Page 157 of Debts and Desires
Day One-Hundred-and-Nineteen
“Shit!” I swerved back into my lane. “Sorry,” I whispered, not that the person in the car I almost collided head-on with could hear. I knew I wasn’t in the right state of mind to be driving. Which was clear when a second car blew their horn at me, indicating I should get back on my side of the road.
My hands shook and my vision was blurred by the tears that didn’t seem to end. After taking what felt like the millionth deep breath in, my heart still hadn’t calmed. In fact, it felt like it had been ripped out of my chest, crushed, beaten with a sledgehammer, dipped in acid, and then set on fire.
My phone rang again, Carter’s name lighting up the screen just as it had been for the last twenty minutes. I grabbed it, finally shutting the damn thing off.
Another soft sob fell from my lips. Where would I go? I was too afraid to pull over, even for a second, out of fear that Carter was still following somehow.
An idea formed. I wasn’t so far out that I didn’t know where I was, and as the exit appeared for Wrightsville, I took it.
Five minutes later, I found myself in the pouring rain,standing in front of the familiar door. It was a Monday night, about one in the morning, so I knew Cassie would be home and I knew she’d still be awake from past conversations. She and I weren’t all that close yet, but I needed someone then and there was no way I would make it to Mia without endangering myself or others.
I knocked softly so that it didn’t wake Eli, but hard enough that Cass would hear. I almost sighed with relief when the door opened.
“Emmy?” Her voice was full of concern as she looked me over, brows furrowed. I probably looked insane. Truthfully, I felt like I was. “Come in, come in.” She waved me into the living room. I walked in as she shut the door behind us. “What’s wrong?”
And before I could stop myself, I told hereverything.
As I spoke, Cassie’s face paled, her expression changing from anger to sadness and to disgust.
“I…” she trailed. Her eyes searched mine for a moment, as if trying to find the right words to say. She moved fast, throwing her arms around me. I hugged her back, crying once more. She rocked us, rubbing my back. “I’m so sorry he did that to you, Em.”
Cass waited until I calmed before adding, “You’re more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need. If you want me to call the police, I c?—”
“No!” I interrupted. “No, no, that’s okay.” I swallowed. “I don’t want to deal with him anymore and that would just…”
“I understand.” As if remembering something, she glanced up at the clock on the wall. Moments later, the door opened and Tyler walked in, humming to himself.
“Hey, Cass. You know whose car’s outside?” He tossed his keys on the small table inside the door before he looked up, finally looking at us. “What’s goin’ on?” Tyler asked. He took a minute to look us over before his eyes widened. “Is Carter okay?”
“He’s a monster,” Cassie answered, venom behind herwords. Ty reared back some, his eyes meeting mine again. “She’s been through a lot, Ty. Sit, I can explain.” Cass looked back at me. “If that’s okay?” At first I was unsure. I didn’t want to cause any issues between Carter and his best friend. But Tyler needed to know just who his best friend was. Everyone did.
Cassie was right. Carter was a monster.
Slowly, I nodded.
The more Cassie told Tyler, the angrier Tyler became. His eyes met mine. I was sure he was going to yell at me, call me a liar, and stick up for his best friend.
“That’s why you thanked me for your phone? ‘Cause you thought…” It was more a statement than a question, but I found myself nodding, anyway. He looked at the floor, taking in a deep breath. “Thatfucker.Heisjust like his fuckin’ dad.” I wanted to object, tell him he was wrong. But I couldn’t. Because there wassometruth to that statement.
Tyler turned abruptly, marching toward the front door. As he reached for his keys and opened the door, I stood.
“Please, don’t,” I begged. “Just let it go.”
“She’s right, Ty. Just let it go,” Cass said, moving closer to him. Tyler turned back, angry eyes locked on Cass at first before meeting mine and softening.
“I can’t just ignore it,” he said.
“I’m not askin’ you to ignore it. Just Carter. Leave it be. He’s not worth the hassle,” Cass pleaded.
With a sigh, Tyler shut and locked the door. He once again tossed his keys, then kicked off his shoes. “Fine.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Of course. But if that fucker says or does anythin’, I’m puttin’ him down.”
“He’s going to need you,” I said. I didn’t know why. Tyler scoffed. “I know what he did was wrong but, you know as well as I do that he’s going to be rough the next few days.”
