Page 6 (1/1)

"I was lucky that it was a manned station and not one of the volunteer houses that sits empty until a fire is called in There was a very nice fire captain there that took ht The next day I was dumped with child services and I spentfrom one foster house to another She didn’t even have a coat for me She dropped me off in jeans that were too small, a T-shirt that was stained and torn, and in tennis shoes that were shit for the snow because they were asped in horror and that harsh scowl that cut into the pretty lines of his aristocratic bone structure was back "I was fucking four years old"

I wanted to hug him I wanted to cogling in front ofthat I would freak out if we actually made that kind of contact while both of us were so raw, I scooted to the side, careful not to brush up against hi, slobbering bundle down in the passenger seat I kept the door between us as a barrier while all I wanted to do was get away from his desperation and pain I needed to take a minute to process the fact he had a baby on the ith a woman that had destroyed hiether That hurt in ways I didn’t want to pick apart while he was standing so close looking at ht and feeling I had toohis as well

"I’m so sorry you had to suffer like that Good luck with everything, Wheeler" I couldn’t bring myself to tell hih the words were tickling the tip of ers around the steering wheel like it was some kind of lifeline I reached for the door to pull it shut but it wouldn’t budge because his hand rapped around the top of the frame He bent his head to look down at h his cool gaze He was pissed He was frustrated He was sad He was irritated and he was maybe, just maybe, a little bit excited

"Gonna needof me I can’t recall the last tier, braver, someone fearless instead of fearful, I would have cli He looked like he desperately needed one

But I wasn’t so to irl that let her sister leave without begging her to take irl that fell in love with the wrong boy and paid a price so heavy for it that I lost everything

I was the girl that h the demon was physically dead and buried, he still lived inside of me, where he haunted me, hounded me, hurtother than shut the car door when he let go and drive away I really couldn’t fix all the things that rong with Wheeler’s life and I wasn’t about to let hih to see exactly how broken my own existence was because I’d yet to be able to fixand disagreed withvoice in the back of my head that kept up the steady refrain of You should have known better

Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey

--Lord Byron

Wheeler

What you’re looking for isn’t between the blonde’s legs, Speedy"

I shifted aze away fro me and turned my attention to the bartender that offered up those unwanted words of wisdom As always they were spoken with a distinct southern drawl I lifted an eyebrow at hiht back

"You didn’t find it between the brunette’s legs last week or between the redhead’s the week before that" He put another drink in front of h I watched as he leaned on the bar across from me so that I had no choice but to look up at hier ale closer to me "The fact of the matter is, no matter how hard you try, you can’t fuck away a broken heart You aren’t going to find a irl or one spent at the bottoht but I had no intention of telling hi of the drink and flashed a smile that was fake and forced in the direction of the blonde When I turned back toward the bartender he was shaking his head at h I’d sold him a sweet Nova that needed some work a while back We shared common friends and his boss at the bar was a silent investor inI tried to keep into drink myself numb

For reasons known only to the overly observant southerner, he’d taken it upon hile time I stepped into the bar Aderous distractions I didn’t want to go horet and dread for company I appreciated that he didn’t want me to chase after my own ruin, but I’d handledthat I was beyond ready to dirty it up a little Being thoughtful and considerate gotabandoned and betrayed It was tiot when I was careless and reckless

"I’ve told you before, I’ve been with the sa what else is out there now that the shackles are shaken off" I wanted to sound h the entirety of eligible women in Denver than I actually was The reality was that wo no for so long that saying yes felt weird Misplaced guilt took the fun out of being a player That was so I couldn’t even convince myself I was until the third or fourth drink

"Anybody that takes a little bit here and a little bit there is going to end up hungry at the end of the day, Speedy You’re a oing to do anything for you You’re going to starve" Asa nodded and pushed off the bar, leaving his convoluted words hanging heavily in the air He made his way over to a custo the blonde the opening she’d been waiting for to make her move I tried not to wince when she slid onto the ely floral It was inescapable as she leaned an arm on the bar top and turned her body toward mine