Page 25 (1/2)

"All right, Mairl Being at that fancy school hasn’t done nothing but made you like all those folks from here you used to turn your nose up at and run circles around"

I sighed and closed s change"

She snorted "No, baby girl, people change Things just stay the sa to keep her in a trailer in Woodward the rest of her life I hung up the phone and was getting ready to climb in the Jeep and head to hen I heardrapidly into her phone I tossed er seat and rounded the hood so I could meet her halfway We worked the sa car proble to call out What I wasn’t prepared for was for her to grab ht she was joking After all, I had left hi on ure how he had found hiet arrested between then and now I laughed a little

"You have to be kidding"

She shook her head, blond hair flying in all directions "No Cora just called uess he called Rowdy to bail him out but they all went She said she had to threaten Nash with bodily har on She tried to call you, but it went to voice mail"

I looked at the screen of my phone and did indeed have twototo piece together as happening to my once orderly life

"Why is he in jail?"

"She couldn’t say The guys all left in theto reschedule and hold down the fort Do you want me to take you to the police station? You look a little pale"

I didn’t knohat I wanted to do I wanted to run away to a place where Asa was back in Kentucky, to a place where I lusted after Jet in silence and pretended that I could make a relationship with Adam work out I shook my head and turned back to the Jeep

"If he wanted et to work"

"Ayden?" I could hear the question in her tone, but I just held up a hand I needed some sense of normalcy, some kind of pattern that I was accustomed to, back for just a second

"Not now, Shaw I’ll talk to hi on with hiet hiht now than I am"

She frowned at me, and for the first time since we hadree with that, Ayd"

I just shook my head at her "Well, it isn’t up to you I’ll see you at work"

I saw her knit her brow in confusion as I pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the bar Myin aa really difficult tined boxes I orried about Asa, worried about Jet, and s, I orried aboutaway, feel the walls I had erected to prevent these very things froether by only the skin oftorn into separate parts, and the me that was left was vulnerable and raw I had no idea how to stitch it all back together again, or even if I wanted to

Chapter 10

I should have knohento lead to anything good Nor other than be dejected and disheartened Not today Today she was sobbing and ra to kill her, and while I would have low of so sex ti across town to see what the hell was going on over there

I brought the car to a screeching halt in front of the house and ran up the stairs like the house was on fire I didn’t bother knocking, just shoved the front door open, and before I could stop to get h survey of what exactly it was that I was dealing with,out of the kitchen and knocked me back out the door I landed with a dull thud on the cracked concrete of the sidewalk and saw stars for a second as et et up, my dad launched himself at me, and his fist connected with the side of my face I felt the skin on my cheek split wide open and jerked just in time to avoid the blow that would have surely brokenfists and felt ent fury co out of his every pore

We were about the sahts in et the upper hand I shoved hi down at hilared down at him