Page 50

Please don’t walk away! Stop. Hear my cries for what they are.
There’s a hesitation to his next step. My eyes dart to Grayson, his back to me, his hand in his pocket and a new bottle in the other hand.
Shane tenses when he notices that Jameson stopped at the corner of the house.
Jameson turns around to face us, his eyes narrowing in on mine. “You okay, Evie?”
Oh, thank God.My cry bursts out, my body shaking and convulsing around Shane. “No!”
Shane covers my cries with his hand again.
“Get lost,” he says, a frustrated snip to his tone as he shields my body from view and removes his hand from between my legs.
“Nah.” Jameson steps forward. “I think she wants you to get lost.” And then he cranes his head to the side at me, as if he’s trying to decide whether I need his help or not. I nod with wide eyes, trying to silently let him know I need help.
“Seriously, man.” Shane groans. “I said get lost.” He turns and buttons his jeans he’d gotten undone and lets go of me completely.
I immediately flatten out my dress and wiggle my panties up that were around my thighs. “It’s not fine, Shane.” My sobs take over and I fall to the ground against the house.
Jameson reaches a hand out to help me but Shane steps between us.
Shane slaps his hand away. “This ain’t your business.”
“Looks to me like you’re beating up on this girl and that makes it my business,” Jameson says, calmly putting his phone in his pocket and then dropping his helmet to the ground. “Makeup does a lot but…” Jameson shakes his head, squaring his shoulders, standing up to Shane. “It takes a fool not to see it in her eyes and yours. She hates you, man.”
“Just get lost,” Shane growls, as if he’s at the end of his patience.
“You wanna hit someone, hit me.” Jameson steps forward, clearly not ready to let this go. “Not some innocent girl.”
Shane throws his hands up in the air. “Go back to your fucking hillbilly NASCAR and stay out of shit that has nothing to do with you.”
“Hillbilly?” Jameson laughs, his eyebrows raised. “You live in Pinckard. Alabama. Look around. Couldn’t get more hillbilly than this, you stupid fucker.”
Shane snorts and rubs his jaw. “Yeah, whatever you say.” He glances down at me, where I sit crying, and then back to Jameson. “Mind your own goddamn business.” His voice has risen and catches Grayson’s attention. Immediately he’s walking over toward us with Ethan and Aiden by his side.
Shane, clearly not thinking, turns to say something to me, and his hand connects solidly with my mouth. I’m not entirely sure it’s intentional, but it happens.
It stings so badly. With my hand pressed to my face, embarrassment pulses through me. Shane tries to reach for me. “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.”
“Don’t touch me,” I seethe, backing up on the ground, my hands digging into the grass.
Jameson reaches for me to help me up, his eyes wide.
Shane knocks his hand away. “She’s fine.”
Jameson stands his ground and shoves him. “She’s not fucking fine. Look at her fucking face!”
Shaking, I stand up and rush inside the house, fearing what’s going to happen next.
“Evie!” I hear Frankie yell after me. I stumble and trip over steps and fall onto the kitchen floor on my hands and knees. She catches up to me. I don’t turn toward her, my crying making it damn near impossible. On all fours, I catch a glimpse of myself in the sliding glass door and I think, this is the end. This is it.No matter what happens from this point forward, I will not leave with Shane. Never again.
The longer you keep a secret, the harder it is to reveal it. Slowly, I take my hat off and turn toward Frankie. I reach for a rag on the counter and wipe it over my face. Whatever secrets I’m keeping, they’re out in the open by one look at my face.
At first, I don’t think she comprehends the magnitude of what I’m revealing to her. She reaches out her hand and helps me to my feet. Her sigh is long as she looks at me. And then it hits her with a blink of her eyes. “I am going to kill that stupid son of a bitch!”
I chase after her, not wanting her to get hurt. If he can hurt me, the one he supposedly loves, what will he do to my friend? “Frankie, no!”
Outside, I notice Grayson first and the scene around him. Shane is standing next to the house. He flicks his eyes to mine. “I didn’t mean to hit her,” he grumbles, annoyed he’s having to explain himself. “I turned and she was in the way.”