Page 101 of Bought and Broken

I nod. “You spend all this time protecting me, not letting me go out and do things, but it has nothing to do with protecting me at all. It’s all about control. You’re scared because of what happened to Mom. You’re not worried about me getting hurt. If you were, you never would have let Tate in this house after what he did to me.”

“That isn’t true!”

“Yes, it is,” I say simply. “It really is. And it’s okay. I understand.”

“You’re wrong.” He shakes his head adamantly.

I throw my hands up. “Fine. I’m wrong. If that makes you feel better—okay. But I’m still leaving.”

Dane glares at me, shifting his stance to make himself look bigger.

“If you don’t let me leave, I swear I’ll never tell you where I’m going and I’ll never talk to you again,” I say in a low voice, holding his gaze. I will not back down from this. I will leave.

Dane breaks first, his face falling, shoulders sagging.

“You can’t leave me, Dev…”

“I have to,” I say urgently, wiping my eyes. “I can’t be here anymore. I need my own life. I don’t fit in here, Dane. Don’t you see that? You and Dad have the business, and I’m just… here. I feel like a goldfish stuck in a fish tank too small for me.”

He sighs and says, “Tell me where you’re going, and I’ll let you go.”

“Let me go and I’ll tell you where I’m going,” I counter, holding up my chin.

He growls, moving out of the way. I walk out the door and stop, glancing over my shoulder.

“Myrtle Beach.” It’s all I say before I rush down the stairs and out to my car. I’ll park it in the lot at the airport and tell Dane he needs to find a way to get it.

Before going to the airport, I make a much-needed pit stop.

I knock on the door firmly. It’s late and I don’t want to wake Astrid or Summer’s neighbors. But I need to talk to her before I go.

She pulls the door open, brow creased. “Devon, are you okay?” Her hair is a mess and she’s in light blue pajamas with rubber ducks on them. She must have been sleeping.

“Can we talk?” I ask.

She nods, moving aside so I can come in. She closes and locks the door after me.

“Do you want a drink or something?”

“I’m good.”

We hold each other’s stare for a moment, and I realize I need to do the talking. Even if I feel I need an apology from her, I came to her.

“I wanted to let you know I’m leaving.”

“Oh,” she says, sounding almost surprised.

“I’m going to the airport now.”

She looks away, chewing on the inside of her lip. A small part of me wants to scream at her, let her know how angry I am. Tell her how badly she betrayed me and how much it hurts. Another part wants to forget all this happened just so I can hug her and be on good terms when I leave. But it can’t be that way.

“I’m sorry…” Her words are so quiet, so broken.

My eyes fall closed and I fight back tears.

“I don’t understand how you could keep this from me,” I say with a small shake of my head. I open my eyes, wiping the tears and looking at my best friend. She still won’t look at me, but I see the tear stains on her cheeks. “Summer—”

“I’m sorry,” she repeats, this time louder. “I was so scared of losing you. I messed up. But you were here, Devon. I made sure you were in her life.”

---