Page 52
Me:There’s a tornado. I’m in the basement.
Bastard:Come to the lobby. I need to talk to you.
The malicious “or else”hung unwritten in the text.
“I need to go,” I said, pocketing my phone.
“Why?”
“In the middle of a damned tornado?”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“It’s my father,” I said, as if that would explain everything. For me, at least, it did. No one left D.O.D. waiting.
“Screw the bastard,” Ronan said.
I snorted. “Easier said than done. You’re not his daughter.” And you don’t have to face his wrath. I didn’t say those words aloud, but I could tell from the guys’ frowning faces they understood the unspoken words.
“Is he trying to get you killed?” Calax exploded, his hand clenching into fists.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I muttered. Louder, I said, “I’ll be right back. Besides, the tornado probably missed the resort, if it is even still, you know, tornadoing.”
“Tornadoing?” Ryder asked in disbelief. He really needed to stop doing that. I didn’t know how this friendship would work if he constantly questioned my word choices.
“She’s right, though,” Asher said quietly. “It was a tornado warning, yes, but from the weather projection, there was only a slim chance that it would hit the resort.”
“Still-” Calax began, but I held up a hand to stop him.
“No, Calax. You don’t get to tell me what to do. I don’t need you to always protect me.” I met his eyes over the top of Asher’s head. In his gaze, I could see a swarm of emotions, some I couldn’t entirely understand. One thing I knew for certain was that there was no hate in his gaze. I knew hate; I saw hate in the leering gaze of business partners and my parents regularly. This...I didn’t know what this was, but it wasn’t something I was familiar with.
“Fine,” Calax said at last. With surprising agility given his immense size, he lumbered to his feet. “I’m coming with you.”
“No,” I hurried to respond. “My parents-”
“Your parents are no longer just your problem. They’reourproblem now. I should’ve come earlier, I should’ve realized earlier, and I didn’t. That’s on me. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t help you now. I’ll be damned if I let anything happen to you when I could’ve prevented it.”
I knew the resolve in his gaze mirrored of my own. There was no changing his mind.
“Fine, but only you. The rest of you-” I leveled my glare on the rest of the boys, “-will stay here.”
Before anyone could protest, Declan nodded stiffly.
“Fine. But you better come straight back.”
We exchanged a long look. I could tell that he didn’t agree with my decision to only bring Calax, but he respected it. We may not have been friends, he may have hated me, but we understood each other at that moment. My decision was for my own sake as much as theirs.
I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to my new friends because of me. I was already putting Calax at risk, though there was nothing I could do about that. The bastard was more stubborn than I was.
And yes, he was still a bastard, even if he did look at me as if we were lovers instead of enemies.
Even if he did want to protect me.
It was safer that way, both for him and me. I didn’t do feelings or emotions; I didn’t let people in. It was easier.
“Come on, Callie. Let’s go see what my lovely parents want.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52 (Reading here)
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95