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“Charlie, what’s wrong?” I rush out.
Trey’s eyebrows raise in alarm at my tone, and I put my phone on speaker.
“I…please don’t be mad at me.” Her voice breaks, and my heart breaks right along with it.
“Hey, Sunshine,” I say gently. I feel frantic inside, but I push it down. Her voice tells me she’s about to fall apart, and I need to stay calm. “I’m not going to be mad. I promise. Just tell me where you are. Trey and I will come get you.”
“He…” she says, her voice barely more than a whisper. “He gave me water. I thought it was sealed. But he drugged me, and…” A wrecked sob echoes through the phone. “I’m so stupid, Link, and I’m so sorry.”
Rage explodes behind my eyes.
Trey is already standing, grabbing his wallet and keys, and I stand with him as we take off through the house to the garage.
“Who? Matt? I’ll kill that fucker. Is he still there?” I grate out, my teeth grinding together hard enough to crack.
He’s beyond dead. I’m going to murder him.
“No,” she says. “He left. And I left, too. I’m at Morris Park down the road.”
“We’re on our way, baby,” I say, trying to keep my voice strong and steady. All I want to do is scream.
Trey cranks up the car, tires squealing as we shoot out of the garage and speed down the quiet neighborhood street.
“Hurry, Link. I’m so tired,” she murmurs, and then she goes quiet.
“Charlie?” Fear grips my chest. She doesn’t answer and the phone beeps with a lost connection. “Fuck!” I yell, my fist hitting the dashboard.
Trey squeezes my shoulder, grounding me. “We’ll get her, Link,” he says. “And we’ll make that fucker pay.”
I nod grimly, and pinch the bridge of my nose. Guilt burns my stomach.If I had just talked to her sooner.
The park isn’t far, and I’m already opening my door, my feet stumbling onto the sidewalk before Trey even stops the car. She’s lying on the grass, seemingly asleep. Her face is pale, and her long hair is tangled. Dark mascara is smudged under her eyes and trails down one cheek, and there’s dried blood clinging to a cut on her lip.
The sight of the blood on her face sends my brain into absolute caveman mode. All I can think is that he hurt her, but I try to control my rage.
She needs me first.
I drop to my knees at Charlie’s side and sweep her hair away from her forehead.
“Sunshine, can you hear me?” I ask softly.
She stirs under my touch, pressing her cool cheek into my palm. “Link?” she rasps. “I’m so thirsty.”
Trey’s door slams and then I hear his footsteps as he runs up to us, dropping down on her other side. I look up at him. “Do you have water in your car?”
He nods.
“Why don’t we get you to the car,” I gently tell Charlie. “Trey says he has water there.”
Her eyes dart over to Trey as if realizing he’s there for the first time, and she instinctively reaches for his hand, gripping it tightly.
“Trey,” she sighs, relief evident in her voice.
“I’m here, Bennett,” he says softly, squeezing her back. As she gazes at him, her green eyes brighten and glisten with tears, and they fall, streaking her pale cheeks. Trey uses his thumbs to wipe away the wetness, his amber eyes full of so much pain and love, and I realize that while I spent all this time spent agonizing over my own shit, Trey has fallen so head over heels in love with this girl that it hurts my heart to watch them together.
Tendrils of jealousy thread their way through my body as I watch their intimate exchange, and I sit back from Charlie, fighting the sense of rejection and loss threatening to swallow me whole.
She doesn’t need me. They don’t need me. The selfish realization is a slap in the face.
