Chapter 15
HONEY
“I don’t know if he planned it or if he just realized that we were over and…
he panicked. I couldn’t get out of the car.
It was too late.” I stare out at the sawgrass and wax myrtle hugging the sides of the paths and extending into the seemingly endless forest. But instead of the trees, the steep, winding road rushes toward me, too fast—a cliff on one side, a rock wall on the other.
“Wren. Look at me.” I meet John’s eyes, staring blankly at him, my whole body shaking, until his face takes shape—his beautiful blue eyes, blazing, his tight, hard jawline, and I’m back with him, sitting in a pickup with a man who’s looking at me like he wants to burn down the world.
The anger in his eyes is different than Trey’s, though.
It’s the kind of anger I can take comfort in.
The kind of anger that protects instead of bends and breaks.
“Trey told me I had two choices,” I continue, my voice hoarse.
“I could either get back with him. Or, he would drive the two of us off the road. The final goodbye. Just like I had said.” I don’t look at John when I tell him the next part.
I can’t. I don’t want to see the judgement in his eyes.
The decision I made. “I chose option two. Death.”
We sit in silence, my whole body shaking, until he finally says, “There’ll be time to talk about this more later. If you want to. You want to stay here while I get your things?”
I steal a glance, then look away and say quietly, “You haven’t changed your mind?”
“Why would I do that, Tiny?”
“I need to bring Monster.”
“Of course.”
I unbuckle my seatbelt, then wince. “I want to go in. But can you help me?”
“Til the day I die.”
“I just meant with Monster’s bag of dog food. It weighs almost as much as I do.”
“Still mean it. I’ll help you ‘til the day I die.”