our table comes into view.
“Why?” Dax smiles easily at Mom, who grins back as we approach.
“Because… because… you can’t go back to jail, okay? You can’t get in trouble. I need you.” I stop and turn to him, not caring if my family’s watching. Not caring if the whole damn restaurant is watching. “I need you.”
His eyes glitter, and he strokes a strand of hair away from my eyes. “You’re strong, Sunbeam. You don’tneedme. But if you want me, then I’m yours.”
I nuzzle his palm. “I do. I want you. I want this. You and me. Always.” Then I reach up and plant a kiss on his lips, ignoring the stifled shriek of glee Mom makes over at the table as she says, “I knew it.”
After the Gareth incident, we have a really fun time. Dax relaxes immediately once we get back to the table, and Mom starts to ask him all sorts of questions about Jasmin, the business, and what the estate is like. I watch him, answering her questions with an easy smile, his eyes lighting up as they laugh together. She even asks about his tattoos, and he tells her the story of the first one he got, when his mom was with him. The same story he told me. Only he doesn’t elaborate much on her being gone now, and Mom doesn’t pry.
We head back to Mom’s house. We’ve got an hour before Dax and I need to leave for the airport. An hour to say a long goodbye and for me to pack my bag. But the second we pull up at Mom’s house and there’s a blue sedan parked along the curb; I wish we had gone straight to the airport instead.
“Rose!” Casey jumps out of her car and runs toward me as I climb out onto the sidewalk. She stops suddenly a few meters away as she looks at my face.
Every emotion I’ve felt since finding out she is the reason the man who knocked Brett down was speeding in the first place must be rushing out of my face, my eyes, my body language, my pores. Spilling out like the blood from a slit throat over an abattoir floor.
Casey takes another step toward me and then abruptly backs up again. Her face crumples as her eyes meet mine.
“I told you I never wanted to see yourlyingface again!” I scream, adrenaline flooding my veins as my chest heaves with shuddering breaths.
What is she even doing here? How did she know I was coming?
Mom, Brett, and Harley are on the sidewalk behind me, and Mom says, “You should go. It’s too soon,” in a soft voice, asympatheticvoice.
I round on her as Dax appears next to me.
“Why are you being nice to her? She’s a liar.” I begin to shake, pointing at Casey as I glare at my family, who stare back at me like I’m the one in the wrong. “She let me think Brett’s accident was my fault. When really, it was hers.”
“Rose.” Mom looks at me with the same sad eyes I’ve grown so used to over the last three years. The sad eyes that I was beginning to hope were gone since arriving yesterday. But now Casey has ruined that too.
Sourness creeps over my tongue like a disease. They told her I was coming to visit. They must have. Even they want to forget what she did. They think we can all what? Move on and play happy fucking families?
“You lied.” I turn back to Casey, overwhelming grief clawing at my chest and making it hard to get in a full breath as I look back into the tear-filled eyes of my ex-best friend.
From sandbox to casket.
“She lied.” I whip my head between her and my family, who are silent witnesses to my breakdown. “I hate you!” I spit toward Casey, who’s now sobbing.
“I’ll call you later. Go on home,” Mom says to Casey gently.
“Why are you defending her? Why are you calling her?” My vision blurs, and I clutch at my chest as my head spins. Their voices swirl around me, taunting me like a haunted merry-go-round.
“Call you later.”
“She’s still hurting.”
“She’s not ready yet. She needs time.”
“She just needs more time.”
“Give her more time.”
Time.
Dax wraps me in his arms seconds before I hit the floor, holding me against his chest. His lips find my forehead as he cradles the back on my head in one large hand.
