Page 84 of Bad Girls Don't Marry Marines (Rock Canyon, Idaho 3)

There was nothing more he could do, and the frustration of it all was crippling.

“ONE BOURBON! ONE Scotch! And one beer!” Val obnoxiously sang along with the band before downing another shot of tequila. It had been so long since she’d partied and drunk without any reservations.

Still, she was trying to block out images of Justin and what he was doing right now.

Buck’s Shot Bar was packed on a Friday night, and Val sat up on the bar stool, weaving a bit.

Suddenly, a pair of familiar hazel eyes came into her line of sight, and she smiled happily. “Sis! How’re you?”

“Not as well as you, apparently,” Ellie said sarcastically as she slipped her arm around her waist. “Come on, party girl, let’s go home.”

“I don’t wanna.”

“Well, too bad. You might be older, but I’m bigger than you, and I have no problem getting one of these guys to haul you out of here like a sack of potatoes. Now march!”

Val wasn’t used to taking orders from her sister but saluted her sloppily. “Yes, ma’am.”

Falling into another fit of giggles, Val let Ellie help her out to the car. Once inside, she leaned back against the seat, her head lolling heavily.

“Are you going to explain what the hell is going on with you?”

“I just felt like a drink. You’re the one always telling me to pull the stick out of my ass.”

“And you’re the one always preaching about the dangers of reckless behavior. If Grant hadn’t called, I wouldn’t even have known where you were.”

“And thus the point of the whole night. I wanted to be alone.”

“Why? Because you broke up with Justin and know it was a boneheaded move?”

Yes.

“No, and mind your own business.”

“What is the matter with you? I’ve never seen you as happy as you’ve been the last six weeks and you’re just going to give all that up because you’re scared?”

No, you’re not scared of being with Justin. You’re afraid of ruining his life, like your father has ruined yours. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I just don’t get—”

“Just drop it, for fuck’s sake!” Val yelled, and Ellie snapped her mouth shut, not making a sound for the rest of the drive.

As they pulled up in front of the house, Val felt the oncoming eruption just as she was opening up the door and barely had time to kneel on the front lawn before she was emptying the contents of her stomach. She heard a door slam behind her as she continued to retch, and a soft hand brushed back her bangs.

When her stomach finally quieted, Ellie helped her up and into the house, and then to undress and crawl into bed. Her sister left the room without a word, and Val felt like a monster. Curling onto her side, she broke down and sobbed like a baby for the first time since before her mom’s death. She had alienated everyone she loved; she deserved to be alone and miserable. She was toxic and had brought nothing but trouble to Justin’s family.

She had to make him see that she was no good for him.

Chapter Twenty-One

* * *

“THIS IS IT, Val! Open this door or I swear I’m going to break it down!”

Val had been avoiding Justin’s calls and ignoring the desperate knocks on her door for days. Then Jared had shown him Miss Know It All’s latest blog about how Val had been out with the new DA twice in the last week, which had just pissed him off more. Whatever her father had done, it was no excuse for what she was putting him through.

Finally, he’d had enough.

Justin could hear Gus’s excited barking on the other side of the barrier, and just when he was about to slam his shoulder into the hard wood, the door swung open, revealing Val in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, looking rather healthy and not at all the ball of misery he had hoped he’d find.

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