Page 61 of Shattered

I don’t want Shane to think he has a way of getting to Jason through me. He’s not a good influence or good person in general, and he’s not someone Jason needs in his life. It’s better for him to think that Jason has changed his number; that way, he’ll just give up on trying to contact him.

“Shit. What about that hot chick you were with? His sister?”

I lift my tool bag, giving Harley a chin lift to indicate I’m ready to leave when he is. Just hearing Shane mention Sienna has my teeth gritting together and muscles bunching at my neck. She doesn’t belong anywhere near his fucking thoughts.

“I haven’t seen her, either.”

Harley and I start walking, but Shane follows beside us. “Well, if you’ve got her number, you can give it to me, and I’ll call her. She’d probably know how to get a hold of him.”

My fist curls around the strap on my shoulder. “I don’t have her number.” The lie comes out through gritted teeth.

Harley must sense my growing agitation, because he turns and blocks Shane from continuing any further. “Why don’t you take the hint? This Jason guy doesn’t want to talk to you, so leave everyone else the fuck alone.”

Shane stares up at Harley with a scrunched-up face and scoffs. “Whatever. You don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

Thankfully, Shane stalks off after Harley crosses his arms and stands a little taller. Shane talks a lot of shit most of the time, but I suspect he’s a little scared of him, and that knowledge always makes me feel better.

Harley starts walking again, but I stop to pull out my phone to text Sienna about the encounter with Shane since she had asked about him after we saw him at dinner.

But when I light up the screen, I see a message from her already waiting for me. It’s just something about her day, yet my whole body relaxes, and I even feel the sides of my lips lift. I send a quick reply, deciding not to worry about the Shane thing right now since Jason isn’t responding to him anyway, and then continue after Harley.

I drop my tool bag and belt into the trunk of my car, smiling to myself while thinking about the text message I just sent to Sienna. After my reply to her last text, she sent me a picture of herself at work, blurring out all the faces of the kids with her except for Adi’s. So, I sent her a picture of me but blurred out my own face.

“So, is this Jason guy the one from your past you mentioned the other week?” Harley’s voice draws my attention to him leaning against the side of his pickup.

I close my trunk. “No, that was the sister Shane mentioned.”

Understanding dawns on him, and he slowly nods while raising a brow. “Is she also the reason you’ve been smiling a lot more?”

I shrug. “She’s just a friend.” At least, that’s what we keep telling ourselves. But I don’t think friends spend as much time talking to each other as we do. And they certainly don’t jerk off to thoughts of the other person like I have.

It’s surprising and a little scary to think how fast I’ve been sucked into her vortex since the day she turned up at my place.

I pull out my keys and unlock my car. “You headed home now?”

He catches on to my hesitancy to talk about Sienna and doesn’t press further. “Nah, I’m meeting up with Isla at some restaurant. She wants me to meet her newest boyfriend.”

I run my eyes over him. “Is that why you’re dressed in all black?” I think he’s also done something to his hair and beard that somehow makes him look scarier.

He grins at me.

“Right, well, have fun with that. I’ll catch you tomorrow.”

“Yep. See you later.”

I slip into the driver’s seat, and my phone is in my hand within seconds. I’ve been itching to check it for the last couple of minutes since I felt it vibrate in my pocket.

Sienna: You blurred out the best part!

My smile is instant, and it stays on my face while I begin my drive home.

But then Harley’s comment about me smiling more lately starts running through my mind, and the more I consider his words, the more uneasy I feel. He’s right, of course, and that’s what’s concerning.

And as the night goes on, and I find myself obsessively checking my phone—before I get into the shower, and then the second I step out of it, and before I’ve talked to Adi, and then as soon as I hang up—I realize just how dependent I’ve become on her once again, and how far I’ve let myself slip into this . . . whatever this is.

I had told myself I needed to take a step back after that night at her parents’ house, but instead, I charged forward.

I’ve been in this situation before, and I ended up losing everything. I can’t let that happen again. It would be wise of me to pull back and not leave myself open to such heartache. We’re friends, and that’s how I should be treating her, not getting carried away by my feelings.

---