Page 51 of Saved By the Mountain Man

And the thought made me feel even sicker than I already was.

Shit, shit, shit.

14

TANNER

Istirred, waking from a deep sleep. Something wasn’t right. What had woken me?

When I turned, Rae wasn’t in the bed next to me, and I was suddenly wide awake.

“Rae?”

She didn’t answer, but I heard retching sounds coming from the bathroom.

I got out of bed and headed there, where she was hugging the toilet, her thin body convulsing as her body retched. Her hair hung over her shoulders. I took another step toward her and pulled her hair back.

“Hey,” I said. “Easy does it.”

“Go away, Tanner,” she snapped, her voice thick with nausea. She looked up at me. She was pale, her eyes watery.

“Rae, let me help you,” I said, ignoring her command.

“I don’t need your help,” she said, her voice tinged with anger. “Just leave me alone.”

What the hell? I was getting frustrated with her. Fuck, why was she always so damn stubborn? “What’s going on? Talk to me.”

She sat back, closing her eyes for a moment. “You wouldn’t understand,” she said bitterly. “You never do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The frustration in my chest was morphing into anger. “I thought we were past this.”

“Past what?” she demanded, standing up shakily. “Past you abandoning me? Past you keeping secrets?”

I clenched my fists, struggling to keep my temper in check. “How are we back to this? What the fuck were the past couple of weeks about if you’re going to throw that into my face again?”

“Fucking me a couple of times doesn’t change facts, Tanner.” Her face was shaky, and when she pushed her hair back, her fingers trembled. I shook my head. It was like we were right back where we started, like we hadn’t come all this way.

“Just talk to me.”

Rae laughed sarcastically. “Now you want to talk? Because you’ve been such an open book until now?”

“Look,” I said, clenching my fists. “I didn’t leave because I was being a dick, okay?”

“Could have fooled me.”

“I left to protect you!”

She narrowed her eyes. She still looked shaky and pale, but her anger was quickly giving her more strength, her cheeks flushing, her eyes fiery as she glared at me.

“Protect me from what?” she shot back.

I clenched my jaw and shook my head. Damn it, if I told her she would see me as a monster.

Right now, she just saw me as the enemy. I didn’t know where that came from, but her anger meant she cared. At least, I think it did… if she found out the truth, that would go away.

I could deal with her being angry at me. I couldn’t deal with her hating me.

“There it is,” she said bitterly, putting her hands on her hips, leaning forward a little bit as if she were trying to get a hold of her nausea. “You keep me in the dark and then expect me to just accept it.”

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