Page 25 of Broken Bonds

I shrugged, even though she couldn’t see me. “Some gas station on the A1A. We’re heading toward the Ave. Hopefully, there’s a shelter there. We weren’t safe at home anymore.” My voice cracked again. “Mom, we don’t know where to go.”

“We never should have let her go alone to the house, Rick. Now, look what has happened!” Mom was shouting at him, damn near hysterical. I had to pull the phone away from my ear, wincing at the shrill note in her voice.

“It’s too late to worry about that, Kendall. We need to help her find a shelter now.” She seemed to have put the phone on speaker, as I could now clearly hear my dad speaking.

“Tell them we should be at the Ave in maybe two or three hours, depending on our pace,” Ace piped up, still looking away from me. I needed to keep calling him Asshole to remind myself that he truly was one. I had to guard my heart and keep my distance. Why was he being so dickish right now? He was just shut off from me—as if he wanted to be anywhere else but here. I did, too, but I wasn’t going to treat him like garbage because of it.

“Asshole,” I snapped, making him huff and glare at me, “says we should be at the Ave in two or three hours. Do you think there will be a shelter, Dad?”

Well, at least he was looking at me again, even if was because I’d annoyed him.

“I don’t think so,” Dad told me. My gut sank. “That was probably an evacuation zone. Your best bet is to find a school or hospital. It’s getting late, so you need to hurry, or you’ll be outside for the night.” Ace and I shared a panicked look. We hadn’t thought about that. Being outside overnight in the cold and rain—in all the dangerous elements—with absolutely no light to speak of?

Fear crept down my spine, chilling me to the bone in a way the cold rain could never hope to do.

Dad continued, “Once you get to the Ave, you can just follow it. There’s a school around there. Not the greatest area, but you should find shelter there. Mom and I are going to see what we can find and call back when we have more information.”

“I love you, Honey,” Mom said before I could answer. “And be nice to Ace,” she scolded. “He came to help you with your Jeep, and I bet he’s just as scared as you are. He’s just a young boy—not a big, ugly man like your father.” I heard Dad scoff, making a tiny smile tilt my lips. “Don’t start acting like a brat.”

“I love you guys so much,” I said softly.

“Stay safe, baby girl,” they said right before the line dropped.

Ace had turned to look away again; he seemed deep in thought, staring out at the deserted road. I roughly cleared my throat. “Dad said to go down the Ave to find a school. That should take us another two to three hours once we reach the Ave. We need to get going soon, so we can make it before the sun sets. I don’t want to be wandering the streets in the dark.”

“Sounds like a plan, Princess.” There he went again, saying that name in that condescending way. God, I hated him. “We can go in five minutes. I need to rest.” He leaned back against the backpack and closed his eyes.

“Didn’t you hear me?” I snapped. “That’s another five hours—if we’re lucky—and it’s already four P.M. I want to gonow.” The sky rumbled in agreement, and the wind picked up again. Someone’s patio furniture blew by as it started to pour.

“Five minutes,” Ace said, sounding exasperated. “Just five minutes, and I’ll get us to safety. Trust me.” Last time a guy asked me to trust him, I almost died. I wasn’t ready to trust anyone again just yet.

I closed my eyes, calming my uneven breathing by listening to the waves crashing against the bushes. The noise was soothing in my panicked state. The sound of the ocean was the only noise I could handle after the accident. My mom and I would sit on the beach for hours in silence. But now, those beautiful memories were becoming a nightmare, too. Was life just determined to snatch away everything I needed to remain sane?

If Mom had known how many times I went over that accident in my head while we were sitting there, she probably would’ve stopped taking me. But sitting on that beach every day helped me come to terms with Aidan’s death. Helped me come to terms with the fact that I was the one who survived. That I would forever be scarred—both mentally and physically.

Ace suddenly got up, swung the bag onto his shoulders again, and started walking toward the A1A, leaving me behind.I scrambled to get up, shoved my shoes back on, and rushed to his side. He didn’t apologize—as expected. What the fuck had happened to make him turn on me like this?

We walked for another hour, and I wished the rain would stop for just a few minutes. We hadn’t spoken since the gas station. I hated the silence. I hated when he acted like an asshole, especially when I saw last night just how kind he was capable of being. I hated even that I kept analyzing everything he did when he definitely wasn’t thinking about me that way.

He’d blatantly stated I wasn’t his type, and he promised Ryan he would never go there with me.

I wasgladhe didn’t kiss me last night. I would’ve regretted it this morning—or at the very least, I’d be regretting it right now. After this hurricane, I hoped we never saw each other again. I didn’t need his friendship. I didn’t need his pity. I was fine before him, and I would be after.

Once this was all over, Ace could fuck right off.

chapter eleven

CELINE

When my phone began ringing in my pocket shortly after my phone call to my parents, I pulled it out, frowning when I saw Ryan’s face appear on my screen. I sighed and swiped across my screen to answer his call. “Did Mom and Dad tell you?” Ace turned around to look at me, saw the phone pressed against my ear, and turned back around, continuing to walk.

“I should’ve come with you to the house,” Ryan said, his voice filled with guilt. “I’m sorry. You wouldn’t be alone right now, walking miles to find shelter.”

“I’m with Ace, remember? I’m not alone.”

Ryan huffed. “I don’t care. I don’t trust him enough to take care of you. Not after everything you’ve been through. I promised you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I promised Mom and Dad I would protect you after what happened with Aidan.” He had always blamed himself for that night. He was in charge of me, and he let me go out when it had been raining.

He took all the blame when it wasn’t even his fault. It was mine. It was my fault for getting on that bike, and it was my fault for not stopping Aidan from racing. Or at the very least, for not insisting I get off the damn bike. I could’ve climbed off while they were preparing to set off. I didn’t have to ride with him.

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