Page 87 of Consequences

Do I? Not really.“Nope.”

“You moved away to college, too?”

“No, I just don’t have a family. Parents are dead.”

Lindsey gasps and reaches out to take Hailey’s hand. “I’m so sorry. I’ll be your family. We can get through this college experience together, and we’ll be forever friends.”

Great. Just what I need. More temporary family.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Griffin’s Beach

Marnie

Walking to her car after her shift, Marnie jumps when she sees someone leaning against her car. Relief fills her when she sees it’s Venom, and her heart beings to pound against her chest as she smiles. He came to see her.

“Hey, you.”

“Leave Griffin’s Beach, Marnie. Please.”

Not the words she expected after she left him a basket of things for him in his apartment. She spent a lot of time deciding what to put in it to show him she cares. And asking Lex to help her put give it to him. That took a lot of strength.

“Why?”

“Because I can’t move on when you’re here!” Venom shouts. “This isn’t fucking fair to me, Marnie. You won’t let me move on, and what we had doesn’t work for me!”

His anger frightens her, and she wishes he’d see what they had isn’t what she wants. “I don’t want what we had in Summerville, either. It won’t work for me, either,” she says, her voice shaking.

In Summerville, she was terrible to him. Used him and knew he felt something more for her. Something she didn’t know she felt, too, until it was too late, and he was gone.

“I want all of it, Venom. I told you that. Committed, out in the open, and together. You and me. I want what you did. What I hope you still do, too.”

His hand slaps the top of her car, making her jump. “Damn it, Marnie!”

As much as she wants to retreat back to the hotel, she refuses to step away. No matter how angry he is, she knows he’d never hurt her. But his reaction doesn’t make sense. How much more can she do to show she wants him? That she loves him more than anything?

“Why are you so angry?” Marnie asks, her voice barely a whisper.

“Because I’m trying to start a new life. I left Summerville to get away from you! And what do you do? You fucking follow me here.”

This isn’t how she envisioned the conversation going after he found the basket she left for him. She hoped he’d finally see that she cares, and she took the time to put together his favorite things with one being an inside joke from a conversation they had back when they were sleeping together.

After he saw how much she’s willing to do to show him she means what she says, and that he doesn’t need to be afraid to love her again, he’d tell her he wants to try again. For real this time.

“Venom—”

“Little care packages like the one you left aren’t helping. Damn it, why won’t you just leave me alone?”

“Because I love you!”

He won’t meet her eyes, but he lifts his hands in surrender as he steps backwards. “No, you don’t. You love getting fucked. It’s a high you’re chasing, not love.”

“No, it’s love. I’m in love with you, and I’ve tried to ignore it and push it away, but I can’t!” she shouts back. “You think I want to be stuck on someone who is so damn stubborn and jaded that he refuses to give me a second chance? Someone who refuses to see that I know I fucked up but am doing everything I can to try and make it right?”

“A second chance?”

“I fucked up, okay? I know I hurt you, and I’m so fucking sorry. At the end of the day, I can’t change it. I can’t take it back even though I’d give anything to be able to. All I can do is continue to show up and prove that things are different. ThatI’mdifferent. I want what you want.”

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