Page 138 of Vying Girls

Callum levels our gazes, his eyes as blank as his expression. ‘You stupid bitch.’ His fingers flex around my neck. ‘That’s my kid in her. Ain’t no one stopping me from being a dad to it.’

I see his jaw clench and I screw my eyes shut, knowing he’s about to hurt me.

But the pain never comes.

I hear the squeal of the front door instead, the pause in the air as we swing our gazes to the doorway where Nic now stands, assessing the situation with quick, alert eyes.

‘Get the fuck off her.’

Callum’s fingers fall from me easily as he steps away, as flabbergasted by Nic’s sudden appearance as I am.

‘Grab your shit,’ she says, keeping herself between me and Callum.

‘Who the fuck is this?’ he barks.

The pause in the room breaks. With shaking hands, I pick up my bag, quickly before Callum turns the situation around again.

‘Mum,’ I choke, pausing by the sofa. ‘Please come with us.’

She shakes her head, as I knew she would, barely even sparing us a glance. Doubt she even knows of the ghost standing in her house.

I feel Nic tug me, pushing me back into the hallway and out of the house.

I wipe my face as she rushes us around the streets. When we get to the park that separates our estate with the posher one, she stops.

‘Are you okay?’ Her hands hold my shoulders.

I release a confused breath. ‘How are you here?’

‘How areyou?’She shakes her head of her snappy tone. ‘Never mind.’ One of her hands leaves my shoulder to touch my cheek. ‘Are you okay?’ she says again.

I shake my head, voice choked by another rush of tears.

Nic pulls me to her, long arms enveloping me.

For a moment, I freeze, eyelids slamming shut. The urge to fall into her is overwhelming. Her turtleneck is warm and soft, and she smells of comfort.

It hurts to think of her brushoff, to bring yesterday to mind, but I have to. This kindness won’t last. It never does. I need to pull back before she does. I can’t take another rejection.

‘Fucking hypocrite,’ I gasp, pushing her away. ‘You’re as bad as him. As any of them. You hurt me too. You’re the worst. It hurts the most because I actually care.’

I fist my hands, stabbing my palms with my nails. God, I want to flay the skin from my very bones. I need the pain, feeling like I’ll explode without it.

Nic watches me before flicking her eyes over the park. I know what she’s thinking. The park isn’t empty but there are lonely pockets, pockets where a deranged stalker might hang out.

‘We should go,’ she says quietly. ‘We might make the next train.’

I sniff, forcing myself to calm down. ‘Be quicker through here.’

Nic nods, falling into step beside me. ‘I heard all of that, by the way.’

‘Yeah. Thought you might have.’ I snort, shaking my head. ‘This fucking life. That poor baby. What the fuck is wrong with her?’

‘She hasn’t changed at all. Weird.’ Nic slips her hands into her pockets. ‘Don’t think she recognised me.’

‘Probably for the best,’ I say hollowly. She’s clearly got her own shit going on, she doesn’t need the reminder of Nic and how everything was before. What a fucked-up collision of the past. ‘How did you know to get here?’

‘I got your address.’