Page 141 of Say You'll Stay

“Ted, slow down!”

He ignores me.

“Ted, you have my child in here. Please, if not for me, drive safe for Jadon.”

He regards me with a cool demeanor. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that, Al.”

He speeds onto the highway leading out of town while I try to watch Jadon from the side mirror. He continues to scream and cry for Lucas, but it’s no use. Our best option is to run whenever he pulls the car over. Ted whizzes past one car, cuts off another, and a band of drivers are suddenly laying their fists onto their horns.

“Ted, please.”

“We had it, Allie. You and me. Things were good. I was finally ready to settle down and make that commitment. I mean, even Jadon was happy to have me around all the time. We’re buddies. Sure, Mark applied a little pressure earlier this summer, but it wasn’t like I was holding off from this any longer. I was just put off because you were like a final investment and since you weren’t giving it up, it was a risk.”

That’s disgusting.

Ted jerks the wheel and swerves into a new lane while I try to hold in my vomit. Jadon’s cries reduce to soft sobs and nose sniffles and I just want to curl up in the back beside him and hold on to him. This reckless driving is bringing back far too much for me.

“We didn’t fight. You and I know each other, Allie. Friends our whole lives. For whatever reason, it’s like he busted the lock to your damn chastity belt as though it was all that special and then Lucas put it all back together just to hide the key in his back pocket for later.” Ted points a finger to the road as if to make a point. “Not to mention, he had Katrina Vandenburg at the fucking ready and on her knees whenever the fuck he wanted.”

Ted scoffs. “I mean, spoiled fucking kid. He always scored the better girls because they all fell for his charm. You included.”

This is about territory for him. Some sort of imagined rivalry between Ted and Lucas that Lucas doesn’t even acknowledge.

“You slept around and were with me because Mark needed you to monitor me, Ted. Be honest.”

He nods at that. “True, I needed incentive to get the ball rolling, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t want you, Allie.” He reaches for my hand and I rip it away. Ted settles on holding my knee instead. “I had every intention of you and me in this whole forever plan, but I needed to get it all out of my system before settling, you know? He told me once things were final, he wouldn’t allow anything outside of the marriage.”

“I don’t understand you or why you’re doing this at all.”

“Because I love you, Allie, and I’m sure with a little distance between you and him, you’ll remember you love me, too. You were saying it not that long ago, anyway.” Ted groans and adjusts the rearview mirror. “Of course.”

I open my mouth to ask what he sees when he veers off the highway and onto a road.

“What are you doing?”

Ted ignores me and speeds down the road. I check over my shoulder when Jadon quiets down. I’m such a failure at protecting my son right now. Had I gone with my gut and gone somewhere else, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

The fear taking over prickles and pinches the nerves going to my shoulders and I can’t take it any longer. I can’t watch something happen to Jadon again.

“What are you doing!” Ted roars when I un-click my seatbelt. “Allie!”

Ignoring him, I climb into the back seat with Jadon, wrapping my arms around him.

“Allie!”

Jadon clings to my arms and cries. I hold back from crying, even if that’s all I want right now. “I’m so sorry, baby. It’s going to be okay, I promise.” His fingers around my arms settle a piece of that gnawing discomfort in my belly, and all I have is this pain in my shoulders and spine and the bump on my head. The nosebleed might be over.

“Fuck!”

Ted rips the car around a corner, and the car catches air momentarily before landing on an uneven road.

No. It’s not a road.

I look out the window, and he’s driving on unpaved ground between trees. Ted’s driving us into the woods.

“Ted, stop! You’re going to crash.”

Jadon is going to get hurt.

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