Chapter 29
Ipulled out my phone to text Ashley that I’d come home, and tell her she should stay and enjoy herself. There was no point in ruining both our nights.
But as soon as I touched the screen to unlock it, it lit up with alerts.
Sixteen texts, all from Craig. Fuck. I started trembling all over. I took a deep breath and unlocked my phone.
Great, there were five voice messages too.
Shit. I sat on the couch, opened the texts and scrolled to the first one.
It was time stamped at five-seventeen.
I miss you baby.
I know you miss me too.
What are you doing today?
I bet you’re sitting home alone and regret leaving me.
Why aren’t you answering me?
Where are you?
Who are you with?
Why aren’t you answering your phone?
You need to answer me.
I’m worried about you.
What the fuck Emily.
You can’t just ignore me.
You bitch answer your phone!
You’re with some guy aren’t you?
You better pick up when I call you.
You bitch. You’ll pay for this.
My breath was coming in short, ragged spurts as I finished reading his texts. The time-stamped on the last one was nine-forty-two.
With shaking fingers I opened my voicemail app and hit play on the earliest message.
Craig had tried to sound sweet, concerned, but I could hear the anger behind it. He didn’t try as hard in the second message, and by the fourth he’d given up the pretense. In the fifth, his hateful, angry words were slurred so badly I could barely understand him. After a few seconds, I heard a thud and dead air until my phone cut the message off.
I can’t fucking believe this. The day had started so well, great in fact. But now I had one guy tell me I was a mistake after kissing me, and another threatening to tie me up, drag me home, and teach me a lesson.
I wiped at the tears rolling down my cheeks.
I told myself it sounded like Craig had passed out so I had nothing to worry about. And he’s way too drunk to drive. The cops were always out in full force on holiday weekends, especially ones that involved a lot of drinking, so he’d never get to Weatherford without getting pulled over. Assuming he’s in Houston.
I got up, looked out the window, and sighed in relief when I saw a familiar car parked out front. SSI was here. That was fast. I sucked in a deep breath and felt some of the tension leave my shoulders as I exhaled. If Craig somehow got here, they’d see him and stop him. I tried convincing myself there was nothing to worry about, but it didn’t work.
I saw Ashley get out of a truck, which I assumed was AJ’s, then let herself in with the key I’d given her yesterday.
“Emily? Are you okay?” She closed the distance and pulled me into a hug.
How does she know? Did Jamie tell her?
I decided to talk to Ashley before messaging Jamie. I couldn’t handle talking to him after what had happened, and the last thing I wanted right now was run to him crying about Craig.
I shook my head but didn’t answer. It was pretty obvious I wasn’t okay. Which problem do I tell her about first?
“What happened with Jamie?” Ashley asked, saving me the trouble of having to decide. She walked me to the couch, then sat next to me and put her arm around me.
Could this night get any worse? Guilt washed over me because I’d cock-blocked my best friend. Or whatever the female equivalent was. It wasn’t my biggest concern, but it was the easiest, least painful one, to think about.
“I kissed Jamie, and,” I sniffled, “and he said kissing me was a mistake.”
“What the fuck.” My head snapped up when I heard Chris’s voice from the doorway.
Shit, I didn’t hear him come in. My night had officially gotten worse.I was already upset about Jamie, worried about Craig, and feeling guilty for ruining Ashley’s night, the last thing I needed was to add my brother’s self-righteous anger to my list of problems.
My phone buzzed, alerting me to a text message. I held my breath as I picked it up, scared it might be Craig again.
But it was Jamie. Ashley read the text over my shoulder, “Jamie’s here.”
Before I could say anything, or even process that Jamie was outside, Chris said, “I’ll handle this.” Then he stalked out the door looking like he wanted to kill his best friend. The sound of the door when he slammed it made me jump.
Vicky sat next to me as I buried my face in my hands and cried.
This is all too much.