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If the situation were reversed, he wouldn’t have pulled Rex off me.
I spit blood on the living-room floor, then wiped my face with my arm. “Leave Riven and Betsy the fuck alone.” I jerked out of my dad’s hold as Rex slowly stood.
“Does she know?” Dad asked, making my heart drop.
“No. Riven would never do that.” I spit more blood that filled my mouth. “Please…just leave them alone. I’ll take responsibility for shit if it goes down. Riven won’t say anything, but even if he tried, I wouldn’t let him. He just wants a normal life. Can’t you let him have a normal life?” I was begging and hated myself for it, but I would do it if it helped Riven.
“Jesus, you’re an idiot,” Rex said. “You really are fucking him, aren’t you? Do you think he really wants you? Do you think you’re going to fulfill some childhood dream and ride off into the sunset with him? Get a clue, Parrish. You’re a piece of ass to him. He’s fucking you to piss me off. I know him better than you, and I know how he works. You hate me, but he’s just like me. He just hides it better.”
No, he wasn’t. I didn’t believe that for a second, though I couldn’t pretend Rex’s words hadn’t been hard to hear. What if he was right? What if Riven was using me and—No! I couldn’t let them get into my head that way.
“Get out of my house,” Dad told me. “We’ll leave him be for now, but you better make sure he watches his fucking mouth, and now you owe me. You want me to leave Riven alone, then when I need you, you gotta do something for me.”
My gut churned, knowing whatever it was Dad would want me to do wouldn’t be good. It would likely get me in a whole lot of trouble. Still, I nodded because I would do it if it kept Riven safe. He’d spent time in prison for my piece-of-shit brother. I could do this for him.
The moment I stepped into the driveway, I vomited, emptying my stomach onto the gravel. Everything hurt. My whole body ached, pain piercing me with every step, every movement I made.
It was hard to drive home, but I managed it. The second I got there, I grabbed frozen vegetables from the freezer, a bottle of water, downed a few painkillers, then stripped and fell into bed.
One of my last thoughts was how to avoid Riven until I healed because if he saw me like this, he would lose his mind. The other was that I would do anything to keep him safe.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Riven
When I got to work the next day, Wayne told me Parrish had called in sick, which made me frown. Had he gotten something while we were camping this weekend? Even if that was the case, it didn’t seem like him not to tell me. I was the kind of guy who would do that shit, not Parrish. He was always thinking of others and wouldn’t want me to wonder what was going on.
I nodded as if it didn’t matter, then climbed into the cab of the work truck. Smitty sat up front with Wayne, who I guessed took lead when Parrish wasn’t there. I immediately pulled out my phone and sent him a text.
You good?
It was still early, so since he was sick, he was likely sleeping. Still, I couldn’t stop myself from checking my cell every few minutes for a text from him, my skin getting tighter each time there wasn’t one.
His response came right at the end of lunch. I’d eaten with Smitty and Wayne rather than keeping myself separated from people like I usually did, which I guessed was some kind of progress. They were talking about a party they’d gone to over the weekend, while I lost myself in my phone.
Stomach bug or something. Might be out for a few days. I’ll hit you up when I’m feeling better.
For the second time today, I frowned because of something Parrish did. This didn’t sound like him at all. It was almost like he was trying not to talk to me, like he didn’t want me to check on him in a way that I knew he would check on me if the situation were reversed.
I’ll come see how you’re doing after work. Grandma would kick my ass if I didn’t.
Better not. I don’t want you to get sick too. I’ll probably be asleep anyway. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?
No, it wasn’t okay at all.
I didn’t reply, and it was hard as hell to finish out my workday. All I wanted was to go to Parrish and see what the hell was going on.
Harold was at the office when we got back, and he signed off on my stupid fucking form, and then I headed straight to Parrish’s house. I was filthy and sweaty, but I didn’t care about that.
