Page 107 of Unraveled

Do I even want to?

The torment finally becoming too much,needingthe bloody drink I was too tired to fight anymore, I got up and stepped around the pole beneath the pier just in time to be trampled, now spitting sand as a girl cursed.

Chapter 33

NIC

“Watch where you’re going,” I growled as I moved to my knees, swatting at the wretched sand that covered most of my body when I recognized it was Annie on the ground beside me. “Bloody hell.”

She looked up, shock and then frustration crossing her features that would normally set me off, but I read deeper, seeing how the resentment in her glare was seated more deeply than usual through her tears.

“Just freaking perfect,” she mumbled as she got up, already turning away.

I reached out to clutch her arm before she could take off and hastened to my feet. “Annie, wait. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Let me go.” She tugged against my grip, but I refused to budge.

“No. I can tell something’s wrong. What happened?”

“Nic, let me go. I have to go,” Annie pleaded as she cried, yanking against my hold. She was nearly gasping for air, her eyes wild and desperate in the moonlight.

I took her other arm, pulling her closer, her distress so intense it caused my own issues to slide from my thoughts. “I repeat. No. Not until you tell me what’s happened. I’ve never seen you like this.”

She leaned back and dug her heels into the sand, trying to push herself away. “Stop it!” she yelled. “I have to go! I can’t stay here.”

Normally, I’d let her go, never wanting to force a girl, but something was seriously wrong, and I braced my heels in the sand as she struggled, needing some kind of reassurance before I could set her free. “Annie–”

“I have to get away from it. I can outrun it. Please.”

Outrun what?I looked behind me, seeing nothing, and Annie’s shoulders slumped with her resistance as she cried. “This can’t be happening.”

“What can’t be happening?” I persisted, needing her to answer me, but she didn’t. I almost wondered if she couldn’t, except the craze in her eyes had begun to still. Now, defeat seemed to be settling in.

“Annie!” I gently shook her, genuinely terrified. “What’s happened? Why are you so upset?”

“Jet.” She choked out my cousin’s name before her sobs took over.

“Jet?” Panic flared like a zap through my gut. “What happened to him?”

Christ, is she trying to run for help?

Annie shook her head, and her eyes squeezed shut as if she was in torment, her hands clenching by her sides.

“Annie, tell me. I need to know if I can help.” I slid my grip down her arms to grab her hands, surprised to feel a crumpled paper in her fist. Her fingers clenched tighter around it.

“What’s this?” I tugged it free.

“A note.” By the sound of her voice, I knew it was part of what had her so upset, and I quickly started working the tightly crumpled ball open with one hand, making sure not to let Annie go. She wasn’t resisting anymore, her gaze set on the ground, but I didn’t trust her not to take off, feeling her actually start to shake. Was it really that hard for her to stay?

I spread the paper apart with my fingers against my leg, and frowned. “Annie, I can’t read this. There’s not enough light. What does it say?”

She shook her head, and I couldseeher warring with herself to confess and let me in, things always so tense between us.

“Annie…”

“Jesus, Nic… It’s a love note, okay?... I found it… in Jet’s bag… ” She clutched her stomach, her breathing off. “Nic, please… I think I’m gonna be sick.”

I let her go, and she bent with her hands on her knees to take deep breaths. My stomach tightened, fighting the urge to be sick as I watched her. “And I’m guessing you’re not the one who put it there.” She jerked as though barely stopping herself from retching. “Annie, are you sure?”

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