Chapter 46 Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn
I don’t trust Emerson. Not now. Not with everything I know he’s hiding. Not with all the secrets Javi left me holding. So when he disappears up the stairs, I leave Avery and Caulder in the kitchen to stare at each other as I follow behind him.
At the top of the stairs, I catch him slinking into his room.
I hear the lock turn. I hear the shower start.
I go into my room, which happens to be next to it, the one Javi and I were in only hours ago.
If I stand here long enough, if I close my eyes, I can imagine he’s still here. I can feel his hands on my shoulders.
I’m crying when I open my eyes. I grab a pillow off my bed, a leather throw pillow that feels like the couch downstairs.
I resist the urge to tear it in half and instead squeeze it as hard as I can.
Like a giant stress ball. Except, unlike a regular stress ball, the pillow doesn’t pop as I squeeze it.
This is all almost over. Just a few more hours to get through until daylight.
I just need to make it until the end. It’s like a volleyball game when there’s one more set to play, just one more.
Of course, the last part is always the worst part of a game. When your body’s exhausted. When your mind’s running on fumes. When every decision seems to take just a second too long to make. When you’ve been beaten down by the other team. When you start to make bad choices.
When everything starts to add up.
I let my eyes close and push the pillow against my face, listening to Emerson’s shower and the ticking of the clock. It’s one of those things you don’t notice unless you’re listening for it, or unless it’s dead quiet.
But I hear it now.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
Tick.
Tock.