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“You do.” He aims, forcing me to do the same. A shot rings out, and a screeching howl resonates around the library. Curtis drops to his knees. I look up at Mason. He fired the shot. He didn’t aim to kill and shot at his hand, forcing him to drop the gun. Curtis scrambles and reaches for it with his other hand. He manages to grab it with his other hand.
Gwen runs from one of the back rooms, tears streaming down her face, right into Curtis’s line of fire. He gives a sneer, and I know that he’s going to kill Gwen. Aiming for his heart, I pull the trigger. He falls back, life draining from his body.
Gwen comes straight to me, wrapping her arms around me. At the same time, Damian, Alex, and Zeke burst through the doors with several other officers filing in behind them. Mason’s the first to speak. “Detective Thorne had no option but to shoot. The suspect had his gun trained on Miss Honeyton and was warned several times. I’m a witness to that.”
I stand silent as the students are gathered and recount their stories and confirm that Curtis was threatening to kill.
Something is happening inside me. I can’t explain it, but all I know is that I need to be alone. I unlock Gwen from her hold on me and transfer her to Damian.
“Take her home. Her home,” I emphasize. I walk out, not daring to look back.
TWENTY-ONE
It’s Over
GWENDOLYN
Damian took me home and offered to stay with me. I refused. He wanted to call Chloe, and I wouldn’t let him.
“Caleb needs you,” I tell him. “Please go to him.”
“Let me call someone,” he begs. I can see he’s conflicted, but I insist. Finally, he says, “Call me if you need me.”
I nod, not trusting myself to speak because I’m positive I’ll burst into tears. He leaves, and I lock the door, then move to the sofa and curl into a ball. I let the tears flow into the throw pillow to drown out the sobs.
Caleb sent me away. I wanted to be there for him. He looked after me, had Mason protect me when he couldn’t, introduced me to his family, his best friends, and yet I saw it happen right before my very eyes. He went cold. I felt his body tense, his jaw harden, and then he practically tore me away from the hold I had on him. And he shut down.
Take her home. I hear those words in my head over and over. Caleb is separating himself from me, from us. Not only did I see it, but so did the others. Damian was too stunned to speak, but Alex tried to stop him as he was leaving, and Caleb shoved him aside to get past him in a hurry. Zeke’s shoulders slumped, and he looked down at his boots, shutting his eyes tight. He obviously didn’t know what to make of the situation.
Damian tried to tell me it was because he shot Curtis, and that killing someone, even a bad man, affects you. I want to believe him, but in my heart, I felt Caleb pull away, not just physically, but emotionally.
When I’ve exhausted myself from shedding enough tears to fill a lake, I drag myself to my bedroom. I step into the shower and let the hot water rain down over me. I sag against the tiled wall until I can barely stand. I manage to get to my bed, only to find Caleb’s sweatshirt lying there. I pull it on. I want to feel him with me. It still smells of his scent.
I crawl into bed, hugging my pillow tightly to my chest. I let it out. It’s like I’m living the loss all over again. Losing Mom, losing Dad, losing Zaira, but losing Caleb hurts most of all. The ache goes so deep, it’s like a piece of me is being ripped away.
The piece was light, warm, safe, and secure. I was loved. For a brief but wonderful time, I was loved. Not as a sister or daughter, but for the woman I’ve worked so hard to become. And now it’s over.
* * *
Caleb
My three best friends want to throttle me. Alex is pacing back and forth like a caged lion. Zeke is confused and doesn’t understand why I don’t want to see Gwen. Damian wants to beat me to a pulp. He’s furious.
“She’s fucking devastated. It took all she had to hold it together until I left. What the fuck is wrong with you?” Damian rants.
“Mind your own business,” I grunt. I want them to leave, but short of physically hauling them out the door, I haven’t got a choice but to let them continue until they see it isn’t going anywhere.
“You are our business. Gwen is our business. If you’re not in love with Gwen, then fine. But we all know that’s not the case. But even if you want this to be over, don’t you think you owe her an explanation?” Zeke says, trying to reason with me.
“I can’t see her again,” I tell him tersely.
“Why?” Alex throws up his hand. “You had no problem bringing her into your house, eating the food she made for you, fucking her senseless, and now you’re going to walk away like she was nothing?”
I can’t help myself; I stand, reach out, grab his jacket, and slam him against the wall. I glare into his angry eyes. “I’m doing her a fucking favor. Don’t you understand that? Now get the hell out of my house.” I push him toward the door. I look around at Damian and Zeke, who are stunned speechless. “You two, get out. I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
They make their way to the door. Alex smashes his hand against the screen and stalks out, swearing profusely in Spanish. Zeke looks back at me over his shoulder, then takes off. Damian stares me down.
“This isn’t fucking over. I love you like a brother, and there’s no way I’m letting you make the biggest mistake of your life,” he says. “I’ll give you some time to cool off, but we’re far from done.”
