Page 12 of Our Shattered Pieces
“Stay away from me, Ethan,” I warned. “My humiliation is the only thing keeping me from reporting you to the school, for telling my parents, and for keeping this from my brother.” My eyes narrowed. “Be lucky you’re still alive and leave me the fuck alone.”
Getting into my car, I took off without sparing him a second glance. My only saving grace about that night was that nothing had been recorded. There was no evidence of what I’d done, though there were witnesses. If Ethan ever decided to out me, Sawyer and Calvin were his confirmation. It’d be my word against theirs. And the worst part about it all?
I still craved the new world Ethan had dragged me into.
I still wouldn’t mind being called a dirty slut.
Chapter 8
Grayson~
It was good to be home, if only for a couple of days. Seeing Mom and Dad, and traveling with Rowan, was just what I needed to shake off the melancholy I’d been feeling lately.
Especially, seeing Rowan happy. That helped a lot.
I carried a lot of guilt over what happened to her, even though my mind was aware that none of it was my fault. But as her brother, her big brother at that, I’d always been taught to look out for her, and I felt like I had failed at that, no matter what my mind, logically, knew.
I also knew Dad felt the same because we’ve talked about it often. And being a criminal attorney, Dad was able to keep tabs on Paul Connors while he’d been in jail, and he was also up on what the sonofabitch has been up to since he’s been released from jail.
And even though it had come up during the trial that he had preyed on other girls at Rowan’s high school, since everyone had been eighteen, and all of them voluntary except Rowan, Paul Connors had managed to avoid prison time, and had been granted a jail term only.
Now, while Rowan’s done her best to move on, and has told us,repeatedly, that him going to jail and having his life ruined was good enough for her, I couldn’t say the same thing. And neither could my parents.
“Alright, I’m off,” I announced. “But I’ll be back before the pizzas get here.”
After settling in back in our old bedrooms, Mom and Dad had announced pizzas for dinner, allowing us to relax from our flight. However, after pizzas, me and Rowan were going to do one of our movie all-nighters, where we picked ‘surprise me’ and we were forced to watch whatever the streaming service picked for us. More often than not, it was torture, but it was our thing.
So, before the pizzas arrived, I was heading into town to grab some snacks and drinks for our movie marathon. But, honestly, after the travel, I’d be surprised if we both didn’t pass out on the couch before nine.
“Okay,” Mom called back from the kitchen as I was heading to the front door.
“Oh, wait,” Rowan rushed out, stopping me. I turned around and saw her peeking her head around the wall. “Come back without beef jerky and you’re a dead man.”
I cocked my head. “When have I ever come back without your goddamn beef jerky?”
She grinned. “Good point.”
Leaving the house, I made my way through the streets that I knew like the back of my hand. Passing all the familiar haunts and shops, I didn’t stop until I pulled into Middleton’s Mini-Market. Another familiar stop where we’d get the older kids to buy us beer from.
I was ready to turn off the ignition and get out when a face I’d know, even on my deathbed, came walking out of the store.
I could do nothing but stare at Paul Connors as he made his way over to an older model Nissan. He was alone, no one waiting on him, as I watched him get in his car and begin to back out.
Everything in me screamed to turn the other way and just go inside the store. My brain was telling me to ignore what I’d just seen and go into the store and get Rowan’s snacks. Nothing good would come out of doing anything other than going into that store.
Nothing.
But did I listen?
No.
Pulling back out of the parking spot, I followed Paul Connors as he exited onto the street. And I kept following him until he pulled into the parking lot of an apartment complex I’ve never been to. Having successful parents, the way I did, I’d never had a reason to be on this side of town. But I was here now, and I wasn’t scared.
I stayed in my car, and watched as he walked up to, what I presumed, was his home’s front door, and when I saw him getting his keys out and unlocking the door, my presumption was proven correct.
I couldn’t say how long I stayed seated in my car, but it felt like forever at the same time it felt like mere seconds.
Staring at the motherfucker’s front door, I knew I still had time to turn back around and forget I ever saw him. But that was the problem, wasn’t it?
