Page 67 of Refuel

“The person to blame is the one who messed with your car. Am I disappointed in Kamden? Yes, but at the end of the day, the person who did this is in jail,” Mom told me.

“Ma, you’re too forgiving. Kash played with that girl’s heart, and she manipulated that dude to kill Ari,” Malik remarked.

“Malik, shut up. Arianna is grown and if she wants to date him, it’s her business,” Mom replied.

“Even if she becomes a single mom?” Malik insisted.

Mom shrugged her shoulders. “Arianna will never be alone.”

“Daddy, what do you think?” I asked.

“Baby girl, I think you need to give it some time. I’m not saying he’s a problem, but you’re always caught in some mess with him,” Dad told me. I agreed with a nod and slid down lower in bed with the thin blanket around me.

“Can you turn the light off on your way out?” I asked, ready for bed.

“We’ll be back in the morning,” Dad and my brothers said as Mom got comfortable on the couch, and we both dozed off for the night.

21

Arianna

Four days later, I was discharged and back home with my parents. Cicely was helping out, and she decided to sleep in the guest room to be close. She also brought my dogs with her. I was lying in bed watching TV with Lucky and Dreamy beside me. I changed the channel from another Real Housewives reality show to a repeat video of the car crash on the Daily Morning Show with my name scrawled across. I turned the volume up.

“This is the actual video police are using to investigate the car wreck that race car driver Arianna Pierce was involved in at the charity drive,” Linda said.

“Looks like it was a combination of things happening, Linda, and she’s lucky to be alive,” Paul replied.

“I agree, Paul. Our sources say she was unconscious for a few days before waking up and going home today. Her publicist informed us that she thanked everyone for their well wishes.” Linda then read off a statement that Jackson had prepared through Sarai.

“The police have a person in custody, and what’s shocking is it’s a fellow driver, Ronald,” Paul stated.

“Some even say it’s a lover’s quarrel, and that she was dating both Ronald and Kamden,” Linda lied.

I groaned, shaking my head at the way the media manipulated stories of people in the public eye. The camera cut to a video of the police taking Ronald into custody with a huge crowd of photographers surrounding him, trying to get a statement. I turned the volume down when I heard a knock at the door, and Cicely stepped inside with a tray of food.

“I thought you might be hungry,” Cicely said, putting the tray down across the bed.

“Actually, I’m not,” I said, not having an appetite since everything went down.

“Well, you need to eat for the baby, Arianna,” Cicely fussed.

Agreeing, I picked up the fork and pushed the scrambled eggs around on the plate. She knew my favorite meal was breakfast anytime of the day. Right now, it was going on one in the afternoon.

“What are you watching?” Cicely asked.

“The news,” I replied.

“Why do you torture yourself with that crap?”

Cicely walked around my room, picking up the clothes thrown around since getting discharged. It was still decorated like a sixteen-year-old’s room with posters and my favorite color, baby blue. Last time I was here, I slept over after hanging out later after dinner and not feeling up to driving home. Now I might be here for the next few weeks until I completely healed. Jackson for sure wasn’t letting me back on the racetrack, and Colton put me on leave of absence. Thank God Rylee was able to get the charity event refunded and everything canceled, although people still donated knowing everything that happened to me.

“I was scrolling through and saw my name pop up.”

“It won’t do anything but keep you and the baby stressed, Ari,” Cicely fussed.

I picked up the glass of water and sipped.

“Have we seen him?” I questioned.

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