Page 26 of Pretty Broken Wings

I freeze, hand on the door.

“The main character was badass. Killing him with his own house keys.”

I should go. There are more hallways to walk. But just hearing someone else’s voice instead of the thoughts that circle my own over and over feels like a balm. Slowly, I turn back around.

“Listen, you have every reason to hate me. It’s fine. But you haven’t given me a new book in weeks. I’ve reread your others like twice.”

I glare at him. He gives me a shy look. Tension fills the air. It feels like so much rides on this one thing, and I see the lines at the corners of his eyes tighten.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” He starts to turn, and against every instinct, I want him to stop. I want to talk to him about books. I don’t care that it’s him; I just wantsomeoneto talk to.

After that night, we start talking again and then form an on-again, off-again relationship.

Eventually, one night, we get hammered, and he takes my virginity on my couch. He leaves me at 3am, bleeding, drunk, and scared.

I hold onto my career like a lifeline. It’s the one thing I built for myself, and I’ll be damned if I lose it. I try to get different shifts, but he always ends up working around me. And I’m always alone. And every time, he sits with me in the loneliness.

Never once does Max hit me.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

By the end of the day, I’m exhausted. I feel likeI’mthe one who can’t see, and everything feels blurry. I’m caught up in names, dates, and terms that I have no idea what they mean. My years of reading didn’t help prepare me for the legal jargon, and it pisses me off to have Gage listen to me struggle. Despite that, we got a lot of work done, and even better, Gage handed me enough cash for at least five days’ worth of food if I stretched it.

For the first time in days, I feel lighter.

I climb into my car and drive home. I didn’t want to burn the gas to get here, but this coffee shop is on the edge of town, closer to the richer homes.

I stop by the grocery store, glowering the whole time. I hope against hope that I don’t see Axel here. But this is the only place in town where I know I can find the cheapest food.

While I’m checking out with food, my phone rings. I traded numbers with Gage before I left. Maybe he needs something? I flip it open.

“Survived your first day with my brother, hmmm?”

I spin on my heel, checking around me. Fuck, is Axel here? Becky, my old coworker, gives me a look as she checks me out.

“He’s a bit unbearable,” Axel goes on. “But I could have told you that earlier.”

I don’t see him. I flip the phone closed, hanging up. Immediately, it rings again. I grab my groceries and scurry out.

This is just embarrassing. Absolutely the worst possible day. I need to go home and eat my food and fucking forget.

Axel calls a few more times, so I turn my phone off. When I get back home, the apartment is empty and dark and smells like plaster. But it’s home. I flip the lights on and lean back against the door, letting out a breath.

Fuck.

I have this vague sense that I’m being chased by a fucking bear. I’m exhausted, and I have no idea how to live my life safely while Axel openly licks his fucking chops. And I know Max is hovering in the background somewhere, just trying to track me down.

It feels like it takes forever to cook the rice, but I’m actually just starving. When it’s finally done, I burn my mouth wolfing the first bites down.

I’m finishing my first bowl when there’s a knock at the front door.

I jump, gaze immediately flicking to the door. No one ever comes here. Well, no one except Axel.

My mood immediately jumps all over the place. It better not be fucking Axel.

I haven’t had time to really process my feelings about him. I’m pissed and angry, and fuck, I wish he and his brother weren’t so goddamn hot. It was like staring at a marble statue of a god all day, if that god had veiny hands and a deep voice that made shivers run across my skin.

I shake myself. Yeah. Max was cute, too, and look where that got me.