Page 64 of Obey

Where is this coming from? My head is spinning.

He’s running scared. He’s spent two days helping me overcome so many of my fears and now he’s listening to his and fleeing because things got tough? The. Audacity.

But did they get tough? He chased off Harry, my parents have at least kind of accepted I doesn’t want to marry him. What have I missed? I don’t understand.

By the time I find my voice, he’s already gone, and tears are trickling down my face.

Mama comes to comfort me, like she finally gets it. “There, there, darling. It’s for the best. He’s right, you know.”

I shrug her off, level her with my best disgusted stare and head back up to my room where I collapse onto the hotel bed, take a deep inhale of Jagger’s scent, and burst into waves of tears.

Chapter Twenty-One

JAGGER

“Has he still not said anything?”

“No.”

“Has he left the club?”

“No.”

“Still hasn’t showered yet, either. Pretty sure that funk in the air is him.”

If my friends think their voices are in any way quiet, they’re sorely mistaken.

It’s been two days since I walked out of the hotel, leaving a crushed Talia and her judgmental parents sitting at the table in the dining room. I came straight here to the club, and it’s where I’ve stayed.

Slade is in Iowa checking up on construction of the new club. I need him to get his ass back here so he can tell me what the fuck to do to fix this ache in my chest.

“Does anyone know what happened to him? Is he okay?”

A low rumbling growl brews behind my ribs, making my whole body shake.

“Easy, tiger. We just care about you.” Kenzie’s hand hits my back. “You stink, you haven’t slept, no one’s seen you eat, and you’ve been here for four days straight.”

Four? My head snaps up to meet Kenzie’s sympathetic eyes.

Paige and Addison hover behind her, giving me similar looks.

“Wanna talk about it?”

I shake my head. I don’t even know what there is to talk about. I had to walk away. I did. If her parents didn’t make her leave to be with someone better than me, I’d have lost her some other way.

Deep down, I know it’s bullshit. I feel like a prick for leaving her there, but the longer I stayed in the hotel, the more the soles of my feet burned. I needed to get out.

If it’s been four days that means Slade should be back soon. If he’s not back already.

“The fuck is that smell?”

Three sets of index fingers point my direction.

“Jagger, are you okay?” Austin’s voice is loud enough for half the club to hear him, but thankfully, it’s just myself and my friends, at least for the moment.

Kenzie smacks his arm. “Of course he’s not okay, mon guerrier. You have eyes in your head, right? He’s been like this for days.”

Slade steps in front of me, and the women all step back. “The fuck happened to you?”

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