Page 17 of Wreck Me

Skylar: What does that mean?

Several moments passed, but he didn’t respond.

So, he got me all riled up and just fucking well disappeared.

What the actual fuck was—

I stopped myself.

Of course.

This was what he wanted. He’d done it on purpose, just like he had in that parking lot with his careful, pointed, and kind of cryptic words.

Urgh. All of this had caught me at a really bad time.

When I wasn’t myself.

When I was in a state of change.

When I wasn’t walking on firm ground yet.

And somehow, this bastard was sensing that.

Smelling blood in the water.

Why, though?

Why the hell was he pursuing me?

Bringing up Onyx?

To what end?

“Everything okay?”

My mom’s voice pulled me back to the fact that we were having a family dinner—and I was being pulled away from it by a ridiculous text conversation with an even more ridiculous asshole.

I tucked my phone away and forced a relaxed smile I really didn’t feel. “Of course, yeah.”

“Who were you texting? Is someone upsetting you?”

“What? No. Why?”

“You just seemed distressed.”

My dad was being suspiciously quiet during my mom’s questioning. Dammit. He was strategizing, trying to determine what was going on and how it tied to me coming back here, because, unlike her, he clearly hadn’t bought my explanation one bit.

“I wasn’t texting,” I lied. “Just making notes about some things I want to brush up on before one of my classes tomorrow.”

“Is it the math? Is that what you’re worried about? You still passed Calculus.”

“I know, but I only scraped by.”

“You’ll handle it and if you do happen to have any trouble, we can get you a tutor.” She reached out and took my hand. “Don’t worry, everything is going to be okay now. You’re here with us. Where you belong.”

I caught my dad’s eye. He didn’t like that.

Because he knew it wasn’t true.

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