Page 54 of All I Have Left

EVIE

G rayson frantically zips his shorts, reaching for the ignition, but stops, shaking his head. “Fix your dress,” he snaps.

A streak of silver splits through the sky, the scent of rain in the air dark and heady. I can barely swallow, let alone react to the scene before me. I hadn’t realized my dress was still up around my waist, my panties on the floorboard.

A clap of thunder rolls through the sky, a burst of wind tears through the trees. I swallow, unable to comprehend what’s happening before me.

Sometimes I think we take warnings for granted.

Or maybe we’re not listening to our gut feeling.

I… didn’t listen.

With my eyes on the back window, that day at the baseball fields flashes in my head. The one of Shane watching Grayson, looking for an opportunity to find him unguarded, vulnerable.

It happened. He found exactly what’d he’d been looking for. Shane knew when to act. Grayson, alone with me, would be his chance. He could destroy both of us together.

There are people in this world who are the embodiment of evil. I don’t think they start out that way. It’s a revenge thing. Do what others have done to you, and do it worse.

Shane, he’s been looking for rage since his mom pulled that trigger in front of him.

As I slip my panties on, he taps on the window, his eyes locked on Grayson’s. “Get out,” he growls, eyes so dark they’ve swallowed all the good left inside him. “Both of you.”

“Start the truck, Grayson!” I scream.

Grayson snaps his eyes to mine, confused, but frantic, struggling to get the words out. “Where am I going to go, Evie?” He gestures to the trees in front of us. “He’s got us blocked in! We can’t leave.”

Immediately, I search for my phone in my purse only to see that I don’t have it. Ethan took the pieces that were left of it to get me a new one tomorrow. We have no way of calling anyone for help and we’re miles away from civilization.

And as I sit, staring at Grayson, I think to myself, it’s never one thing that goes wrong. It’s everything, all at once. A domino effect.

Shane punches Grayson’s window, his anger flaring from his heavy breaths. “Get the fuck out. Now.”

“I’m gonna talk to him.” Grayson swallows, a sudden edge to his voice as he keeps his eyes on Shane. “Stay in the truck,” he tells me, his warning clear.

Is he fucking crazy? What would getting out do? At least in here we’re safe.

“No!” My heart races, my eyes darting from Shane to Grayson and then back again. I grab his hand, holding on tight, my other gripping his white T-shirt in my fists, begging him not to go. “Don’t get out.”

“Evie.” He sighs, defeated. “They’re not leaving.” He shakes his head, untangling my hand. “We’re not walking away from this. And I’m so fucking sorry I let this happen. But it’s me he wants and if I don’t get out, he’s going for you and I’m not letting that happen. ”

They? My eyes dart behind us. They. He brought his friends. My heart sinks, “Grayson,” I cry, tears soaking my face. “Please. I love you. Don’t get out.”

He forces a smile as he reaches for the handle. “I love you more than anything else in the entire fucking world,” he says, his eyes locked on mine. “Nothing will ever change that.”

I reach for him again but he forces my hand away from him. “Please, Grayson…,” I beg one last time.

He doesn’t listen.

The sky rumbles as Grayson gets out. Shane walks around the back of his truck and to his Mustang as another truck pulls in behind him.

“What are ya’ll doin’ down here?” Shane asks, leaning against the hood of his Mustang, relaxed.

“Just a detour,” Grayson mumbles, his body tense, the muscles in his back flexing as he leans into the tailgate of his truck.

Shane knows what we were doing. He’s not stupid. “I took a few detours with her too. Ask her about the time I came on her face.”

I can only see Grayson’s back from where I’m at, but I notice the way he tenses. No reply is given.

Without thinking, I open the door and slide out of the truck, fat drops of water hitting my face, and it’s warm against my already hot cheeks. “Shane, stop! You’re violating the protection order. You shouldn’t even be near us.”

Shane’s eyes snap to mine for the first time.

His eyes drag down my body, and then to my face, hatred so deep bleeding from him it knocks the wind out of me.

“You know, that’s funny. I’m not here for you, and it said nothing about him .

” He gestures with a nod toward Grayson.

“And you can shove that protection order up your fucking cunt. It doesn’t mean shit to me. ”

“Get back in the goddamn truck, Evie!” Grayson yells at me, rain pummeling down on us. And when I don’t, his anger takes over, his eyes glazed in hatred, not for me, but for this situation. “ Get in the FUCKING TRUCK!” he roars, punching the quarter panel.

I flinch at the sound of his voice, my tears stinging the back of my throat.

Shane laughs, his weight shifting as he stands up straighter. “I don’t know why you’d think she’d listen. She never does what she’s told.” He locks his eyes on Grayson. “I warned you. I told you that your time was coming, Grayson. And I keep my fucking promises.”

Grayson doesn’t say anything as five guys flank Shane’s side, all ready for a fight they were promised.

I dart my eyes back to Shane when Lance hands him something. “I’ve got something for you,” Shane says, smiling at Grayson.

Nausea rolls through me like a tidal wave. In his left hand is Grayson’s bat.

“Grayson!” I gasp, my hand over my mouth.

It’s feels like slow motion when Grayson twists toward me. The devastation, the panic, it’s drowning him, shaking the words “RUN, Evie!”

But I can’t. I’m frozen in time.

I can’t run. I can’t even move, locked in place with fear. The next few seconds are indescribable. I try to twist around toward the overgrown grass fields, but I’m grabbed from behind by two men. Grayson lunges for one, knocking him away only to be surrounded by three more.

You know in the movies where one guy takes down ten full-grown men?

That’s not accurate at all. I don’t care how strong you are. If you’re outnumbered, you’re fucking outnumbered.

I think they knew none of them would stand a chance if Grayson got a hold of any of them.

Six guys against one. Six fucking people against one man, who I can’t save.

He would get one away, only to be hit by another one, as Shane sits back and watches, smiling at me.

Lance holds me against the side of Grayson’s truck, his hands on my throat, forcing me to watch.

Shane bides his time, waits for them to hold Grayson down in the dirt before he lifts the bat in his hand and slaps the barrel to his palm. It doesn’t matter how strong Grayson is. He can’t stand against a bat. A sensation of desolation sweeps over me, rooting in my veins.

“You remember this bat, Grayson?” Shane holds it up.

Grayson glares, his eyes so cold, so detached I don’t know them. He’s miles away again. No life left in him. “Fuck. You.” He spits blood at Shane. He’s been kicked in the face.

“You should remember it. It’s yours.” Shane shrugs. “You’d be surprised how easy it was to get.” He takes a step toward Grayson and my mind goes blank, my knees give out, the shock of defeat taking over.

The first swing, Shane misses. Grayson twists away from him, but he’s caught by Colt, a taller guy who holds his hands.

I want to look away, but I can’t. Lance holds my face still. “Fucking watch,” he breathes in my ear.

Anger rips through me and I struggle against his hold, but it’s useless. I’m not getting away. He’s twice my size.

The next blow to Grayson comes harder, low and on his side. I hear the crack of his ribs twenty feet away. It’s horrifying and I cry out, my screams echoing through the air. “Leave him alone!”

Grayson bends forward, attempting to clutch his stomach, swaying with the blow, his body hunching in pain. I can’t see his face, only hear the shallow breaths. And I realize, he’s not going to scream for them to stop. He won’t give them the satisfaction.

Somehow, our eyes meet in the midst of this and he studies me for a moment. The world stops spinning. The air ceases to exist and there we are, helpless, clinging to a future that no longer exists for us. This, this is the end for us. Our happy ever after is no longer.

Held down by three guys, Grayson draws in a shuddered breath, his broad shoulders heaving as tears roll down his cheeks .

“I love you,” I mouth, my throat aching, raw grief taking over, but he heard it.

He drops his head forward, shaking it, as if he’s saying, I give up.

I let out another sob, one of guilt that all of this is my fault. It’s on me.

Shane kneels next to Grayson, smiling at me, wicked and evil radiating through him.

He grabs Grayson by his hair and forces him to look at him.

“I fucked her so many times while she begged me to stop.” He pauses, gesturing toward me with the bat.

“Does it kill you to know what I did to her? Does it?”

Grayson isn’t going to give him the satisfaction of an answer, his face stone cold and impassive. There’s an underlying darkness to him, a perfect mirror to the sky above us.

Shane knows what will though.

Me.

Eye for an eye.

“Just remember,” he looks down at Grayson one last time. “You made me do this.”

When Shane lets go, two other guys take a firmer grasp on Grayson as he struggles against them, his white T-shirt, ripped and soaked in blood. It’s the look on his face that destroys me, his eyes wide as panic takes over.

“No! Fuck no . Get away from her!” He loses it. Completely, his words exploding in a string a violent threats and promises, throwing words like stones.

Before I have time to react, Lance pins me against the bed of Grayson’s truck. I’m tossed in the back, kicking and screaming, never gaining any grip against the wet metal, begging them to stop.