Page 44 of Unravel Me

He looks at me then, but doesn’t say anything back. I suppose there isn’t much to say. I’m sure his parents hate me for hurting their son the way that I did. Deciding to change the topic again, I break the silence.

“You and the boys still beating the shit out of each other in the ring?”

“We’ll be doing that until we’re old and wrinkly.”

“Ha. I’d love to see that now that you’re all older.”

“I’ll make sure you get an invite next time. Actually, it would do you some good to get in the ring and get some of that anger and frustration out.”

I think it over for a moment. I definitely have some rage that needs to be expelled. There was a huge part of me that actually wanted to beat the shit out of Brooks with the lamp, and was disappointed that I hadn’t when given the opportunity to potentially get away with it.

“That’s not the worst idea you’ve ever had. Running definitely works as a stress reliever, but punching the shit out of something or someone sounds freaking delightful. Actually, you know what? Yes. Yes please. I want to do that! Soon. Can we do that?” My voice climbs higher and higher the more excited I get.

“Settle down, you violent little thing. Yes, I’ll take you to punch something. But with all those emotions throttling you right now, I don’t think punching someone is the best idea.”

I laugh and settle down further against the brick wall, my ass on the dirty pavement, squished in front of Sawyer as we finish our coffees in the quiet of the tiny alley off of Main Street.

I feel at peace.

Chapter 16

BROOKS

Ivy’s stupider than I thought she was if she thinks running away is going to keep her from me. I’ll chase her across the world and drag her home if I have to. I don’t mind the chase. It turns me on and will make forcing her to heel that much more enjoyable. Zoe wouldn’t give me information, trying to cover for her pathetic friend. But if she’s not here, I know she fled back to her hometown. She can’t afford to do anything else. Finding her parents’ address was easy, and making the plans to stay one town over, even easier. I pack a week’s worth of clothes and toiletries into my luggage and head out in my rented Ford Focus.

I’m coming for you, Ivy.

Chapter 17

SAWYER

Ileft Ivy at her house and walked over to Reid’s for a distraction. It’s different than leaving her in my bedroom for the night, and I forced myself to go against all of my natural instincts and walk away. I want to be wherever she is. I want to remind her how good we are together, and I can’t do that if she isn’t with me. There is a huge part of me that is fucking terrified that she’ll bolt again, and I want to do everything in my power to prevent that from happening.

I knew I was taking a chance on Reid being home or not, but if he wasn’t at Rogue, tattooing, or on a run, he’d be here. I knock once before letting myself in and walking through his house. Itdoesn’t take long to find him sitting at his table surrounded by drawing paper and an iPad.

“Hey, man,” I say, unsure how to start the conversation, fully feeling the tension that still lingers in the air between us.

“You ever going to stop just walkin’ in? What if I had a lady friend over?”

“You haven’t had a lady friend over since you bought this place, so I’m not worried about it. Can we talk?”

He drops his stylus and sits back in his seat to finally look at me.

“Depends. We good?” he asks.

“Depends. We got something not to be good about?”

“I told you that I didn’t know who she was. In hindsight, I realize that it should have clicked right away. I also told you I didn’t mean any harm.”

“You did. But you forget that I also know you, Reid. The way you were looking at her . . .” I run my hands through my hair, trying to stay calm, reminding myself it’s my best friend I’m talking to. “The way you talked to her. There’s more to it. Isn’t there?” I pull out a chair and take a seat at his table, leveling the playing field for the conversation.

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Sawyer.”

“The truth,” I say confidently but bracing myself for the worst, not sure how many more tough conversations I’m prepared to have.

“The truth . . .” Silence stretches between us for a few moments and I know this probably won’t be good, but I decide to wait him out anyway.

“Fuck. From the second I saw her, everything around me disappeared. I felt this instant pull to her. Was it physical at first? Yeah, I’m not going to lie to you, you’ve seen her. But seeing her breakdown? Holding her while she completely lost her shit? I felt this primal need to protect her, to take care ofher. Like recognizes like, Sawyer, whether you understand that or not. She was clearly running from something or someone, I could see it in her eyes. So yeah, I felt something, a pull or whatever you want to call it. I had to weigh those feelings against my loyalty and love for you, man. You know what I chose, but that doesn’t mean it was fucking easy on me to make things harder on her.”

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