AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Slater-fucking-Sully.
Before I have an instant to react, he rears back his fist, before letting it smash straight into my face, sending me reeling toward the ground. The taste of copper fills my mouth, my sad little towel flies off, and I can feel the frigid snow mold to every crevice of my body.
“Slater, no,” Sloane cries as he lurches forward, wanting to hit me while I’m already down. My Fireball grabs his arm and turns him toward her. “No.”
“Fine, but go get in the truck,” Slater mutters softly, pulling her into his arms for a gentle hug.
“Yeah, thanks for coming to get us.” She nods, pulling back and glancing at me with heartbreaking sadness in her eyes. My chest constricts as I watch her and Winnie walk away from me, stealing my voice, my breath, my everything. Winnie glances back, and for a moment hope surges through me, but, instead, her baleful gaze pierces my soul. I don’t deserve either of my girls.
He glares down at me with his silver-grey eyes, so similar to Sloane’s. “What the fuck is wrong with you, man? Sammy was cheating on you with half the Olympic Village; I just wanted to make sure you knew.”
“Couldn’t have sent a text message or something?” I mumble, still unable to move from the glacial ground as too many emotions swirl through my body.
“Would you have believed it?” he asks, and I immediately know that he’s right. His text would have been ignored and I would probably still be with the cheating bitch.
“Why the night before the final round? If you were trying so hard to help me?” I fire back.
He runs his hand through his hair before glancing back down at me. “Well, that was just to fuck with you. But your focus is your problem. Grow the fuck up, man. And if I see you around my sister again—I’ll end you.”
He pulls out a phone and snaps a picture of me lying naked in the snow—and I can’t even find it in myself to care. Sammy never mattered to me the way Sloane does and I’ve ruined fucking everything.
“If anything about my sister’s time here ends up in the tabloids then this image will be plastered everywhere. Poor sad Cole and his tiny little blue dick. You look pathetic. Get your shit together,” he says, leaving me to freeze as he climbs into the truck and reverses down the path he created.
The tail lights are bright red, and my eyes remain locked on them until they fully disappear, taking my heart with them.
I need to fix this.
This is not how it ends. And with a deep breath, my muscles screaming, I pushed myself up from the ground.
“Dude, you look like shit,” Jeremy says with a smirk as I enter the SAR headquarters. He’s lounging on one of the oversized couches, wearing black sweatpants and a hoody with various supplies spread around him. My jaw tightens and irritation prickles under my skin as I clench and unclench my fists.
“What are you doing here? Tomorrow is Christmas Eve—isn’t everyone off?” I ask, remembering Drew telling us that there was no practice or meetings until after the holidays—that’s why I’m here, to drop my resignation on his desk without anyone seeing.
“Yeah, I was just checking over the SAR bags and doing a little inventory to help out. Get ready for the new year and whatnot. So, what’s going on? You look like you lost your dog.” His brows furrow with concern as the words leave his lips and he runs a hand through his shaggy blond hair, looking around.
“More like someonekidnappedher,” I grumble, regretting my honesty.
“Wait… what?” His confusion is almost comical, but I’m too lost to feel any kind of amusement.
“Yeah, that cabin you guys sent me up to wasn’t empty. It was inhabited by a devil who stole my heart and then she abducted my dog,” I grumble, settling in beside him. His blue tick coon hound meanders over and drops his head on my lap and the heavy weight of it is as comforting as it is devastating. I miss my damn dog.I miss my damn woman.
“Shit… That doesn’t sound like the whole story—wanna tell me about it?” He asks, and his pretty boy features are filled with honest concern. I don’t usually share with people, but something about Jeremy has me wanting to open up. He’s looking at me with kind eyes, like he actually gives a shit and who knows, maybe I just need to talk to someone.
Everything comes spilling out, Slater and Sammy, my getting Winnie and having no clue what to do, and finally my time in the cabin. By the time I’ve finished telling my tale of woe, I’m completely depleted, and exhaustion makes my body feel heavy as I slump back in my seat, waiting for him to react.
Jeremy is quiet for a long time, still checking the SAR bags as he digests the information and I shift restlessly in my seat. He must think I’m a total asshole I realize, tension filling my muscles as I prepare to stand and make my way out of the building—completely unsure of where to go or what to do.
“It sounds like you’ve been through a lot this past year,” he begins, shocking me with empathy when I expected damnation. “But being real with you, I’m not sure any of that matters because you can’t change a single thing about it.”
“I guess…” I begin, but he immediately cuts me off.
“Like yeah, you did some really asshole things—but is that who you want to be? Or do you want to make it right? Life is short. Who do you want in it?” He asks, and suddenly my path becomes clear. I can sit here wallowing in self-pity or I can fight for my girl, my dog, and my job in this strange little town that has somehow grown on me.
“I want Sloane, shitty brother and all,” I declare, “And I want to keep working here so I can become a real member of the team.”
“Then don’t turn in that resignation letter. I’ll come up with something to tell Drew if he even realizes your gone—but we’re off until after New Year’s barring an emergency, so go figure out your shit,” he says, a satisfied smirk on his face.
Giving Blue a last pat on his head, I hoist myself from my seat and clap my hand on Jeremy’s shoulder, giving him a head nod.
