19. Taylor
Chapter nineteen
Taylor
“Go doll yourself up. I’m takin’ you out for dinner. I want a steak before I get back on the road.”
Randall drives long-haul trucks for whoever he can get a paying job from. He’s got a semi-tractor, but I thought he left it behind in Virginia. I never saw it, but he must have it stashed somewhere close.
He’s been driving around in a small two-door pickup that I’ve seen him tow behind his semi.
“Where’s your truck?” I ask.
“Never you mind. Just do what I told you. I’m fucking hungry.”
Hope floods me. If he’s going back on the road, he’ll be gone for a few days, maybe a week if he’s going across country.
Moving into the bathroom, I plug in my curling iron and start combing my hair. I feel the phone in my pocket vibrate.
I dig it out and check the screen.
It’s Player. I’ve been able to keep our communications hidden over the last few days Randall has been here.
The doctors kept my mother overnight, and when I confided in Kayla that Randall had shown up, we worked a plan where she insisted Mom go to her house so Kayla could take care of her.
Mom wasn’t thrilled. She wanted to come home, and I don’t blame her, but it’s all I could think to do.
Now, if Randall is leaving, maybe I can return to Virginia and lead him there.
That’s the plan, unless I get brave enough to go looking at the clubhouse for a weapon.
Maybe with him gone for a few days, I’ll be able to breathe again.
I’ve been walking on eggshells since he showed up, nervous as a cat and afraid any little thing I do will set him off.
I read the text from Player.
Player: How’s my baby? I miss you. We’re at a gas station in Vegas, but I want to call you tonight when we stop. Please answer this time.
I smile, wishing so badly he were here. I’ve got to figure out a way to sneak a call to him later.
Suddenly I feel a presence at my side, and the phone is jerked from my hand.
Randall fills the doorframe, and his eyes are molten with anger as he reads the words on the screen. Then he grabs me by the throat.
“Who the fuck is Player? You been fucking around on me, bitch?”
He backs me against the sink, and the vanity cuts into my hip.
I claw at his hand. “He’s no one. Just someone I grew up with.”
“Don’t fucking lie to me, you little slut.” His eyes blaze and then fall to the curling iron.
He reaches for it and holds it in front of my face. Terror fills me, and I start begging.
“Please don’t do that. It’s not what you think. I swear.”
“I should burn your fucking face. Then no man would look at you, but I wouldn’t want you in my sight, either.” His eyes shift to my arm as I clutch at the hand that squeezes my throat.
A moment later he presses the iron to my forearm, and unbearable pain like white-hot lightning jolts through me.
I jump and thrash and twist away.
Randall laughs and releases me with a shove. I fall to the floor, clutching my arm, the skin is burned with a scorched mark the length of a cigar. I begin trembling, wondering what to do.
I hear Randall slam out of the door, and I call Kayla with shaking hands. I’m crying so hard, she can barely understand my words. “I n-need h-help.”
She’s here in minutes. I’m still on the floor in the bathroom crying, but Randall left the door unlocked, so she finds me quickly and gathers me close. “Baby, what happened?”
I wince when she brushes my burn.
She pulls back, and her gaze drops to my arm. She covers her mouth, and her eyes fill with tears. “He did that to you?”
I nod.
“I’m going to kill him. Where is he?”
“He left.”
Kayla hooks an arm around my waist and pulls me to my feet. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you to the emergency room.”
Before I know it, I’m hustled into her car and on the way to the hospital. I argue with her the whole way there. She wants me to file a police report, but I know that would only provoke Randall more, and even if they arrest him, they’d eventually have to release him, and then I’d pay.
In the end, I tell the hospital staff I slipped and fell against my curling iron.
The doctor who treats me looks like he doesn’t believe me, but he doesn’t push for more, except to offer to keep me overnight if that will help. I tell him it’s not necessary.
He gives me a shot for pain and a prescription for painkillers.
After he leaves, a nurse comes in and passes me a card with a women’s shelter written on it. “Just in case you ever need it.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, and Kayla and I leave.
With my arm bandaged, Kayla takes me home. She wants me to stay with her, but I don’t want Mom to see that I’m hurt and get upset, and it's better if I’m there when Randall returns.
After Kayla leaves, I do a video call with Player, needing to see his face right now. I try to be happy so he doesn’t suspect anything is wrong, and I keep my bandaged arm hidden from him. Just seeing his smiling face and hearing his voice gives me the strength to get through this.
“How’s my girl?” he asks.
“Fine. How are you?”
“Good. We’ll be in Cali tomorrow. It’s been a long fucking trip, but fun.
Blew a tire yesterday. That was a bitch—changing it in the fucking desert of Nevada.
We’re all pretty beat. The heat’s been unbearable.
Can’t wait to see the damn ocean, I’ll tell you that.
” He chuckles, then sobers. “How’s your mom doing? ”
“Better now. She had a fall and ended up in the hospital, but now Kayla has her at her house so she can take care of her.”
“So, you’re all alone?”
“Yep.” The lie comes so easily, and guilt flares under my skin.
“Well, enjoy the alone time. When I get back, I’m taking all your time. I may lock us in a room together for three days and fuck your brains out.”
“How romantic,” I tease.
He laughs. “You think I’m joking?”
I smile. “I hope not.”
“All right, angel. I’ll let you get some sleep. Flash me those pretty tits before I go.”
I do, and he whistles. “Damn, girl. You are fucking hot. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you, babe.”
It’s the first time he’s said it, and my heart catches in my throat. I swallow and repeat them back. “I love you, too, Player.”
“That’s good to hear. Sweet dreams, angel.”
And then he’s gone, and I’m alone.
He loves me. He loves me.
A calm settles over me.
Somehow, everything will work out. Somehow my life will turn around. It has to, because Player loves me.
I lay awake in bed a long time, but Randall never returns. Perhaps he’s already left town. Perhaps he’s up at the Crystal Palace getting drunk with a stripper on his lap. Perhaps he got arrested for a DUI. Perhaps I don’t give a damn.
I should be so lucky.
When the shot starts to wear off, my burn throbs, and I take a pain pill.
Yawning, I lay my head on the pillow and drift to sleep, dreaming of being held tight in Player’s arms.