Page 54 of When Wrecked Meets Ruined
He pointed to my backpack on the floor. “I had your backpack.”
“So you followed me home, and then you thought you could barge into my house and make an even bigger mess?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s him, isn’t it? The guy from the diner.” When I didn’t respond, he continued, “Your mom has a bruise on her cheek and a split lip.”
“My mom is high. She probably fell.” Shame made my face burn. I cleared my throat, compelled to defend my mother. “She wasn’t always like this.”
“I know.” He got to his feet and moved closer. “It’s the drugs. It turns people into someone we don’t even recognize. Drugs fuck with their heads, and then they fuck with ours.”
I swallowed hard, my eyes on the floor. I wished the ground would swallow me up. There was a good reason I didn’t invite people over to my house. “You should have minded your own business.”
He hooked two fingers under my chin and tipped it until my eyes met his. “Youaremy business.”
I laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “No, I’m not. Just stay away from me, Ridge.” I opened the door. “I need you to go.”
“What did you expect me to do? Sit back and do nothing? I can’t do that.”
“No, of course, you can’t.” I stabbed my finger at his chest. “You just had to jump in and make everything worse. I never asked for your help.”
“Well, too fucking bad.” He took a step closer. And then another. “I can’t just walk away.”
“I don’t want your help, and I don’t need it. I can take care of this on my own.”
“Yeah, well, you don’t have to do that anymore because you have me now.”
My jaw dropped. “One stupid kiss, and suddenly you’re acting like we’re in a relationship? We’re not. And we never will be.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but I didn’t want to hear what he had to say. I just wanted him to be gone. “I need you to leave, Ridge.” I shoved him out the door. “Right the fuck now.”
He shook his head and sighed. “Yeah, okay.” He held up his hands. “I’m going.”
When I heard the back door close behind him, I moved to the window and watched him leave.
Why did he have to go and ruin everything?
He’d stolen something he had no right to—my privacy.My pride.
He saw more than I’d ever wanted him to, and I had no intention of giving him another chance to see more.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Ridge
Another Saturday night.Another party. Tonight, it was a college party. Some guy who used to go to our high school, apparently. But it might as well have been a high school party. Same vibe, bigger crowd. The party spilled out of the house and into the backyard.
The bass was pumping, the booze was flowing, and there were plenty of girls to choose from. Which was exactly what I should do. Find another girl and forget all about Evie Bellamy.
My texts and calls had gone unanswered. If that’s the price you pay for trying to help, I was done. Fuck it. And fuck her for making me care.
I took a long pull of my beer, scanning the party in the backyard from the deck. My gaze landed on a petite blonde whose arms were wrapped around a guy with dirty blond hair. Normally, I wouldn’t give a shit, but the girl was Leah Bennett.
“See anything you like?” Walker asked, coming to stand next to me.
“Nah. Let’s do some shots.” I grabbed his arm and tried to steer him into the kitchen before he saw his ex-girlfriend with another guy. Walker was one of the most chilled-out dudes I’d ever met. Except when it came to two things: Football and Leah Bennett. He was a beast on the field and highly irrational when it came to his ex.
“What the fuck….” He jerked his arm out of my hold and grabbed the deck railing, clenching it so tightly his knuckles turned white. “Why is she with that asshole?”
I didn’t know who the ‘asshole’ was, but it shouldn’t matter. Walker and Leah broke up four months ago. For good this time. Call me selfish, but I didn’t want to deal with his sorry ass crying over her again. I’d been through it twice already. Their relationship had given me whiplash. Walker and Leah had been together since ninth grade, and if you ask me, he should have been playing the field instead of getting stuck with the same girl all through high school.
