Page 88 of Mended Fences

Her face crumpled like I’d hit her. Good. Maybe that would make her listen.

But even as I turned and staggered back out into the daylight, bile in my throat and guilt riding my shoulders, I couldn’t stop replaying her face.

Couldn’t stop wondering what the hell happened to me.

A day later,and I still couldn’t believe Kai was fucking my little sister.

I knew enough about him to know he was no fucking good for her.

The image of them kissing in the bookstore haunted me. His hands in her hair, her fingers gripping his shirt like she couldn’t get enough. My baby sister, the one who used to follow mearound the orchard with her books, letting some tattooed bartender with a drinking problem put his hands all over her.

I gripped my phone, thumb hovering over Jared’s name. Elena used to be the voice in my head telling me not to do stupid shit like this, but Elena wasn’t here anymore. She’d made it clear she was done watching me destroy myself.

CHASE

Need to meet up

JARED

Callaghan’s, 30 min

The irony wasn’t lost on me. Here I was, judging Kai for his demons while drowning in my own. But that was different. At least I wasn’t trying to drag someone pure and good down with me. Not anymore.

My phone buzzed with another text.

CHARLIE

We need to talk about what happened.

I ignored it, grabbing my keys instead. The September air had a bite to it as I walked to my truck, but I needed something more than a quick fix tonight. Something that would make me feel alive again, the way Elena used to.

That’s how I ended up at Ike’s Used Motorcycles, staring at a beat-up Kawasaki that had definitely seen better days. The price was right—probably because it was one bad turn from falling apart, but I didn’t care.

“I’ll take it,” I said, pulling out my wallet before I could think too hard about how Elena would shake her head if shesaw me now. But she’d given up that right when she’d given up on me.

At least on a bike, I could outrun my thoughts about Charlie and Kai. About how I was becoming exactly the kind of asshole I’d accused him of being.

Ten minutes later, I pushed open the door to Kai’s bar, blinking against the change in light. My eyes burned, pupils already blown from the bump I took before walking in, but I feltgood. No—great. Loose, invincible, like I could take on the goddamn world.

Jared was already at the bar. Right on time.

Kai’s expression soured the second he saw me, like I’d tracked dog shit onto his polished floor.Whatever.

“Well, if it isn’t the cradle robber himself,” I said, sliding onto the stool beside Jared with a smirk I didn’t have to fake. “Jared, you know this asshole’s trying to fuck my baby sister?”

“Chase—” Kai started, voice tight with that fake-ass moral superiority he always wore like cologne.

I cut him off with a sharp laugh, leaned forward, and said, “Or wait, maybe you already are? That why she’s always sneaking around?”

He turned his back on me—rude—and grabbed a glass of water like I was some kid on a juice cleanse. No whiskey. Coward.

While he played bartender, Jared slipped something into my hand under the bar. Fast, practiced. We’d done this dance before.

“Jared, get the fuck out,” Kai snapped, catching more than he was supposed to.

Jared raised his hands like he gave a damn. “I’m going, I’m going.” He tossed me a nod then headed for the door.

As soon as it shut, Kai zeroed in on me like I was some wild animal in his kitchen. “Stay away from him, Chase. He’s bad news.”