I need to distance myself from him. He’s not good for me. Shit, the flames Erica and Colby have ignited are nothing compared to the inferno Tanner could cause.
Pushing through to my bedroom, I come to an immediate stop, my heart shattering as I fall to my knees and break.
I LEAN, YOU LEAN.
The words scrawled across my mirror kill me, and all the pent-up aggression, pain, and fear break through the surface and claim me. Hot tears spring to my eyes, and I drop my face into my hands, sobbing uncontrollably.
Tanner’s words are like a searing blade struck right through my chest. He’s trying to tell me he’s got me, that no matter what, he’ll have my back, and that he’s sorry. I saw it in his eyes this morning. He wants to forget about everything and go back to the way things were, where nothing has to change between us, but so much already has.
I wasn’t kidding when I told him we were done.
It’s already too late.
He crushed me, just as I always knew he would.
But those words. Why did he have to use those words? I lean, you lean. They come filled with the promise of so much more, and all it does is act as a reminder of the things I can’t have anymore, the things my heart aches for.
If I had enough time, I could have fallen in love with Tanner Morgan. Hell, maybe I already am. But I guess I’ll never know.
Chapter 3
TANNER
My arm rears back and I launch it forward, releasing the glass from my hand and listening as it shatters against the kitchen wall. This shouldn’t be happening. Bri shouldn’t have been arrested like that, and she sure as fuck shouldn’t be facing charges for what happened to Addison.
I know with all my heart she had nothing to do with it. It reeks of her ex and that bitch she called a best friend.
Colby came for her neck when he rammed her into that tree and I wanted to fucking kill him, but now setting her up to take the fall … he’s coming for her soul and there ain’t no way in hell I’m about to let it happen. Brielle is better than this. I know things are about as fucked up between us as things can get, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let her take the fall.
She deserves better. I fucking owe her after the bullshit I said to her at the track. She had every right to walk away from me, and all I can do is beg for her forgiveness. Fuck, I will fall at her knees if that’s what it takes.
I was so wrong to want her to hate me. For weeks, it was all I could think about, but seeing the pain in her eyes, seeing the way her heart broke, it shattered something within me. Now that she does hate me, I’d do fucking anything to take it back. Brielle Ashford is my girl—whether I was ready to admit it or not—and there’s not a damn thing she can do to make me change my mind.
“What on earth is going on in here?” Mom demands, rushing into the kitchen after hearing the glass shatter.
I lean against the counter, bracing myself against the Italian marble as my head tips forward, trying to find the control that just keeps slipping. “It’s nothing,” I mutter, my fingers clenched against the counter. “I’ll clean it up.”
Mom stops and takes a quick glance around, her lips pressing into a hard line as she takes in the mess. “That better not have been one of my good glasses, Tanner Morgan.”
Ahhh, fuck.
Mom sees the cringe creeping across my face and lets out a heavy sigh, her gaze filling with pity. She watches me a moment before moving closer, and I shake my head, holding up a hand. “No, don’t come any closer,” I tell her, noticing she’s barefoot. “There’s glass everywhere. You’re going to cut up your feet.”
She rolls her eyes and moves across the kitchen to the storage closet. She pulls out a broom and hands it to me before settling in on one of the breakfast stools. “Well, if it cost me one of my good glasses, then you better start talking.”
Letting out a sigh, I start pushing the shattered glass into a pile, making sure to get every last piece. “I don’t know where to start,” I tell her. “The fact that I pushed Brielle away, or the fact that she was arrested during school for what happened to Addie.”
“What? The girl from next door?” Mom breathes, her eyes coming to mine and holding them captive with her sheer concern and confusion. “What are you talking about? What does she have to do with this?”
I cringe, realizing just how much Mom doesn’t know about my relationship with Brielle, but know damn well I’m not about to walk away without her knowing everything there is to know. “I’ve been… kinda dating her. At least, I was until I fucked it all up.”