Page 38 of Where You Belong

“He’s the reason my uncle is dead.” Gage grunts. “I don’t know what your intentions are with Corbin either, but the last thing our families need is you taking anything more from us. You hear me? So just stay away from me and from him, stay away from us all.”

My heart drops in the pit of my stomach, replaying him saying my father is the reason his uncle is gone. I want to stop him and beg him to explain, but before I have a chance, he brushes past me and storms off toward his pickup. He slams the door shut behind him and speeds off down the road.

All this time, I’ve waited for the other shoe to drop, for some warning sign I need to stay away from Corbin.

Anything.

It turns out he was the one who needed a warning.

Chapter Fifteen

Haelynn

My mind is in disarray. I don’t even know how I manage to make it back to my place without ending up in an accident.

One second, I’m climbing in the car, and the next, I’m pulling into the driveway without any recollection of driving home. My mom is parked along the street. I’m thankful she doesn’t stick around. I have a ton of questions for her, questions only she’d have the answers to, but I can’t seem to wrap my mind around everything right now. I don’t want to have this conversation in front of Huxton either.

He climbs out of his booster seat as I open the door, taking off running toward the house.

“Hey, sweetie.” She smiles, turning to look at me from where I stand near the back passenger side. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just a crazy day is all.” I rub my fingers over my forehead, attempting to massage the skin from where the dull headache is starting to form.

“You have the night to yourself. Try to enjoy it, relax a bit.”

She doesn’t know about Corbin or that I’ve been seeing anyone. I can imagine what she’d think and say if she knew. That’s a conversation for another day.

“Have a good night.” I force a smile, tossing her a wave over my shoulder.

I’m no more than two steps in the door when I glance at the clock, noticing the time reads nine minutes until five. Atlas will be here soon, and knowing Corbin will be here shortly thereafter is the only thing pushing me forward.

Huxton sits at the table with his book bag in front of him, pulling out papers and books he must’ve checked out today. I’m about to ask him how his day was when two hard knocks deflate all the energy out of me.

Huxton’s eyes dart up to mine, and I notice the uneasy smile on his face. He doesn’t say it, and he would never tell his dad this, but I know he doesn’t want to go with him any more than I would.

I hate even more that I can’t be there with him, not knowing what’s going on while he’s gone.

“It’s a short visit tonight. You’ll be home after eight.”

He nods, shoving his stuff back into his bag as I turn and amble toward the door.

The sun shines brightly through the screen door, and he’s dressed in a dark-gray dress shirt and black slacks. His hair is styled neatly with a dark pair of aviators covering his eyes.

He’s handsome, and God, doesn’t he know it. If I didn’t know him the way I do, he’d be a total package in the looks department.

It’s too bad he’s rotting from the inside out.

My lip curls, and I mentally tell myself not to let him see the disgust on my face.

He reaches for the door handle and lets himself inside. I grit my teeth in annoyance, stopping in my tracks as he lets the screen door slam shut behind him.

One thing I’ve learned after talking with my therapist is when you’ve been abused, you notice little things about people. You study their body language more than most people, especially your abuser. You can sense when they’re tense, when they may be angry, and you try to keep yourself five steps ahead of them, never wanting to be caught off guard.

Maybe my interaction with Gage earlier has me on high alert, or maybe just being around Atlas puts me on edge, but anxiety coils in my stomach like a venomous snake ready to attack.

He reaches his hand up, pulling his glasses away from his face, and I know the moment he does, he’s drunk. His eyes are red and bloodshot.

If he thinks for a second I’m about to let Huxton leave with him, he’s out of his damn mind.

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