Chapter 33 Hazel
THIRTY-THREE
Hazel
My chest heaved, every ragged breath visible in the cold air. The street was empty behind me. A soft meow drifted from my backpack, reminding me that while the events that had just transpired were absolutely horrible, at least it was over.
Any positive thoughts I had abruptly shattered as soon as I looked at Reid. His broken glasses sat lopsided on his face, and a cut marked the skin beneath his left eye.
“Your eye,” I choked out, still sucking in breath after breath.
Footsteps pounded the concrete behind us as Jackson and West finally caught up. I remained rooted in place, staring at Reid.
Jackson grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me lightly. “Holy shit, Hazel. Did you get him?”
I nodded, unwilling to take my eyes off Reid. He was still bent over and hadn’t yet met my gaze.
“Who was that asshole?” West asked.
“My ex’s best friend.” Damn, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even thought of Callum.
He had seemed so harmless. Obnoxious, sure, but harmless nonetheless.
He’d always been a little annoyed any time Paul chose to hang out with me instead of him, but the two of us had broken up months ago.
How could I possibly have known he’d do something this unhinged?
We hadn’t even spoken since the breakup, aside from the occasional shared memes on social media.
Turned out he was secretly psychotic. I wondered if Paul knew. I hoped he didn’t.
“Good thing he spends all his time lifting and can’t do cardio for shit,” Jackson said through a breathless laugh. “He only chased us for, like, half a block before giving up.”
“Probably thought better of it when he considered the numbers,” West said.
Reid was stewing. There was no other word for it. He finally caught his breath, drawing in one last ragged inhale. He looked lost. In disbelief. Then his eyes found mine and his expression hardened.
“What the hell, Hazel?” he barked.
“Yikes. You look rough.” West squinted, taking in his friend’s face.
Reid glared at him. “Not now.”
This was a nightmare. A complete and total nightmare.
Jackson let out a low whistle as he looked between Reid and me. He turned to West. “I think that might be our cue to get the hell out of here.”
Part of me didn’t want to be left alone with Reid. I had a pretty good feeling I was about to be heavily reprimanded.
“What were you thinking?” he demanded, taking a step toward me.
West eyed Reid and then bumped Jackson in the ribs with his elbow. “I’ll drive,” he said.
Jackson shot me a thumbs up that honestly would have made me laugh had Reid not been staring at me so intensely right now.
They both backed away and I watched as they turned the corner. When I met Reid’s eyes again, it was clear he hadn’t even spared them a parting glance.
“I’m sorry,” I started to apologize, but Reid shook his head causing me to snap my mouth shut.
“I can’t believe you’d come here without telling me.” He shook his head. I couldn’t tell if he was more disappointed or angry. Or a solid mix of the two.
His eyes pierced me. Yep. Definitely a mix of the two.
“I thought I could do this by myself,” I offered, too emotionally exhausted to defend myself. Any adrenaline had faded away.
“What? Why?” His eyebrows drew together, a fraction of the harsh look melting away. “You didn’t need to do this by yourself. I would have been here in an instant if you called.”
I knew that. Even if I tried to drag him into some hare-brained idea he was completely opposed to, he still would have come if I asked. What did that say about me?
“Looks like I needed your help anyway,” I muttered, completely deflated at this point.
Reid had gotten punched in the face. Because of me.
There was no way to come back from this.
I was a freaking inarguable monstrosity of a mess.
It didn’t matter that this whole ordeal was over.
I’d royally screwed up. I wasn’t right for him.
There was no way this hadn’t woken him up from whatever spell I’d managed to cast over him the past few weeks.
He must want me out of his life for good now.
Any moments of closeness between us felt like distant memories.
“What are you talking about?” he asked. He looked tired. So tired.
“I just wanted to solve my own problem for once,” I said.
He dragged a hand over his chin and adjusted his glasses, though they were barely hanging on. He scanned my face, and a million thoughts were clearly spinning through his mind. I was curious which one he’d settle on first. He took a step toward me, and I retreated instinctively. He frowned.
“Do you know how scared I was when you sent that vague text?” he asked, obviously being careful with his tone. “I know you, and I knew you were doing something stupid. Irresponsible.”
I looked away from him, keeping my eyes trained firmly on the ground. “That’s me,” I admitted, all my fight gone.
Reid started pacing in front of me, waving his hands in the air. “I nearly had a heart attack when West drove us over here. And then Jackson telling me you were inside? How could you do that?”
I kept quiet, letting him seethe. I deserved it. It was a reckless plan. Classic Hazel.
“My car is down that street,” I finally said, pointing. “I can drive you home. We should probably get your cut cleaned up.”
He reached up and swiped at the small gash, smearing some blood onto his fingers. He brought his hand in front of his face, looking surprised. As if he’d forgotten he’d just been hit in the face because of me.
Without waiting to be berated further, I brushed by him, walking toward my car. Reid followed me wordlessly. A tension hung over us. It felt a lot like I was headed to my own execution.
The soft meow that came from my backpack was my only comfort.
Once at my car, I opened the back door, setting Vermont carefully in the back seat.
Reid slid into the passenger side, remaining silent.
I wanted to beg him to talk to me, but then figured nothing good could come from that, so I turned the radio on instead.
The drive went by in a blur. You know those moments when you were conscious you were driving, but couldn’t actually remember it?
Like a phantom took over and was operating for you for a bit?
That’s what the drive home was like. Could’ve been hours, for how aware I was.
The entire time, I was mostly focused on holding back tears.
Funny, I should have been on cloud nine. I had Vermont back. I would get my winnings in the next few days, and I’d be able to set myself up for a better financial future. But relief and happiness remained completely out of reach.
And it was all due to the tragic nature of the situation seated directly next to me.
Reid was pissed. And I figured he was done with me.
That cast a shadow over everything. I’d hoped to get Vermont back and show him I’d solved my own problem.
Instead, I’d roped him into the rescue and gotten him beat up.
I was a trainwreck. He’d be lucky to jump out now before I caused him any real damage.
“I can’t believe you’re so irresponsible,” he whispered, staring straight ahead.
Yep, there it was.
“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice small. All I could do was apologize and get out of his hair as quickly as possible.
“Anything could have happened to you.”
“I know.”
He sighed and shook his head. “What a dick. I knew that guy looked like bad news.”
“He sucks,” I agreed, eyes on the road.
Silence fell over us again as I drove us the rest of the way. I gulped down the lump in my throat.
When I pulled into the driveway, the crushing sense of finality washed over me. Reid unbuckled and turned to look at me, but I was already out of the car with Vermont.
I pulled off the spare key he’d given me, unwinding it from my keychain. I unlocked the front door for likely the last time, and walked inside, setting the key on the shelf in the entry. Reid was at my back.
“What are you doing?”
I pulled my boots off and set Vermont down. I didn’t want to take him out of the carrier in Reid’s house. I didn’t want to make a mess.
“I can get my stuff together pretty quickly.” I moved into the kitchen without waiting for him to respond. If I stopped to think too hard about this, I’d cry, and I didn’t want to cry in front of Reid. Not now.
Before heading back to my room, I stopped at the sink and wet a paper towel. I turned to Reid. “For your cut.”
He took it from me and pressed it against the dried blood. “What are you talking about? You can’t leave right now. Callum knows where you live. I’m not letting that guy get near you.”
I shrugged. “I doubt he’ll come after me. I got him pretty good in the balls. With any luck, maybe I did permanent damage.”
His lip curved up at that, but it fell when he took in my downcast face.
“Can you slow down for a second and talk to me?” he asked, his tone softer than it had been in the car.
I sighed. “I don’t really want to talk about how careless and reckless I am right now, if that’s okay. I’m tired.”
He blew out a breath and shook his head before narrowing his eyes. “I’m sorry for going all scolding mode on you, but I was just scared. You scared me. Something way worse could have happened. You could have gotten hurt.”
My heart lifted a little at his words, but I could still barely look at him for fear of what I’d find there.
“I get it. You’re upset. I’ll just get out of here.” I tried to turn away from him again but he grabbed my arm, holding on gently.
“You’re right. I am upset. I’m allowed to be upset with you, Hazel. Especially when you do stupid shit. But that doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere, or that I want you to go anywhere.”
I blinked up at him, finally meeting his pleading eyes.
“Please, just talk to me,” he said.
“About what?” I asked, still struggling to believe him.
His eyes scanned mine before he let out a ragged sigh. “Look, I think I know why you went alone today. West said something to you last night that upset you—”
“It’s fine,” I said quickly.