Page 90 of Love Collided

Bile rose up as my stomach churned.

I wanted to reach out and hug him, but I couldn’t when everyone was looking at us.

“Really? Of all of us that don’t like the guy, why did he go after you?” Fox asked.

Chase shrugged. “I think he blames me for that night at the restaurant when they broke up, since I was the one to piss him off. Maybe it was just the right opportunity when I was alone.”

My knuckles turned white as I gripped the side of the bed.

He met my eye again, finally, and the concern for me in them made me want to fall over him in tears.

“Scout,” he said softly, as though everyone in the room wasn’t listening. He was somehow worried about me when he was the one laying in this bed. I didn’t respond, only spun on the heel of my boot, walking out of the room.

I could still hear them as I stepped into the hallway, trying to catch my breath.

“She probably just needs a minute to cool down. She’s going to feel responsible for this,” Fox said.

My stomach dropped, realizing he was right. It was my fault and everyone knew it.

Quiet filled the room, and I almost walked back in until I heard Chase.

“You need to stop her,” he said, quieter now.

“Stop her from what?” Quinn asked, silence following.

Chase already knew what I was about to do, and now the crew was about to piece it together. I needed to go before they stopped me.

I started running, making it outside to my car, the keys already in my hand as I ripped the door open and took off.

I hit the main road and shifted into the last gear, the car still trying to rev higher. I didn’t even care. I needed a new engine, anyway. Why not blow this one up in the meantime?

I navigated until I pulled onto the dead street that ran parallel to the one I grew up on. It was just as run down as mine. I almost laughed, remembering how much of a comfort that had been before. It was what I knew, and I felt closer to Jesse, knowing that he experienced the same type of life I did. I found comfort in the familiar, and looking back now, it made my stomach churn. How could I possibly find comfort in a life I had worked so hard to outrun? Why did I think I wanted what I already had? I grew up here. I had a father that was a beer drinker, a drunk, and a gambler. It was everything that Jesse was becoming.

I turned into his driveway, pulling up onto the dead grass. I wasn’t wasting any time getting inside. If he was here, he probably would have heard me by now. Unless he was that drunk already.

I walked in, finding him on the couch, a girl underneath him. Not that I cared about that, but it filled me with a deeper rage. He had the nerve to go after Chase when he had already moved on.

He had sat up, the girl’s eyes wide when they both looked at me. I picked up one of the glass beer bottles, throwing it hard against the wall next to them. It shattered, making Jesse jump up.

“What the fuck?”

“What the fuck is right. What thefuckwere you doing going after Chase?”

I picked up another, throwing it hard at him, but he ducked and charged, coming at me. I went to step aside, but more bottles littered the ground, making me stumble. He grabbed my neck, pushing me back into the wall.

The great thing about growing up with four very protective men was that they taught me how to get away from men that were bigger than me. I choked, but his hold was too tight, making me swallow it before my elbow came up, swinging hard into his nose. I ignored the crunch and swung my leg out, aiming to kick him hard between the legs, but missing and kicking his shin instead. It still broke his hold on me.

“You thought you would put Chase in the hospital and I would just be fine with it? You really thought you would get away with it?” I yelled, trying to step to the side as I sucked in a hard breath. He had lost his hold, but still blocked me in.

Jesse stood back up, laughing as blood dripped from his nose. Drunks were the worst, the pain so dulled by alcohol that they could fight longer. He pushed back against me. I tried tostep to the side, but ended up pressed hard between him and the wall again.

He smiled down at me, and I gagged. I kissed that mouth. There were some days I looked forward to kissing that mouth, now I wanted to punch it.

“What’s wrong? You mad that your new boyfriend couldn’t fight back?”

“Coming from the guy who was too scared to fight him one on one, so you had him jumped? You think he’s the weak one? You could have killed him, honestly three against oneshouldhave killed him. Yet all you managed to do was give a few cuts and bruises.” He was fighting again, his hands climbing up my body to find my neck again, but I was trying to move my knee, positioning myself back between his legs. I needed one good hit and if there was one thing the guys taught me, life or death means you fight dirty.

His body stayed pressed flat against mine. I had one arm halfway free, but I wasn’t sure if I could reach. I swung anyway, arching up around his side to his face. It landed, but it wasn’t enough. His hand wound up between us, breaking past my arm and finding my neck. He squeezed harder this time, and I realized that Jesse would kill me. He would be happy too.

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