Page 86 of XO

“Where are we going to go? She’s not going to want to leave spur of the moment.”

Placing a hand on my shoulder, Mr. Reign takes a deep breath. “Jacob, my daughter will listen to anything you tell her to do because she’s head over heels in love with you. So, if you say you’re going interstate for a couple of days, she’ll follow. But Jacob… don’t come back early. Stay a few days, at least.”

A chill meets my bones, and I’m not sure why.

“Promise me you won’t come back?”

I nod, but that’s not good enough. “I promise.”

“I’ll take care of it. Now go.”

Something’s not right. I feel it deep down into my soul, but all I can think about is getting back to Rosie.

“Go!” he orders once more, and I run back up the stairs before he stops me. “Jacob?”

I turn, waiting for him to tell me everything will be all right, but then he says something completely unexpected. “I was wrong about you, Jacob. You’re a good man. Look after my girl for me.”

And there it is again. That sinking feeling like everything is about to spiral further out of control. Back in the house, a hard lump restricts my throat, and tears of rage blur my vision. I’m assaulted by visuals of my father fucking Amanda Reign, and my soul is troubled by the unexpected tone of the conversation I’ve just had. I storm down the hall and see my house through the open front door, my fist pounding into the drywall on the way out.

All these so-calledadultscan go fuck themselves, once they’ve finished fucking each other.

~

Sitting with my feet dangling over the building, I watch the sunrise, having rehearsed twenty different ways about how to convince Rosie we need to leave town. I’ve had plenty of time to mull over my thoughts. When I arrived back, I stormed up to my father’s floor ready to confront the assholes, but they’d both left, and I know it wasn’t for home because I didn’t pass either of them on the way. I contemplated how to tell my mother. While she is a seasoned professional at handling my father’s abuse, she also has a huge heart which suffers cruel blows from the man she married. This will crush her.

“Jacob,” a sweet but troubled voice calls, and I turn around to see her panicked face.

Does she know already?

With the pink and orange hues tinting her skin, Rosie is simply breathtaking, and for a moment, I lose myself in her before panic sets back in. She starts talking, something about going home, but I’m in a daze much like her father had been.

A response slips from my mouth before I have time to adjust my tone, and she flinches, worry crossing her wide eyes.

You’re scaring her. Get a hold of yourself!

I plead with Rosie to trust me, but she’s cautious.

I sell the idea like a used car salesman, but she flinches. And then I become the Jacob Lynch she loves so much, and she relaxes.

I lie straight to her face.

And she believes me.

Just like her father said she would.

~

It’s a car ride from hell.

The further we drive away, the more excited Rosie becomes, planning for everything and needing to stop for the resources we’ve left behind. But the longer I drive, the more that sinking feeling returns.

I never thought this feeling was possible, where it feels like a hand reaches down your throat and slowly drags out your organs. One by fucking one.

But none-the-wiser, Rosie flicks through my cell for music and settles on ‘Yer Blues’ by the Beatles. It’s not a favorite of mine. I don’t even like the song, but it was a tune we had studied in junior music. I knew the words. I understood their heavy meaning.

“My dad listens to this,” she murmurs, and I blanch, my knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.

‘Don’t come back early. Promise me you won’t come back.’

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