Page 27 of Hymns of the Broken
I shouldn’t.
I fucking know I shouldn’t.
But I do.
I shift in, careful not to wake her, every movement cautious. My fingers brush the edge of the blanket, lifting just enough to find the phone where it’s slipped beside her hip.
Blake.
Figures.
The glow from the screen casts a pale light over her peaceful face, and something inside me curdles. I tilt it just enough to read the previewed messages.
“I’m sorry for what I said. Hope you’re behaving.”
“Miss you already.”
“I was thinking about flying out to one of the venues. Surprise you.”
“You wouldn’t do anything stupid, right? You know you’re mine.”
“I’ll make it up to you for the fight, baby. You just need to let me.”
I don’t even realize I’m gripping the phone until my fingers ache—white-knuckled and pulsing.
No, motherfucker. What the fuck?
You lost her the second you made her feel like she had to apologize for taking up space. The second you fed her lies wrapped in apologies and called it love.The second you made her doubt herself.
You made your move.
Now it’s my turn.
I slide the phone back, and pull the blanket overherlike I didn’t just touch something I had no right to.
I don’t touch her, but it takes everything I have. My restraint is a razor-thin thread pulled taut across a need I’ve been trying to chain down since the second I sawher.
A breath escapes as I take one last look. One last inhale of her scent before I turn away…
The sound of a curtain whipping back cracks through the silence like a warning shot.
Across the narrow hall—Jace. Hair a mess, mouth already curled in that smug, half-asleep smirk like he’s been waiting for this exact moment. His eyes flick from me to Sawyer’s bunk, then back again.
He doesn’t speak right away. Doesn’t have to, but when he does his voice is rough and full of teeth, “Trouble. She’s trouble.”
I don’t answer. Don’t even givehimthe satisfaction. Just give him a glare as I move past, shoulders tense, mind already unraveling.
But he chuckles. “She’s gonna wreck you, man.”
He’s not wrong, but I don’t stop.
Don’t turn around. I keep walking toward the back of the bus, each step harder than the last.
Maybe she is going to wreck me. But when I’m done, I’ll make sure she never forgets exactly who took her down with him.
Chapter 5
SAWYER
