Page 79 of Storm Bound
I stepped on the gas pedal and didn’t let go until I got home. I probably broke a hundred driving laws, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t think.
My body had stopped functioning. I was just a dead cell with one singular purpose.
Get home.
Get back to my real home.
Because whatever that was back there at Adam’s? That wasn’t home.Hewasn’t home.
“For fuck’s sake.”
I slapped the wheel but accidentally beeped the horn, and the after-effect whizzed in my head.
I should have known everything had been too good to be true. My life wasn’t all sunshine and roses, so why would it start now? Why would I meet the love of my life the first day I move back home? That kind of shit only happened in movies.
And yet I’d put my faith and trust in his hands. When he was someone else’s.
“Great job, Charlie. Well done.” I shouted at myself, and it was like the words triggered something inside me because my eyes welled with tears, and once they started running, they didn’t stop.
“Charlie, are you okay? What happened?” Luke opened the passenger door and got in the car, his hand taking hold of the side of my face and wiping my tears with his thumb.
“It was all a lie, Luke. All… everything,” I whined, my voice coming out in one breath, making me sound just as pathetic as I probably looked and definitely as I felt.
I’d been such a fool. I’d let my guard down, and I fell in love only to get hurt again.
“What was? What are you talking about? Why are you crying?”
“Adam,” I said. “A-Adam.”
For crying out loud. I couldn’t catch my breath. How was I supposed to move past that asshole’s name if I couldn’t even breathe?
Luke didn’t care. He just put his arms around me and let me cry into his shoulder until my eyes and mouth had gone dry.
And then I told him what happened back at Adam’s house.
“What. The. Fuck? I-I don’t believe it,” he commented. “I knew you guys were moving too fast.”
“How am I supposed to look any of them in the eyes now? After the dinner we just had?”
Luke glanced at the house where I was pointing and then back at me.
“Oh, little brother, they’re your family, not strangers. You don’t have to explain yourself or feel bad. It wasn’t your fault. This was all Adam’s doing. And we’re all here for you.”
I didn’t reply. I just ended up back in my brother’s arms and let his warmth soothe me.
My phone pinged and I pulled away so fast it gave me a headrush. Was that Adam? Had he messaged to explain himself? That it was all a misunderstanding?
I picked my phone up and found a message from Benji.
Of course it wasn’t Adam. Why would it be? Why would Ievenwant it to be him? There wasn’t any excuse for what he did, and if there was, would I even care to hear it? No matter what way you looked at it, he had lied to me, cheated on the dick bag he called a boyfriend, and made me believe in a future together. He didn’t deserve my heart or a chance to explain. It would only lead to more lies, more hurt, more pain.
“About to book my ticket for next week. Are you sure I can stay with your family for the weekend? Won’t that be a lot?”
Bless Benji. He didn’t even know my life was falling apart.
“Don’t bother booking anything,” I typed with shaky fingers.
Luke came around my side, opened my door, and helped me into the house and into my room. Thankfully, the family was too busy in the kitchen and the living room to pay us any mind. The last thing I needed right now was to explain why I was back and looking like a mess.
