Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
K AYLA
I try to call Justin all day long, but he doesn’t pick up the phone.
Then I text him, and all of the messages stay ‘unread.’ It’s not like him.
We haven’t seen each other in a couple days, and the last time we spoke was yesterday.
He seemed a little off, saying he had some things to take care of.
I let it go because if he wanted to, he’d tell me.
Plus, I’m not in a position where I can demand answers—our relationship is very new and not even official.
By four in the afternoon, I begin to worry.
“Hey, Marina.”
“What’s up?” she asks from the coffee machine, chugging her fifth cup of coffee today. Well, someone must have been busy last night. Any other time I’d ask, but today my mind is ten thousand miles away.
“I feel like something might be wrong with Justin.” Her face changes from relaxed to concerned—it looks like somebody’s grown to like the rough guy. “Do you think you’ll be okay if I take a break now?”
“Sure, go ahead.” She waves me off. “Call if you need me.”
“Alright.” I take my apron off, grab my purse and hurry to Justin’s place. I don’t bother taking the car because it’s only a ten-minute walk, but I make it in six.
The garage is open, and the guys are working. I spot Paul and walk to him. “Hey, Paul. Have you seen Justin today?”
“Nah,” he says. “He’s probably sleeping.” He points to the stairs at the back.
“Okay. I’ll check on him.”
“Sure.” He shrugs and goes back under the hood of the car he’s working on. “Holler if you need my help.”
“Will do.” I will not. I don’t know the extent of their relationship, so I’ll keep whatever I find to myself.
I run up the stairs and go inside the apartment.
“Justin?” I call. “Hey, Jus, are you here?”
He doesn’t respond, so I walk around to check on things.
When I push the bedroom door open, I see a person on the bed.
On top of Justin.
He’s sleeping on his stomach, and a woman’s body is wrapped around him like a snake around a tree.
When I see them, I let out a cry of pain.
An arrow shoots through my chest, leaving a hole.
All my happiness evaporates in an instant.
It’s slowly dissolving into nothingness. I can’t breathe, and I can’t move.
He doesn’t wake up from my cry because he doesn’t hear me. I, out of anyone, should know that he sleeps like the dead after a good fucking. Every time we do it, his lights are out for hours. I can blast music in the morning and start vacuuming at the same time, and he would still sleep through it.
The woman stirs and looks up. I don’t know her name, but I’ve seen her with Adison, one of Ashley’s friends, around town.
I think she is from Springfield. She looks thoroughly fucked: her eyelids are heavy, her hair is a mess, and she has burns on her face and neck from his stubble.
I know what they look like because I see them every morning in the mirror… Used to see.
Disheveled pieces of clothing are scattered everywhere around the room.
I swallow a huge lump in my throat, not bothering to wipe the tears that begin streaming down my cheeks.
The woman smiles as she places a hand on Justin’s back and starts massaging it while he’s out cold.
I don’t want to face him when he wakes up, so I don’t plan on waiting, and besides that, I don’t think he’d want me here. He made that pretty clear.
I turn around and walk outside through the back door.
When I’m on the ground, I find Jake leaning on his cruiser, looking happy and smug.
“What happened, trailer trash? You look like somebody’s kicked your puppy.
” He chuckles at his own unfunny joke. I ignore him.
“Oh, let me see. You probably just met Claudia, Jus’s friend.
Yeah, they’ve been hooking up for a few weeks now.
” His face changes to thoughtful. “Oh, wait. You didn’t really think that he was into you, did you?
It’s clear as day for everyone that he was fucking his anger out on you. ” He smirks, delivering the last blow.
I don’t respond, but I wipe my tears away and go to my car. And he follows .
“What? You don’t have anything to say?” He falls in step behind me.
He keeps chatting as I wipe the wetness from my face away.
“C’mon, what did you expect?” He laughs, and I try not to listen.
When we are at the front of the building, he is still there, still following, delivering death blow after death blow, and each one lands in just the right place.
I don’t know what he wants. I’m already on the ground, so he can stop any minute now.
A huge truck slows down and then completely stops. The door opens up, and a big body steps outside. I don’t look at his face because my eyes are trained on the asphalt in front of me. I think if I look up, I’ll lose it.
“Kayla, are you okay?” Mark’s low voice sounds concerned.
“Go mind your own business,” Jake hisses.
Mark ignores him and asks again, “Kayla?”
I sniffle and wipe my eyes with my sleeve. “Yeah.”
“Get out. It’s like all the trailer trash got together in one place. Fuck.”
“Shut your mouth,” Mark growls, and I know he doesn’t care about being called names, but he doesn’t want Jake saying it about me. “Kayla.” He steps in front of me, grabs my chin, and lifts it up. “What happened?” His eyes dart between mine.
My lower lip trembles and more tears pour out of my already swollen eyes.
“Get out of here. It’s none of your business.” Jake just doesn’t know when to stop.
Mark drops my chin, steps around me, and hisses at Jake. “Right now. One warning. Go. Now.”
“Or what?”
I turn around just in time to see Mark grabbing the front of Jake’s uniform.
Oh fuck, this can’t be good. I don’t want him to get in trouble, so I jump on Mark, tugging him by his hand, the one holding Jake, and say, “Can you drive me home?” He slowly moves his attention to me.
“Now, please.” I tug on his arm, and he lets go.
Wrapping his enormous hand around my shoulders, he pulls me into his massive body and walks me to his truck, where he opens the passenger door and practically shoves me in.
“You won’t get away with it,” Jake says.
“Can’t wait to see what you got.” Mark throws back and climbs into the driver’s seat.
“You shouldn’t have done that. He’ll be an asshole to you now,” I murmur, staring at the steaming Jake.
“He always has been. Nothing new. Don’t worry.” He pats my knee. “Wanna tell me what happened?”
I violently shake my head, fighting a wave of tears.
“Okay.” He takes a deep breath. “But are you okay ? I mean physically. Did something… that you didn’t want to…” He inhales soundly. “happen?” It pains him to ask, his jaw is clenched, and his words are just a note above a real growl.
“No. Nothing like that.” I shake my head again.
“Okay. But you would tell me if it had. Right?” He sounds like a person talking to a child.
“Yeah.” I sniffle.
“Kayla.” His voice is stern.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, nothing happened with me. He didn’t force himself on me or something, if that’s what you’re assuming. I just walked in on Justin sleeping with another woman. Happy now?” I yell.
“That stupid fuck.” He grips the wheel. “Fuck him, Kayla. You’re better than him anyway. Never thought he deserved you.”
“Yeah. ”
“I’m serious.” He glances at me while keeping his attention on the road. “He doesn’t. Though I’m confused, I’ve seen you with him around town and… never mind.”
“What?” I ask, but he keeps his mouth shut. “What, Mark?”
“I mean, I thought he was into you. Like really into you. At least, it looked like that to me. Are you sure, though, about him cheating?”
“I just saw a naked chick on top of him. Both soundly sleeping. So yeah, I’d say I’m pretty sure.” My voice is drowned in sarcasm.
“Fuck. I’m sorry.” He pats my knee again. He reminds me of Alex a little, gruff and rough around the edges, but Mark has one of the biggest hearts I know, and his awkward attempt to comfort me makes my chest ache with a new force.
“Me too.” I sniffle.
“Where do you want me to take you?” he offers with a sigh.
“Can you take me to my car?”
“Sure.” Hesitating, he adds, “Can I follow you home just to make sure you’re okay?”
I sniffle and nod.
He looks surprised. “Are you really gonna tell me where you live?” He lifts a brow, and I feel a tug of a smile on my lips.
“Ready to feel special?”
He chuckles and drives me to my car and from there follows me to my home.
When he comes out of his truck and sees my trailer, he whistles. “Wow, you got a fancy one.”
“Yep,” I say proudly. “Wanna see?”
“Sure.” He follows me inside. I’m not scared of him in my space because it was never like that between us.
He always protected everybody, me included.
That’s it. I feel safe with him. Like with a big brother.
It’s not only that I trust him but also that he never, even once, has made me doubt my trust. “Nice place. I’m proud of you, Kayla,” he says after he looks around.
His tone isn’t mocking; it’s genuine. I feel my cheeks heat up, and the ache inside my chest subsides a notch.
“Where do you live now?” I ask him, realizing I never have before. He just always showed up at the right time in the right place, but I don’t know his story.
“I bought a house three years ago.” Then he adds with a cheeky smile. “On the good side of town.”
“Oh, I bet ‘the good side’ loved it!” I laugh, imagining those uptight people being neighbors with trailer trash. We are allowed to call ourselves that because we don’t mean it.
“Didn’t they?” He joins in, laughing. “My new neighbor, Mrs. Jenkins, we literally share a driveway. She used to call the cops on me every day. But once I started cutting her grass when I was doing mine, she turned into a fairy godmother and started bringing me cold lemonade, batting her lashes.” He shudders.
“Don’t tell me the lemonade was so bad,” I say as I open the fridge, and he laughs. “Want something?”