Page 24 of One Little Lie
Great, I have to deal with fucking swamp ass on top of everything else.
“Halton,” my brother barks.
I flinch. Christ, I’m not going to survive this. My only consolation is that Easton appears to be as messed up as I am.
His phone chimes, and I slide to the left, so I’m partially blocked from view by his body.
“Holy shit,” Easton’s voice booms out over the crowd. Turning to me, he says something, but I’m blinking feverishly, attempting to make out the words. He throws his hands in the air and barks out at the audience. “Pres? My phone died …”
Everything happens in slow motion, but my bodily reaction is swift. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, and I can’t swallow. If anyone got close enough, they’d see I’m shaking from head to toe. Goosebumps cover my skin, and I’m sweating like a whore in church.
“I-I can’t breathe,” I whisper, but no one’s listening to me as the mayor goes on and on about God only knows what.
“Just look at this sexy, hunka man here. Halton, do a little spin for us, will you?” Mayor Baker’s voice cuts through my fear.
My eyes go painfully wide as my body follows his command on autopilot.
I’m going to throw up. I swallow once, twice, three times, and the floor sways below me. My knees shake, and I know I’m going down, so I place my hands on my thighs and bend over at the waist, hoping I can hold myself up for a few more seconds.
“Twenty thousand dollars.”
I know that voice.Rylan. She’s saving me.The world around me sways and shifts as I seek her out in the crowd.
Air enters my lungs as if she breathed it into me herself, a strange sense of déjà vu happening when my eyes catch hers and I see a pain so real, so raw I almost drop to my knees.Why can’t you love me?
What did I do?
“Ba-uh. Twenty thousand going once,” Baker splutters. “Going twice.”
The crowd is stunned into silence. Twenty thousand dollars is more than some of these people make in a year.
“It was you,” Colton screams from his perch at the kissing booth. “You’re the reason she left. You’re the reason she wouldn’t come back. You fucking bastard.”
My head droops, and I know my life is about to be fucked seven ways to Sunday. I don’t know if it’s Rylan’s bid, the expression on her face, or the realization that she’s the one to save me when my entire family is here, but I have no doubt Colton just put all the pieces together. I’m the reason he lost his best friend. His love. I’m the asshole he says I am, and so much worse.
Steeling myself, I hear him coming, screaming at me the entire way. I don’t blame him, and I won’t fight him. It’s my fault he’s missed out on the love of his life all these years, so when he barrels forward, dropping his shoulder into my gut, I take it.
“How could you do that? How could you use her as a pawn in a sick fucking bet like that, Halton? She’s like our sister, for fuck’s sake. She’s family.” He throws a punch that makes my jaw crack, and I welcome the pain. “Fight me, you asshole. How could you use her and push her away like that? Do you have any idea how much she loved you? How badly you broke her? Answer me, goddamn it, Halton.”
He gets another punch into my side before someone pulls him off me.
Somewhere in the background, Easton talks to the crowd as Preston and his best friend, Dex, subdue Colton.
“You’re a fucking coward, Halt. A piece of shit, you know that?” He thrashes against our brothers’ hold, but they don’t release him. “Do you have any idea how much you hurt her? How long, huh? How long did you string her along? You broke her fucking heart.” He sneers. “I’ll never forgive you for this, asshole.”
Preston pushes him back as blood trickles down my lip. The metallic taste is a reminder that I deserved this.
“I …” What the hell am I going to say? Placing my hands on my hips, my shoulders slouch in defeat.
Dex hands me a towel and stares long and hard. He’s been part of our chaos for as long as I can remember, so it doesn’t surprise me to see disgust written all over his face, too. “I don’t know what the hell just happened here, but you’d better pray to God it doesn’t fuck us over with GG’s mountain. Get out of here and clean yourself up before Sylvie arrives. We’ll meet you at Ashton’s after we shut down the booths.”
“Don’t bother. Go to Colt. He needs you guys right now. I … he’s right. I’m a coward and the worst kind of man. J-Just take care of him.”
A sharp shove comes from behind. “If you believe that we’ve failed you, too, fuckwad. We won’t do it again. Get your shit together, and then we’re having a family meeting,” Preston growls.
I nod in understanding, but deep down, I know I won’t be attending.
Chapter 8
