Page 13 of Running from Drac
Was it hot? Was it horrible?I have no idea.
Eddie is the only guy I’ve ever been with before now, so my sexual escapades are few and far between. Even when Eddie and I broke up in the past, I couldn’t bring myself to have sex or even date anyone else, it just didn’t feel right.
It’s always been about Eddie.
Making him happy, and making sure we stay together is all that ever mattered to me. I overlooked the Jinafer incident because I love him.
Sure, I was broken up about it, and maybe I cried for days after I found out. But he was honest with me and felt really bad about it, and that’s all that matters. Right?
Chapter Four
Eddie
Tears sting my eyes while anger burns through my veins like liquid nitrogen ready to explode. Hurt… livid… betrayed, I wrestle with every damn emotion like the gulps of the air I fight to breathe—choking… suffocating… completely lost. I can barely see the traffic lights as I speed down the road, swerving through traffic, barely stopping for the big red octagons that force drivers to take pause.
Being buzzed as fuck, the last thing I should be doing is driving while my head is surfing that awesome foggy state I was striving to get to, but here I am, hands barely on ten and two, fighting a fucking meltdown and the urge to turn around and have it out some more. There’s no telling what I would’ve done had I stayed in that house with her any longer. In that moment, I wanted to do things my father always taught me not to do, like lay hands on a woman. I may be an asshole and a bit of a prick, but this prick was raised by a good man, one thattreats women like they are made of porcelain and the greatest treasure in the world.
Did I treat Amber that way?
Probably not.
But I did have her up on a pedestal, one that’s been knocked down and currently simmering in festering ash.
My hands slam against the steering wheel.
“FUCK HER!” I scream as a truck comes into my lane. Swerving, I barely miss him, then throw up my middle finger as I drive into oncoming traffic and pass him recklessly.
Before I know it, I’m home, narrowly dodging another stint in prison for reckless driving, and driving while intoxicated.
That’s the last thing I need–especially when I’m so close to opening my own business. Amber doesn’t even know that my dream outside of working on cars, is owning my own towing company and a scrapyard where people can pick and pull their own car parts. I’ve had it since I was young, and I’ve saved every fucking dime since my first paycheck to save up enough to buy Old Man Peterson out of business. Now that the old bag of bones is ready to retire, he’s more than willing to sell off the scrapyard to the first highest bidder. Hopefully, that person will be me.
My tires squeal as I pull into the driveway of my father’s property, kicking up dust as I go. The second I’m out of the truck, my bat is in hand, and my poor truck’s tail light shatters into pieces as the splintered wood connects with plastic and glass.Red shards litter the ground, but it doesn’t make me feel better, it only makes me feel worse.
“Fuck her!” I scream, denting the side panel with another swing. My hand’s already throbbing from punching Amber’s wall, but I have to take my frustration out on something, and this truck can take it… I have an extra tail light in the garage.
“That stupid fucking slut!” Another swing dents the front fender, and I nick the front headlight, causing it to crack.Fuck! That one I don’t have a replacement for!
I’m about to go complete caveman on my fucked-up ride, when my father comes running out of the house, stopping me mid swing before I can take another whack at the truck.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he screams at me.
I can’t see past the tears welling over my eyes. I don’t cry. Men aren't supposed to, but thinking about Amber underneath another man has internally fucked with me. I’m stuck in a tornado of rage; it swirls around me in fits of anger and desperation, watching as utter betrayal kicks and punches my gut. The act of breathing seems like an impossible feat, and I don’t even realize I’m gasping until every breath feels like a suffocation.
“Breathe, Eddie! Fucking breathe!” my dad screams just as my mom appears on the doorstep in her robe.
“What's wrong with him?” she yells across the yard, concern and fear tormenting her eyes
“Get back in the house, woman. You’re not dressed for this kind of night.” My dad manages to pry the bat from my hand, throwing it halfway across the yard before I completely lose it and fall to the ground, sobbing between shuddered intakes of breath.
“Shh,” Dad whispers, clutching me against his chest, holding me tighter than he’s ever held me before. The man may be one step towards the grave, but he’s always been there for me, no matter how crazy I get. “It’s okay, Eddie. Just breathe, Son.”
In that moment, I didn’t care if I ever breathed again. The woman I loved committed the ultimate betrayal, and dying sounded better than admitting I had pushed her into another man’s arms. Ultimately, that’s what I did. I could barely lookAmber in the eye after I came clean about sleeping with Jinafer. I never meant for it to happen, and the guilt I felt afterwards had me pushing her away, not treating her like a treasured jewel to protect. Now that she’s done the same thing to me, my heart can’t take the pain. If this is half of what she felt after I told her about Jinafer, I don’t know how she ever forgave me… I sure as hell don’t know if I can ever forgive her.
“Talk to me, Son, tell me what’s got you all fucked up.”
“She cheated on me, Dad! That little bitch went to Vegas and fucked someone else,” I manage to choke out between sobs, but even the words are like ice picks to my heart. Saying it out loud just makes it sting even more.
“And?”
