Page 104 of A Hurt So Good

“I know, brother, and I will be. But you two have to promise me to take care of them,” I tell them. I know they will. I know in my heart that they will, but I need to hear it right now.

“We got them,” Harlon says.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Denz adds. I nod my head before dragging my gaze back to her. She sits there with her head down, not paying us any attention. All I want to do is hold her in my arms for the rest of my fucking life, but that can all happen after I handle her dad.

“You’re not going to change your mind, are you?” Har asks me.

“No. This is what I can do to make sure she’s safe. I’m taking the chance,” I tell them. I keep my eyes on her for as long as I sit here. After a while, she stands and paces the grass, screaming at the top of her lungs. And we let her.

We let her have her moment.

Chapter 40

Harlon

I can’t believe it’s today. My nerves are on edge as we walk around the pier. No one told her, no one told Arya what the plan was for today because if we did, War knew she wouldn’t come.

He holds her hand as they walk around just talking, and she laughs a few times, but those laughs are going to fade quickly. Denz and I are going to be the ones picking up the pieces of her broken heart.

“This is stupid,” I mumble as we walk around.

“He won’t rethink it, Har. We’ve tried,” Denz tells me.

“I know, but fuck, man. You know how hard this is going to be on all of us?”

“I know. I know it is.” I can hear the sadness in his tone. Anything could happen to War once he’s sent to prison. Anything! What if his plan backfires? What if he doesn’t make it out of there? I can’t even think straight. This is all too much.

War glances around, eyeing his target before he shifts his gaze back to ours. He smirks and I know this is it. He grabs Arya and spins her in his arms, leaning down and taking her mouth with his. He kisses her so damn roughly that her lips will be bruised, but he’s making his last moment with her count for something.

We walk closer to them, and when he pulls away from Arya, he shoves her in our direction. I wrap my arms around her as he walks backward with a fucked up grin on his face.

“What’s he doing?” Arya asks as he keeps walking backward.

“What War does,” I mumble. We all watch as he spins around at the last minute and starts talking to the cop.

“Oh God. He’s not …” Arya says, but her voice trails off. She knows what he’s doing. He pulls his fist back and punches the cop right in the jaw before smirking at him. In seconds, the cop has him on the ground and cuffing him.

“He’s always hated that cop,” Denz muses.

“This is it,” Arya says as we walk toward them.

“Hey, that’s my brother you’re cuffing!” Denz yells. The cop's head pops up, and he looks between us before standing up and pulling his gun. He aims it at us and yells, “Stay back!” War laughs from his spot on the ground as Denz does the same. We watch as the asshole calls for backup. Only when they arrive does he lower his gun.

“He’s my fiancé! Can I at least tell him bye?” Arya asks. The main cop shakes his head, but his backup allows it. They pull War off the ground, and Arya rushes over, throwing her arms around his waist. I can’t hear what she’s saying, and it doesn’t really matter because War laughs and kisses her once more before she’s ushered away from him.

“Touch her again, and I’ll fucking gut you!” War yells at the cop.

“Is that a threat?”

“If that’s how you want to take it.”

“You want another charge?” the asshole asks him. War just smirks at him before the other cop grabs his handcuffs and drags him toward the car. Arya stands there watching him, unsure what to do or say right now.

We stand still, watching until the cars are out of sight. Only then do we walk up to Arya and wrap my arms around her. She turns into me, burying her face in my chest as Denz rubs her back.

“You want to go?” I ask her. She nods her head before pulling away from me, and we all start walking. We take the street this time instead of the beach since that’s the way Arya went.

“I really like this neighborhood,” she says as we make our way down the street.

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