Page 38 of Puck'n Bully
I let Hayden charm me into getting into a relationship with him.
Or maybe I’m just overthinking this whole situation.
Hayden probably just wanted to have fun with me. He didn’t care about getting into a relationship with me in the first place. That’s the reason he could throw his drink at me and expect me to leave him.
Tears continue to stream down my face as my heart squeezes.
I was so damn stupid to let myself hope.
Hope that for one night, justone damnnight, I could pretend to have a relationship with Hayden.
The evening started so well that I actually started believing it. Hayden asked me question after question about my family and my interest in Physics. He was even laughing at all the funny incidents I narrated about my professors at the Physics department back home.
Something happened to me when I saw him laughing tonight. His face brightened up like the sun when he allowed himself to relax and be himself.
But the moment reality stepped in, Hayden shut down.
His terror-stricken expression rises in my mind, bringing back the moment he laid his eyes on his teammate. Squeezing my eyes shut, I brush away the tears on my face.
I can’t stay here anymore. I have to get out of here before someone comes out through the restaurant’s back door and finds me sobbing my eyes out. Pushing away from the wall, I force myself to get out of the stinking back alley.
A shuddering breath escapes me as I walk out onto a quieter street.
Taking my phone out, I look for an Uber cab to take me home. Thankfully, I find one that’s available within five minutes, relieving some of my stress.
A cold breeze blows by as I wait for the cab to arrive.
Maybe it was a good thing that Hayden’s teammate showed up at the restaurant tonight. At least, I got to see Hayden’s true character before I fell even deeper into my delusions.
It hurts now but it’d have hurt a lot more if I’d stayed in my one-sided relationship with Hayden.
The sound of a car coming toward me breaks me out of my thoughts. Checking the license plate, I’m relieved to find it’s the same cab I booked.
The car stops beside me and I eagerly get in and give the driver my address.
We drive past the restaurant and I can’t help but stare at the light spilling out from the clean glass windows. Hayden is probably still inside, laughing and talking with his friend.
I turn away and settle into my seat.
Swallowing a choke, I try to control my emotions in front of the driver. I can sob over my sad life after I’m inside my apartment.
Closing my eyes, I silently sing a tune in my head. A part of me wishes I was going back to the beach house instead of my tiny apartment in Knightswood.
Gram’s beautiful, aged face flits through my mind, lessening some of the pain throbbing in my chest. She’s the only person in the world who accepts me for who I am.
Gram’s blue eyes, so similar to mine, are always twinkling, holding the warmth of a thousand hugs. She’d watched over me as I grew up without a mom or a dad in sight.
My mind goes to the moment I’d first come out to her.
I remember the way my hands shook as I sat at the kitchen table, the words stuck in my throat. If Grams didn’t accept myabnormality, if she didn’t allow it, I didn’t know what I’d do with myself or where I’d go.
Grams was all I ever had.
She’d been washing dishes after dinner, softly humming to herself.
“Uhh, Grams,” I forced the words out, my heart hammering in my chest.
She turned around, drying her hands on her apron, her warm eyes settling on me. “Yes, sweetheart?”
