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Beckett
Breathing heavily,I dart across yet another street.
I can’t find her.
If she gets away from me today… Fuck. I don’t know what it’ll take to get her to listen.
My boots thunder against the sidewalk, but I don’t slow down. I can’t.
If I can just find her, I can clear this up. I know I fucked up. I totally get it. But I can make this right. I can make her understand.
She has to understand.
My eyes scan the street ahead of me, but there’s still no sign of her.
Reaching the next intersection, I stop.
It’s been too long. She’s been gone too long.
Sucking in a breath, I turn to the right. And spot her.
There’s a city park between us – a small field, with a basketball court, a copse of trees, and a playground taking up the entire block. The slides block my view as she walks, back to me, on the far side of the park, but it’s her. I know it’s her.
I want to shout for her, but now that I have her in my sights, I need to calm down. I can’t be a stressed-out mess when I reach her. If I am, I won’t say everything the way it needs to be said.
Walking calmly, I cross the street to the park and watch Elouise, her hips swaying in a pretty black dress. She looks… Goddamnit, she looks amazing. She dressed up for today. And instead of me being there to greet her, she was on her own to be blindsided by my secrets.
She lifts a hand to wipe at her face and another dagger of self-loathing slides between my ribs.
She’s crying. Elouise is fucking crying!
I’m such an asshole.
Cursing myself in my head, I quicken my strides.
But just as quickly, a motion in my peripheral snags my attention, and my steps slow.
There’s a man.
My steps slow even further.
He’s standing near the trees, turned towards Elouise. His hood is pulled up over his head, blocking my view of his face.
Is he…?
I stop, torn between reaching Elouise or figuring out why this guy has every one of my instincts on edge.
The man steps away from the trees and heads straight for Elouise.
Oh, hell no.
Changing my trajectory, I start to run towards a spot between them. I don’t know what the hell he’s planning, but I’m putting an end to it.
He’s not running, and he hasn’t seen me, but he’s so much closer to her than I am. And I can’t risk him reaching her first.
Pushing myself to go faster, I shout out Elouise’s name.
Her shoulders stiffen, but she doesn’t stop walking and she doesn’t turn around. But the man does.
