Page 64 of Enraged

“Do not kiss me. We slept together under extenuating circumstances, not because we are in a relationship.” He looked relieved. “Hugs are still okay, though, right?”

Rolling my eyes, I threw my arms around his neck. “Hugs are still okay, moron.”

He relaxed as he held me, the moment lasting longer than it should. After kissing me on the top of my head, he released me. “Go plug your phone in and wash your nasty ass. I’ll drop your stuff off tonight.”

“I’m going. Don’t do anything stupid when you go to his house.”

He scoffed.

“I’m serious, Dakota. Promise me.” I held out my pinky.

He shot me a death glare but he pinky promised anyway.

Relieved, I walked towards the front porch. “Call me if you need me,” I called out over my shoulder.

Leaning against the front porch column, I watched him pull out the driveway, suddenly feeling lonelier than I had ever felt in my life.

Dakota

“This motherfucker better have all her shit packed up,” I said to myself as I pulled up in Jace’s yard.

There was a small part of me that was surprised that Cassie’s car wasn’t in the driveway.

After parking as close as I could get to the front porch without winding up on top of his rocking chairs, I climbed out of the truck. I had promised myself I was going to stay calm, but I could feel my anger mounting as I banged on his front door. “Open up, Reynolds!”

Dressed in only his boxers, he opened the door, never uttering a word before turning his back to walk away. He sat down in his chair, reclining it back before pointing a finger towards a bunch of containers next to the fireplace. “That’s all of it, except her work clothes. They’re laying across the dining room table because they’re all on hangers.”

I watched as he lifted a crystal tumbler of brown liquid to his lips. I wanted to knock his ass out the damn chair, but as I took in the dark circles under his eyes, his thick stubble and his disheveled hair, I knew he was suffering already. That satisfied me enough.

For now.

“’Preciate it.” I spoke curtly.

Saying nothing, he swilled from his tumbler. I grabbed three totes, making the decision to haul them out to the porch first andthen, to my truck. About halfway through the moving process, he spoke up quietly. “Do you need help?”

“It’ll get me out of here quicker.”

Tossing back the rest of his drink, he pushed up off the chair. “Quicker means you can get back to fuckin’ my fiancé faster, right?”

I know damn well this motherfucker didn’t just say that to me.

I laughed sarcastically. “Hey kettle, this is the pot. You’re black.”

“I never denied that I fucked up, but two wrongs don’t make a right,” he defended himself. I grabbed the tote with Lena’s candle supplies. “See, the interesting part of that statement is that it’s often used out of context. This is one of those times.”

He sat the container he was holding on the front steps. “Actually, it’s not.”

I walked back inside to grab the last tote.

Don’t engage in this because you’re goin’ to wind up gettin’ your ass in trouble.

From the doorway, he stared at me, waiting for me to argue with him.

“Lena and I are both single and free to do whatever we want. You and Cassie, however, were not single. You were both engaged and planning weddings to other people.”

He stepped out onto the porch so I could get through. “Still don’t make it right.”

After stacking two containers on top of each other, I put them in the bed of my truck.

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