Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
CHASE
It was dark outside when we woke from our power nap. I was hungry as shit, but before I could even think about food, Elena and I needed to have a serious conversation.
“It’s time to talk about it, Sweetness.”
She tensed in my arms. Her cheek was pressed to my chest. While my fingertips trailed gently up and down her spine, my other hand held her head to me.
“You can’t go back.”
“I have to,” she said quietly.
“No fucking way,” I snapped.
Elena sat up so quickly, I was worried she might have sprained something. She turned and swung her legs over the bed before standing and hurrying to her suitcase. She pulled on sleep shorts and a tiny camisole that barely covered any skin.
“Elena.”
“You do not control me, Chase,” she said as she whirled on me, dark hair flying as she spun.
“What?” I asked, taken aback. I climbed out of bed to stand before her, stark naked. “Of course, I don’t control you. But you can’t go back to that house”—I pointed, in what direction, I wasn’t sure—“if he is hurting you.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I told you, I have to.”
“Why?!” I threw my arms up in the air, frustration getting the better of me. “Explain it to me, Elena, because you have bruises on your body that tell me it is not safe for you there.”
“I’ve survived this long,” she whispered, eyes trained on the floor. “What’s a few more months?”
My chest cracked wide open. I reached out and pulled her to me, tucking her against my chest. “You’re killin’ me here, Sweetness. Why can’t you just stay?”
“Because I have a plan, Chase.” Her arms were pinned between us, fists curled under her chin as I held her in place. I couldn’t see her eyes, but I could hear the determination in her voice. “If I stick to the plan, everything will fall into place in a few more months.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I can’t let you go back there.”
Wrong thing to say, jackass.
Elena pushed against my chest to free herself, and I let her go. I would never use my strength to overpower her.
“You don’t let me do anything.” Her voice wavered, but she didn’t move. “I make my own decisions, and clearly, spending tonight with you was a bad one. You can’t handle this, so I think you should go.”
My jaw dropped. “You— What? No.” I reached for her, but she took a large step backward, away from me.
Fuckfuckfuck. She was building her walls right back up, right in front of my face, brick by brick. I finally had her, and I was already screwing it up.
Typical Chase.
“Please don’t ask me to leave you like this.”
She just stared at me, eyes hard, unforgiving.
“Fuck,” I muttered as I scrubbed a hand over my face. “I’m sorry, Elena.”
I willed her to believe me, to believe that I would do whatever she needed me to. But fuck, I did not want her to go back there. I couldn’t stand the idea of her being hurt again by that bastard.
“You’ll call me? If something happens?”
She gave me some sort of half shrug, half head shake that I didn’t know what to make of. I stared at her for a beat—her dark hair, her sad eyes, the stubborn jut of her chin. I memorized as much of her face as I could in that moment, just in case I never had a chance to see it again.
Elena watched me dress. She watched me walk to the door. And she watched me leave.
All without saying another fucking word.
Nothing healed a heartbreak faster than a dozen beers and a few lines.
Probably shouldn’t have shown up to the cidery construction site high as a kite and drunk as a skunk.
But what difference did it make?
Once a fuckup, always a fuckup.