Page 30 of Cruel Devotion

He stalked up to me, livid. His face was red, that vein bulging on his brow. Deep lines were etched on his face, bracketing his mouth as he sneered and around his eyes as he narrowed them. “And then you think you can disrespect her by just walking out? Not having the decency to say goodbye?”

“I’m not disrespecting?—”

He struck out, backhanding me so swiftly that I wasn’t prepared for it. I hadn’t braced myself for a hit from him in years. Two years, to be exact. But that streak was over now.

I whipped to the side from the force of his smack, but before I could slant too far over, he gripped the front of my coat and yanked me upright.

“Still talking back, huh?”

“I’m not!” I argued, resisting his hold on me. “For fuck’s sake, I’mnot!”

“Don’t you talk to me like that.” He reared his hand back and punched me.

Something in me snapped. Red tinted my vision, and I couldn’t hold back on this festering hatred any longer. I punched him back. Harder.

He shook it off, growling with more rage. Then he hit me again, and again, and again. He tried to treat me like a goddamn punching bag, but I was done. I unleashed it all, striking back more than he could land a hit on me.

I wasn’t a little boy anymore.

I wasn’t a dumb kid who would be scared of his parent just because he was older. He wasn’t that much bigger than me now, and I was more in shape.

I shoved him away forcefully, retreating as he slammed his back against the brick wall.

He was heaving for breath and glaring at me with his face swollen from my hits. I pointed at him as I backed up. After spitting out a mouthful of blood from where he’d gotten my jaw so hard that I bit my cheek, I stared him down.

“Stay the fuck away from me,” I warned.

He tried to catch his breath, furious but lacking the fight to charge at me again.

“And here’s your goodbye.” I flipped him off, then turned again and walked away for the last time tonight.

No footsteps pounded after me. As I walked away, not bothering with my phone to text for a ride because I needed to cool down, he chose not to chase me down again.

He’d learned his lesson—this time.

And I prayed that if I played my cards right and managed to fulfill this dare Preston put on me so I could graduate without losing my scholarship, I would never have to see my parents again.

11

HALEY

Aunt Cindy picked me up as usual, but when we got home, it was clear I wouldn’t be staying there. Instead of her nagging spells, she was under a depressive one. The medications she took for her condition could wreak havoc on her in good ways and bad, and it all took a toll on her mentally.

After checking that she was set with all the creature comforts she usually liked—a cozy throw, her favorite TV series to binge, that “special” ice cream, and some other snacks within reach, I took the keys and left. She wasn’t overly gloomy when these depressive times hit, but she liked her solitude to get through them. I could’ve hung out in my room after dinner, but I wanted the peace and quiet at the library instead of the loud TV.

Yeah, I really should’ve gotten new earbuds over the Black Friday sales…

Going to the main library on campus was always a pleasure, though. I would miss this enormous building once I moved out of Marsten. Books had been my constant companions my whole life, and I doubted that would ever change. There was something magical and soothing about being surrounded by so many options and worlds to explore.

I stayed away from the fiction aisles. If I got started down those, I’d never resurface for any studying. And tonight, I wanted a head start on my next Brit Lit assignment. Going overLord of the Ringswas easy. I’d reread all of Tolkien’s books several times now, but finding the research material for comparisons to it? That was something easier done with tangible paper copies rather than what I could find online.

With a couple of short stacks of books on a table in the back near the restrooms, I was set to explore and take notes to my heart’s content. That serenity of quiet and the relaxing sensation of doing what I wanted to, on my own terms, lifted my spirits.

So it was only fitting that it wouldn’t last. Nothing did, good times or bad. They both fluctuated and never stayed constant.

Because the sight of Eli walking into the library definitely triggered my good mood to sour.

And fast.

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