Page 87 of Love Collided

“Exactly. Because what value do I bring besides money?”

He almost went to agree, but stopped before the word came out. It only made me wonder if that’s the only value he saw in me. Was I only meaningful to him as someone to take over the business and continue making him millions? My value was following in his footsteps so our family could keep this fucked up legacy?

I couldn’t even bring myself to ask, because I already knew the answer.

I wonder what Scout’s answer would be if I asked her the same thing. I didn’t know what she could possibly say, but I was pretty sure any money I had wouldn’t make the list of why I was worth being in her life. Then again, she also might have a longer list of why Ishouldn’tbe in her life.

“I need to go,” I said. “You’re absolutely right. I should be out studying, but I don’t think I’m going to do that here.” I picked up my bag that had all of my law school books in it and grabbed my keys again. I wasn’t going to study, but I sure as hell wasn’t staying to listen to more of this.

“Are you serious?”

“Completely. You are right, I need to take this seriously and to do that means I need to go study. The law school library isopen all night because of exams this week, so I will go there and prepare myself.”

He seemed taken aback at first, but quickly recovered and nodded.

“Well, good, I’m glad to hear that.”

“I figured. So why don’t you get going so I can lock up and leave?”

He stared hard at me for a moment, and I almost thought he was going to break into another lecture, but he only nodded again.

“Please let me know how your exams go this week. I need to know if we need to get you a tutor or if you’re going to manage to run this company on your own.”

I turned away from him, rolling my eyes with a sneer. Every word out of his mouth always managed to piss me off more. I still agreed though, and it worked, getting me into my car and out of there even faster.

I waited until his car disappeared into the night before I sped away. I wasn’t going to the library to study, but now I was too keyed up to go back in and sleep.

The gas station I pulled into was nearly deserted at this time of night. The only other car in the parking lot looking almost like the crew’s, but it wasn’t any of them.

Before I made it a foot from my car, someone stepped in front of me.

Jesse.

I gave a relaxed smile, not flinching as two more guys stepped around the car next to him.

“What’s up, Chase?” Jesse asked, as he looked around. “Doesn’t look like any of your new friends are here tonight.”

“Surprisingly, I can make it to a gas station on my own.”

“Unsurprisingly, you won’t make it away from the gas station alone.”

Before I could even manage a response, he threw his first punch. It hit its target, something in my face making an awful cracking sound. I swung back, managing to hit Jesse in the stomach.

It didn’t matter. His two friends were on me before I could manage another hit.

I wasn’t sure how long it went on, or how many times I managed to get back up, but I knew the moment I slumped against my car, the realization settling in that I wouldn’t be getting up again. In one terrifying moment, the world faded to black, swallowing me whole.

TWENTY-FOUR

SCOUT

Monday morning came fasterthan I wanted it to. I was back at the garage today, trying to finish up another car before I went back to finish Chase’s. The last of the parts had come in, meaning that my chances to work on it with Chase was closing. I kept putting it off and ignoring him to work on it alone, and now I was almost sad that I hadn’t taken more opportunities to work on it with him.

The thought made me sadder than I had anticipated. It’s not like we had to end everything else, but it was a reminder that this was going to be temporary and, at some point, there would be no more Chase in my life. And after this weekend, I didn’t know if that’s what I wanted anymore.

I had texted him earlier, but by three that afternoon, I still hadn’t heard anything.

That only made me more uneasy. The one thing I had come to count on was him texting me back every single time. It might take a few minutes, but he never ignored me.

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