Page 14 of Dreaming of Us

I stepped away from the man I loved silently as my eyes kept going back to the little girl with her dark hair and blue eyes. God, if I could guess what Colton’s child would look like, she would look exactly like her. I tore my eyes away from the mother and child and looked around as I took another step back. Every eye in the area was watching the high school sweethearts with pitying looks. They were wondering why the perfect couple had broken up, too. Everyone had, ever since Colton had returned to town alone.

I took another step back.

Inside, I was screaming for Colton to look at me, to draw me back into his arms, to tell me it wasmehe loved. Instead, he kept his eyes on Katy.

Before the tears that were in my eyes and clogging my throat could fall, I turned my back to the couple and walked silently away.

Chapter Twelve

BRAYLIN

Iheld back my tears with nothing but sheer force of will, not willing to let the town see how broken I was. All through the carshare ride back to my apartment, I stayed silent, ignoring the concerned looks the driver kept throwing my way in the rearview mirror. I knew that if I opened my mouth to speak, I would begin sobbing uncontrollably, so I stayed silent, even if it made me rude.

As soon as the car came to a stop at the curb outside my building, I pulled out my phone to give the driver a five-star rating and a tip to make up for my rudeness. As soon as I shut the door to the car, I felt the dam begin to break. I hurried my steps, grateful that it seemed everyone from my building was gone, probably at the lake, watching as Colton and Katy reunited.

A sob tore from my lips, and I raised my fist, pressing it against my mouth in an attempt to stem the flow of heartbreak until I made it safely inside the comfort of my small apartment. The same apartment where Colton and I had spent countless hours making love, all while he had a woman and child whoneeded him. Why did he leave them? How could he have left his little girl? It didn’t make sense with the man I thought I knew.

With shaky fingers, I slid the key into the lock and turned, my emotions too high to notice that the door was already unlocked. I slipped inside and quickly shut the door behind me before leaning against the wood. Tears were streaming down my face when the first punch landed in my abdomen.

I cried out as I doubled over from the pain. Confusion filled me, momentarily pushing out the heartbreak as I tried to catch my breath. Before I managed to clear my vision to figure out what in the hell was happening, my hair was gripped and yanked so hard I could barely keep my feet under me.

The hand that had pulled my hair used the grip he had on it to swing me around and then let me go, so I went flying into the small wooden coffee table. I hit the edge of the table, knocking it over as I landed on the carpet in front of the TV. My ribs screamed in agony, making it hard to take in a full breath.

I was dazed and confused, unable to comprehend what was happening. I rolled onto my stomach and pushed up with my arms, trying to get off my vulnerable position on the floor. I just made it to my knees when a kick landed on my side, sending me to my back and causing my head to hit the side of the TV stand.

“Please,” I begged so quietly I doubted my attacker was able to hear me. So far, whoever it was hadn’t said a word; they just quietly struck out before I could catch my bearings. I couldn’t even scream for help since I had yet to be able to fill my lungs since the first punch to the gut.

With my head spinning and my ears ringing, I curled into a ball where I had landed. I knew I had nowhere to go and no way to fight. All I could do was hope that whoever it was would stop.

I felt a tight grip on my ankle right before I was yanked across the carpet. I reached out for something to hold onto, anything that would keep me from the next blow. My fingers scrabbledagainst the coffee table, but all I felt was the cold, solid top of the surface until I was pulled away from even that.

My dress had ridden up with the force of the pull, leaving my panties exposed. At the realization that my attacker had made me even more vulnerable, I twisted desperately, trying to break free so I could get away. I kicked with all my depleted strength, but it seemed to have little effect on the tight grip they had on my ankle.

“I came to give you a little payback for the trouble you caused me.”

The words came from a deep masculine voice, one I didn’t recognize in my terrified state. I opened my mouth to scream, hoping that there would be somebody still around to hear, when a heavy body landed on mine, his hand covering my face. His weight crushed me into the floor, taking the breath I had finally managed to get back into my lungs.

Through the pounding of my blood in my ears, I heard the pounding on my door and realized that was why my attacker had covered me so thoroughly. Vaguely, I could make out Colton’s voice as he called out to me, demanding that I open the door. My eyes looked around frantically, blinded by my tears, desperately trying to think. The attacker wasn’t just covering my mouth; he had his big hand over my nose, too, making it impossible to take a breath. Black dots began to fill my vision as my feet uselessly kicked against the floor.

I felt one of my shoes fall off and tumble across the floor until the ballet flat landed with a slight thud against the door. There was a brief moment of silence as Colton stopped yelling and banging his fist on the wood. I closed my eyes as the lack of oxygen took over, along with the utter hopelessness I felt at Colton giving up. As the darkness began to take over, I thought about every touch we’d shared and every moment we had spent together. As I mourned the loss of what could have been, a sadthought entered my mind.It’s for the best. At least now I won’t have to see him with his family.

I stopped fighting and just let go.

The attacker must have thought he’d succeeded in killing me because his grip loosened enough to allow me to suck in a small breath as he shifted his body enough that some of his weight left my chest. Self-preservation kicked in at that moment, and I let out a scream that was barely audible. Just as the fist landed against my jaw, the door flew open.

I was seeing stars as a pain I had never imagined flared to life in my face. I heard a shout as if it were far away, but the loud bang and splatter of something wet across my face jolted me as my ears began to ring for an entirely different reason.

The heavy weight of the man suddenly left my body and landed with a heavy thud on the floor next to me. I let out a sob of relief that it was over as my body was carefully gathered into the strong arms of the one man I loved beyond reason and thought I’d never feel again.

“Colton?” I asked, my voice weak, barely coming out as more than a whisper.

“Fucking hell, sweetheart. Fuck!” He spoke in a ragged tone, sounding as if he were full of anger and anguish. “Why did you leave me, baby? Why… fuck!”

I couldn’t answer him because his words brought back everything that had been blocked out by the unexpected attack. Instead of answering him, I closed my eyes and cried as my entire body shook from the adrenaline, pain, and fear.

As I cried into Colton’s shirt, I heard frantic voices and a demand to call 9-1-1. Colton lifted me from the floor and carefully, as if I were made of spun glass, carried me to my couch. Instead of setting me down, he arranged me in his lap, pulling my dress down to my knees. He ran one finger over my face as I cried while rocking me back and forth.

He didn’t say another word as we sat there, me crying out my pain and heartache, and him gently wiping away my tears in between running his hands over me, checking for injuries.

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