Page 56 of Aftertaste

“Is this how you raised our daughter?” Patrick asked, one brow raised as he turned to face my mom. “Maybe I should have taken them both after all.”

“How dare you,” Mom whisper shouted. “You know I didn’t want to do it, but yet again, you threw your money around, threatening me with—” I drowned them both out, not caring what they had to say.

Nothing would make better what they’d done.

Nothing would alter what Storm and I had done.

I closed my eyes and gripped onto the edge of the table, trying to just…breathe. But it was too much. Everything was too much. And then a hand grasped my thigh. I snapped my eyes open, my gaze clashing with the blue orbs I’d gotten lost in over and over again.

Everything had changed.

“Sage,” Storm whispered, his hand clenching on my thigh, but it broke me. Shattered me into a tiny thousand pieces that would never be able to be put back together again.

I shook my head, feeling the tears finally break through and stream down my cheeks. “I can’t,” I choked out, stepping away from the table. My heartbreak was clear for them all to see, and I had no idea how to fix it, so I did the only thing I thought would help.

I ran. Ran away from them. Ran away from Storm. Ran away from the reality of the situation.

Who Mattered Most

Storm

My cell rang from my bedroom, but I didn’t move a single inch as I stared at my dad standing in the doorway to the guesthouse. He was escaping the turmoil he’d left behind, not giving a shit about the hurt and anger he’d caused.

“I’ll be back in ten days,” he said, his tone even, as if what had happened this morning hadn’t affected him. And maybe it hadn’t. Maybe he really didn’t give a flying fuck.

“Whatever,” I sneered. “Just leave already.”

He stood there, his gaze trying to pierce through me, but he hadn’t been able to achieve anything with that look since I was a little kid. He’d shown me his true colors over the years, and today had been no different.

Half of his face was illuminated by the lights in the guest house while the other half was covered in darkness from the night. There were two sides of him, I’d learned that a long time ago.

He puffed out a breath, swiped his hand over his face, then left, just like he always did when somebody needed him most. I watched him walk back into the house, and not even a minute later, the roar of his car sped down the driveway, leaving behind the shitstorm he’d created.

“Fuck!” I shouted, clenching my fists at my sides. I didn’t want to be here; I didn’t want to be anywhere but with her.

Goddamn it.

I ground my teeth together, trying to push her to the back of my mind, but all I could remember was the utter devastation on her face this morning. The way she’d looked at me like she’d lost absolutely everything in one fell swoop.

And maybe she had. Maybe that was it for us, because we couldn’t continue, not now we knew the truth. Right?

My cell rang out again, so I barged into my bedroom and snapped it up, not looking at the caller ID before I barked out, “What?”

“Erm…Storm?” a female voice asked.

“Yeah.” I stared at myself in the mirror, seeing the anger so clearly written over my entire body.

“It’s Thalia.” There was a pause and then, “Sage’s best friend.” I spun around, not able to look at myself any longer. “I think…erm…Sage is drunk and—”

“Where are you?” I ground out, already running out of the guest house and toward the main house. Sage needed me, and my instinct was to go to her. To save her.

“We’re at a party on our side of town but she’s really upset, and I don’t know what to do.” Her voice moved away from the cell as she shouted, “No, Sage! Get down from there.”

My stomach dropped, my need to get to her taking over. “Text me the address.” I hung up, threw myself into my car, and waited for the message to appear. As soon as the text flashed on my screen, I spun out of the driveway, determined to get to the person who mattered most to me.

A Mountain Between Us

Sage

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