Page 55 of Past the Broken Bridges

Dixie appears out of nowhere, running over to Dawson, clearly having no idea what happened. Last I saw the girls, they were dancing with a few other people, including Lucy, in the living room. I didn’t want to bother them when I went searching for the idiot now bleeding out on the kitchen floor. I wish I had.

Dixie lifts Dawson’s cut hand. “Oh my God! What happened?”

I manage to stand, avoiding the vodka and glass littering the floor. “He fell.”

Dixie pays me no attention as she coos over the drunken dickhead in front of her. She had enough liquid courage to flirt with Dawson earlier, but I’m not sure how much he was actually absorbing because his eyes were moving all over the room in search of something.

Or someone.

Whenever Dixie tried getting him to dance, he’d entertain her for a few seconds before grabbing another drink and glaring over to where I stood off to the side with a Corona. It makes sense now. He always wears his emotions when he’s drunk, and they’re obviously heightened.

Sawyer stares at Dawson from the hallway, her face flushed as she touches her lips. I’m about to ask if she’s okay when people start flooding the room to see what happened. Some of the frat brothers I recognize are freaking out over the scene, but I don’t stick around to see what they do about it.

Knowing Dixie will watch over Dawson until I get back, I follow Sawyer through the maze of students and out the front door.

“Wait,” I call out to her.

She doesn’t slow down, only tightens her jacket aroundher and picks up speed.

“Sawyer,” I yell after her.

“Not now, Banks,” she says over her shoulder. Her voice cracks, making my teeth grind. Dawson did that. “I’m fine. I just want to go home.”

“If you wait, I’ll drive you back.”

She shakes her head, still unwilling to face me, before saying, “I’m fine.”

It’s a lie, and we both know it. I can hear it in the way her tone breaks.

“At least take the truck!” I yell.

Realizing I’m not going to catch up or convince her to wait for me to bring her home, I curse under my breath and stop halfway down the sidewalk. We’re only a block away from our apartment, so I know she’ll get there quickly. I see her out walking almost every day whenever it isn’t raining, so I trust she can find her way back even though everything in me is screaming to follow her.

But I know her petite friend inside is hardly going to be able to handle Dawson on her own.

When I get back inside, Dawson is standing, leaning on Dixie as she holds a red-stained towel around his hand. “Come on,” I tell her, helping her guide him when I see her struggling to support his weight. “I’ll take him to the hospital and make sure he doesn’t need stitches. I can drop you off at Sawyer’s place since that’s on the way.”

Dixie’s eyes widen as she keeps ahold of his other arm. “What? No! I’m coming with you.”

“Dixie, I think you should—”

“Just let her come,” Dawson cuts me off. “At least then I’ll know I have one person in my corner who likes me.”

Jesus.“Stop being dramatic and keep pressure on yourhand.” I look at Dixie. “Fine, but at least call Sawyer and make sure she got back okay.”

She nods, texting her friend as soon as the three of us get into my truck. Once I hear that Sawyer is back in her apartment, I mentally remind myself to check on her later if we don’t get back too late.

After a few minutes down the road, with Dawson already passed out in the back, I hear Dixie’s quiet voice. “Who is Desiree? He was murmuring her name inside when you went after Sawyer.”

Jaw grinding, I grip the steering wheel tighter. “She was somebody Dawson and I used to know. She transferred out to go to some school in California.”

The only sound that fills the truck cab is Dawson’s snores.

Then, “Did he love her?”

Christ.I asked myself that too once when I saw how mad he was, so I can’t blame her for wondering. “I don’t know. I didn’t think so until…”

Until she came onto me when I was hammered at that party. Was letting her make a move that night smart? At the time, I didn’t think much of it. But I’d drank at least half a bottle of Seagram’s 7 by myself on top of a couple beers, so reason was out the door by then. I always found her cute, and I liked the attention she gave me. We hooked up at the party and went our separate ways by the end of the night.

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