Page 80 of Burn With Me

My chest feels like Swiss cheese, punched through with holes I’m not sure how to fill. Soft footsteps sound behind the door, and I straighten up, tensing as it opens to reveal Ginny’s friend instead of her.

“What areyoudoing here?” She glares at me, dressed in flannel pajamas. If looks could kill, I’d be dead.

“I take it you’ve seen the article?” Pushing my hands inmy pockets, I nod behind her. “None of it’s true. I’d like to talk to Ginny.”

“Sure as hell looked true enough,” Lenni deadpans, not budging an inch.

“Ginny! I can explain!” I call out into the apartment.

Lenni rushes out the door, causing me to take a few steps back as she pulls it closed behind her. “You can’t see her. Youbrokeher. She’s a fucking mess because of you. She doesn’t want to see you.”

“I think she can make that decision for herself.” Standing here arguing with her mouthy friend is doing nothing but wasting time, so I push around her, ignoring the fact that she grabs my arm and tries to pull me back.

Her efforts are futile, but she continues to yell at me as I push the door open. “She doesn’t want to see you! Haven’t you hurt her enough? Do I need to call security, you big brute?!”

“I own the damn place–good luck.” Not entirely true, but she might not know that.

“Ginny!” I call out, walking past the kitchen toward the bedroom, thinking that maybe she’s just out on the balcony.

But what I see instead stops me in my tracks.

Ginny is curled into a ball in the middle of her bed, her hair splayed out with some falling over her face, half hiding it from my sight. The half that isn’t hidden, though….

Her pale skin is splotchy, with red patches smeared across her face. It’s evident she’s been crying, but her eyes are dry. She doesn’t so much as blink when I walk in. Her eyes don’t shift to me. No evidence she even registers that I’m here.

She’s breathing through her mouth, deep breaths that come in shattered gasps.

A piece of me dies inside, knowing I did this to her.

Kneeling next to the bed, I reach for her when Lenni’s voice sounds so shrill it startles me. “Don’t touch her!”

“Will you leave and give us a minute alone,please,” I stressthe last word with an emotion I’m unsure what to call. All I know is that it’s foreign and unwelcome.

“No. I mean, she’ll freak out if you touch her. I’ve just been lying here with her. She’s been this way for a little over two hours now,” Lenni explains.

Letting out a long breath, I settle for resting my arms on the bed as I speak to Ginny. “Hey, Red. It’s me. I know I’m probably not your favorite person right now, but I need you to hear me when I tell you the article wasn’t true. There’s an explanation–”

“Get out.” Ginny’s small voice sounds cold and detached. It’s a tone I recognize all too well, having used it quite a few times myself.

“Ginny, I promise–”

“Please leave.”

“Just listen to me.” Pushing up on my knees, I start to get on the bed, but her sharp cry stops me.

“Don’t! You got what you wanted, Jackson! I’m no one special! I get it!” Her voice cracks as tears line her eyes.

“That isn’t true at all!” I argue, frozen where I’m still half-kneeling at the bedside. A panicked feeling grips my lungs with cold fists, squeezing until it’s hard to breathe.

She’s shaking, hugging her knees tighter as she says, “Men like you don’t change. You’ll never change. You’renotcapable of it.”

Nothing comes out of my mouth when I open it this time. She’s not listening to me. Not even willing to hear me out. Though, in this state, I’m not sure she could, even if she wanted to.

All of this is causing her obvious distress, and all I want to do is take it and make sure she never feels this way again.

Making a decision not to listen to Lenni, I stand and reach across the bed for her. “Ginny, you have to listen to me.”

The second my hand touches her, she jerks back and smacks it away. “GET OUT!”

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