Page 120 of Ruled Out

Crouching down beside us, my dad checks Wayne’s pulse and then pulls out his phone, hitting three numbers and the Call button. “I knew you’d find a way to get here. I’m just sorry I don’t drive a rocket ship. He’s messed up pretty bad, but the fucker deserves worse.” Putting the phone to his ear, he scans my body quickly, landing on the red marks that no doubt paint my neck. “Are you okay, Mia?”

I nod, still clinging to Jessie. “We’re both okay, but I need to get him out of here ASAP.”

Jessie tangles his fingers in my hair, twisting the strands around.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve listened to you. I shouldn’t have come. I just made it worse.”

Inhaling a shaky breath, he brings his lips to my forehead. “You should’ve listened, but when Kate called me to say she hadn’t heard from you since you’d landed in Texas, I knew where you’d be. I knew because I’d stop at nothing to be right here, too, if this were you.”

“I’m a stubborn bitch at times,” I reply as my dad stands and walks to the other side of the room, confirming the address.

“I just want to go home with you.”

“We will, baby,” I say, rocking him again. “Promise.”

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

JESSIE

It’s been four days since I walked into the ER and was told my mom hadn’t made it.

My agent has advised that, this time, I don’t try to bury the news, that I show the public the real Jessie Callaghan.

Except I thought I was starting to like him, and now I feel like I’m right back to nothing.

If there’s nothing I like about myself, then how will the world find any redeeming feature?

All her death took was a slip at the top of the stairs on the wobbly legs I’d watched her climb so many times.

All she needed was to get medical attention sooner.

All her safety would have taken was for me to step up and get her to Seattle.

Life today could’ve looked so different.

But it doesn’t.

The picture of me as a baby, sitting on her lap while we watched TV together, was taken by Papa, and it now sits on mynightstand. Courtesy of Mia and her quick thinking before we left the house.

When I roll over onto my back, the morning light streams through the blinds. The ceiling is still just as white today as it was the day before.

“It happened again,” Mia whispers, turning over and resting her head on my chest, her dark hair fanning across my skin.

“I know,” I reply, motionless.

She trails her red fingernails across my stomach, and the feeling of her touch is the only comfort to me. “Did you get any sleep?”

Shaking my head, I already know that tonight will be the same. “Every time I start to drift off, it happens. Like someone’s choking me.”

Waking up, gasping for air, is nothing new to me; it’s been happening for as long as I’ve been battling my mental health. Since we got back to Seattle, it’s gotten way worse. Last night, just as I was falling asleep, I bolted up in bed, gagging and retching.

She yawns against my warm skin and then looks up at me, her chin resting on my sternum. “I wish I could do something to help.”

I want to keep her awake at night for all the right reasons. Not this.

But, fuck me, is she so naturally beautiful.

I reach across and curl my hands under her bare ass, lifting her onto me. We’re both naked, and her gorgeous breasts and pink nipples harden in the morning air. The white bedsheets are a perfect contrast to her dark hair as it falls in front of her face and shoulders.