Page 215 of Irreversible

Since she’s already pissed, I may as well have thrown caution to the wind and flattened her ex-husband before he took her away.

Everly made him sound like some mild-mannered lump of coal, but today he showed me a different side. The verbal jabs, rubbing salt in the wound. Taunting me from the safety of the other side of his overpriced car. He wanted to remind me that he’d won—just like he won the moment Everly said his name in that basement.

Hewanted me to remember.

Needed me to?—

My pace begins to slow.

It’s all catching up to me. Pieces of the puzzle I was too angry to analyze. I let my emotions cover the hidden subtext like a fog. But it’s there if you look for it. Something off. Out of character. Like that phrase he used just before they drove away.

My heartbeats and breathing sync.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump…

I’m at the end of the trail. Standing at the edge of a grassy landing overlooking the Bay.

The fog begins to clear.

And I see it.

No backsies.

Shit.

49

Movement flies by outside the window as I sit silently in the passenger’s seat of Jasper’s car, questioning my choices.

Did I screw up?

Isaac has been trying to keep me safe, but I never questioned my safety by doing this event. It’s high-profile, public, surrounded by cameras and security. Not to mention I was taken from my own home. A crowded social function feels like the last place anything could go wrong.

But I know things between us have been shifting—becoming more serious, more real. Our dynamic is taking on new life, so I can’t help but wonder if I just messed it all up by driving with my ex-husband to a runway show I’m not even sure I want to be in.

Shit, shit, shit.

He was pissed.

Far more than I anticipated.

And as my head clears with every passing mile, I can’t say I blame him entirely. If only I had more time to explain, to calm him down…

My stomach twists with regret as I fiddle with the zipper on my jacket, stealing a quick glance at Jasper. He white knuckles the steering wheel with both hands, looking tenser than a coiled spring. The sky is clear for now, the sun shining, but it feels like there’s a thundercloud waiting to burst in the driver’s seat. “Um…sorry about all that.” I clear my throat, crossing my arms. “That was awkward.”

“Mmhmm,” Jasper mutters.

“Isaac is a good guy, but his people skills aren’t the best. I kind of blindsided him with this and didn’t give him any time to process.”

God—I really did handle it all wrong. When the dust settles and I head back, I’ll be spending the better part of the week groveling. On my knees. Naked and tied up.

Probably gagged.

“Can’t blame him for being protective,” Jasper adds, his jaw ticking as he peers down at the Bluetooth screen. “Music?”

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