Chapter 17 #2
I lift my hand, preventing him from saying anything that might hurt me more.
“No, Justin, I’m truly, wholeheartedly done.
With you and with this story. Especially with you.
We talked about what happened all those years ago.
I told you my side of the story. You should have known that I wouldn’t say anything mean to somebody who went through what Alicia went through.
” I shake my head. “And yet, you’re so quick to blame me.
Again. And again. And again.” Then I add tiredly, “Please, go.” I turn around to go fetch a new pot of coffee.
For a moment there, a day ago, I thought everything was possible. Turns out, not everything.
“Kay…” he says quietly behind me. The short pet name and the tone he’s using almost make me want to cave in.
Almost . “I didn’t know what to think. Alright?
I didn’t. My baby sister came home crying after everything she’s been through, and I just…
” He rakes his hand through his already messy hair.
“I didn’t wait for the clarification. I just want to protect my sister. ”
Marina comes out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. “Go home, Justin. Sort out your shit first.” Her eyes are thin, angry slits.
“Kayla,” he calls out, but Marina cuts him off. “Go, Justin. You’ve done enough.” I can see his reflection in the small mirror over the bar. He hesitates for a moment, and then he walks out.
“Thank you,” I say quietly to Marina. And even though I’m grateful for her mediation, I’m left wondering where the conversation would go if she hadn’t said anything. I kind of understand him, I do, but I have to think of myself too.
“Don’t thank me, honey. If I knew you were done with him, I’d have chopped his balls off a long time ago.
He doesn’t deserve you.” A sad chuckle escapes me at her statement.
“He doesn’t.” Her voice is firm. “He never did. You’re so much better than him or any of his buddies.
You’re much better than most people in general.
” She walks to the kitchen. “Now, go back to work, deton’ka . This durak doesn’t deserve your time.”
I laugh at her calling me a little baby and Justin a moron . Phrases I became well acquainted with. She is so Marina. I don’t know what I would do without her in my life.
I lock up the diner and walk to my car. A big, about six- and half-foot, surprise of a bear in human form is waiting for me, leaning on the driver’s side door of my Jeep.
“What are you doing here, Alex?” I ask, stopping in front of him.
“We need to talk, Kayla.” He sighs.
“We really don’t.” I wait for him to remove his massive body from my door so I can get in. He can be intimidating, but not to me. He never was. I’ve been scared of Justin at certain points in my life, but never of Alex. He just doesn’t have that mean streak that Justin does. That truly evil streak.
“We do. I owe you an apology.” That stops me in my tracks, and I look at him curiously. “Yeah.” He sighs and wipes his face with his hand. The universal gesture of a frustrated male. “I’ve been thinking about it. ”
“About what?” I cock my head to the side.
“About that .”
“What?” I narrow my eyes. I want him to say it.
He growls. “You know what, Kayla.”
“I really don’t.” I’m having so much fun fucking with him at this point. Alex the Shy Grump is a better version than the old Alex. This one seems… more real.
He growls louder. “ That .” He points at the space between us. “I was quick to judge you. And I’m sorry for that.”
I look at him suspiciously. “So, Justin talked to you, then.”
“No.” He blows out a breath. “I haven’t seen him in quite some time. A few days at least.” He chews on his lip. “To think of it, I haven’t seen him in a week. And he stopped pestering me with this damn trip he’s been asking me to go on for so long. Hmm.”
That comes as a surprise to me. “So why are you here?”
“Because I’ve been thinking about what you said.
” He pushes off my car, his full height looming over me.
“I know you. And whoever did that… it’s just not you.
” He looks so sincere, and it warms my heart that he came to this conclusion on his own, without Justin’s involvement or knowing the real story.
He chose to believe me , and that right there means more than anything to me.
“And besides that, I kind of owe you.” At my questioning look, he explains, “You believed in me when not many people did. I should have returned the honor. Forgive me; I’m an asshole. ”
Poor Alex, he’s referring to the situation with his ex-girlfriend Adison and her allegations against him. The whole town blamed the poor guy for something he A, didn’t do, and B, didn’t have control over. His situation reminds me of someone else’s, hmm—mine .
I feel a burn of tears behind my eyes.
“Oh no. I’m too late, aren’t I?” He wipes his hand over his face again. “I’m such an idiot, I’m sorry.”
“No, no, no!” I rush to stop his self-punishing. “It’s just… it means so much to me that you said that.”
His sigh is heavy. “I know I shouldn’t have judged you before I talked to you.
It’s just… not right. And also, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.
” Here it goes. I knew it was too good to be true.
Alex notices the change in my face and rushes to stop this train wreck in my mind.
“Wait. Hold on.” He lifts his hand up in a stopping gesture.
“What I wanted to say is that, back at the diner, you sounded like you knew what I was talking about, and before that, you always had this look on your face.”
“What look?”
“Like… you didn’t know what was happening.” He takes off his ever-present cap, rakes his hand through his shaggy hair, and puts the cap back on. I can’t believe Freya hasn’t taken scissors to it yet.
“That’s because I didn’t .”
“You didn’t know why Justin hated you so much?” He narrows his eyes suspiciously at me.
I grind my teeth. It was one thing to assume he hated me and another to hear it from his best friend’s mouth. “Yeah, I didn’t know because I didn’t do anything wrong.” I’m watching him carefully, trying to figure out if he sincerely believes me or is just saying as much.
“Shit.” He leans on the car and pulls off his cap. “I thought you knew and played?—”
“Dumb?” I suggest helpfully.
“Yeah.” His shoulders sag. “That’s so fucked up.”
“Tell me about it.” I snort loudly, sounding like an oinking pig .
“How did you find out the cause then?”
“We had… a talk.” For Alex’s sake, that’s what I’d call my standoff with his best friend. “And Justin told me.”
“What happened after the talk ?” Yeah, I didn’t fool him.
“Nothing.” I shrug. “We went our separate ways.”
“Is it okay if I ask you to share what happened that night?” He treads carefully.
“I have nothing to hide. You know the story about Mark and Ashley, right?”
“Which part?” His eyes dart around, avoiding my gaze.
“That they were fucking behind Justin’s back.”
He winces. “Yeah, I know. It’s not like he was that upset, though. She wasn’t exactly what you’d call ‘a girlfriend.’”
“What would you call it then?” I raise a brow.
“Fuck buddies, maybe.” He shrugs his enormous shoulders.
“Well, his fuck buddy, him, Mark, and I were the only ones who knew about the fight that evening. Mark didn’t say anything because he was selling weed at the time—it was the most profitable job for trailer park inhabitants, and he needed the money to take care of his sister.
He would have been taken in right after the phone call.
He’s all his sister had; he would do anything to stay with her.
I’ve never called the cops on anybody in my life, and I’m not planning to break that record anytime soon.
Who does that leave?” I look at him pointedly.
“Damn” is all he says for a while. “Why would she call the cops on her boyfriend after he tried to save her from being raped?”
“Boyfriend?” I question him with a smirk.
“Fuck buddy,” he corrects himself with a sheepish smile .
“I wonder the same thing,” I say, locking my eyes with his.
“Shit.” He exhales.
“Shit is right.” The moment he figured out what I knew for years already.
“He wasn’t raping her.” He lets out a short whistle.
“Nope,” I say with a pop. “I saw her sitting in the car, smiling. She was enjoying the show. Mark is poor trailer trash like me?—”
“Kayla—” Alex tries to interrupt me.
I stop him with a raised hand. “Don’t worry, I’m used to it.
Maybe Mark was better in the sack, and she didn’t want to lose her new fuck buddy .
But Mark was poor, and Justin is rich from a good family.
A better choice for the long run.” I shrug my shoulders.
“Who really knows, that’s just my theory. ”
“That’s why he fucking disappeared. He’s probably digesting this fucked-up info.” He scratches his head.
“I don’t know.” Because I don’t. I expected a bit of a different outcome after all the revelations, to be completely honest.
“I bet it stings to know you’ve slept with a snake for so long,” he says with a sigh.
I shrug again.
“I heard he stopped by today at the diner.” The tone of his voice changes, but I can’t figure out what it means.
I whip my head toward him at the speed of light. “How do you know that?” He smirks. “Never mind. Small towns.” I shake my head in disgust. “Sometimes, I really hate it here.”
“Freya will be really upset,” he says quietly.
“What are you talking about?”
“I know you’re leaving. I can tell you’re fed up with all of it. And I think she knows it too. You should tell her that yourself at the very least. You owe her that much.” When he puts it like that, I feel like shit.
“I know.” I hang my head in shame. “I just don’t know how. Did you tell her that you stopped by before?”
“Hell no, I like my balls attached to my body.” He chuckles. “She’d kill me for the way I talked to you.”