“No, I just inhaled too much smoke. I tried to put it out, but I couldn’t.”
People gather, and everyone starts telling everyone else that the police were already called, that a fire truck should be here any second, but there are no sirens. No cops. No firefighters. No ambulance. By the time a truck does arrive, the house is consumed in a wall of flames. Someone must have called and scolded them for taking so long. They keep the fire from spreading, but it’s too late for Nate’s house.
After I’m examined, I’m sent away in an ambulance, even after protesting. I swallowed too much smoke, and I can barely breathe. They want to keep me for observation. I want to say no, but it’s the best way out of here. I go knowing I’ll never see Nate again. But he’s alive and at that moment, that’s all that matters.
CHAPTER 12
As I lie on a bed in the ER, I stare at the ceiling feeling nauseous. I’m not sure if I want to barf from guilt or smoke, but I feel sick. When I hear his voice, I want to die. Why is he here? They had to have told him what happened.
Nate rips open the curtain and rushes toward me. He doesn’t stop when he sees me covered in soot, lying down. He throws his arms around me and hugs me for a moment, and only releases me when I start coughing again. “I thought you were burned. My God, Kerry, what the hell were doing?”
“Cooking,” I lie. My gaze slips across his long enough to see that he senses the lie.
He leans in close, and whispers into my ear, “You tell me right now what the fuck you were doing, and if you leave out one little detail, I’ll tell them you lit that fire on purpose.” When he pulls back, his eyes meet mine.
Icy fear drips down my spine, and I’d do anything to avoid this conversation. I hedge, “I didn’t mean to—”
“Bullshit,” he hisses. “For one, I didn’t know you were there. Second, you’re not so stupid that you’d throw water on a grease fire. Third—” he reaches for my phone on the counter and presses the button. He flips to the call log and shows me the screen. “You never called for help.”
“Nate—”
He doesn’t let me talk. Instead, he plows ahead, “This was intentional, but for the life of me, I don’t know why. So explain it! Tell me why you fucking torched my house before I make you regret ever running into me.” He’s pissed. His body is a mass of muscle, corded tight, ready to explode. It seems like he wants to punch a hole in the wall.
I can’t stop trembling, but I manage to say it. “Ferro wants your prop—”
His cold eyes regard me wearily. “When did you talk to him? How did you talk to him? I haven’t even spoken with him, so how the fuck did you have a conversation with my asshole father before me?”
I wince and try to speak loudly, to argue back, but I can’t. I start coughing and then manage through a raw throat. “It was an accident. I went to see the lawyer who sent the letter and Ferro was there. He kind of thought I was dangerous, and I let him think it. He gave you back your house.”
Nate growls, “Why?”
“I may have threatened him.”
“You threatened him?” I nod. “What’d you say?”
“I may have offered to make him a eunuch.”
“What the fuck were you thinking?” His hands fly as he tries to keep his voice to a whisper, but he can’t. Instead, he’s in my face, hissing at me while I’m trapped in the hospital bed.
“Nate,” I say his name softly and try to touch him, but he jerks away.
“Enough bullshit, Kerry. How did that lead to the fire? Tell me. Now.”
I explain most of the story as quickly as I can, intentionally deleting some parts—like the part with his father threatening to kill him. No kid should ever have to hear that. The fact is omitted. But without that piece of information, it makes me look like I did this on purpose. There’s no Ferro forcing my hand, no threats, no blackmail. It looks like his fuckbuddy lit his house on fire.
“Nate, I’m sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I am. I loved you, Kerry. I can’t fucking believe it, but I knew I was falling for you. I tried to stay away, and I couldn’t. You were worth risking everything to me. What was I to you? Just another conquest? Another mind to screw with before ripping my entire fucking life apart? You disgust me.”
“Nathan…” I reach for him and then drop my hand. My face pinches tightly, as I try not to cry. It’s better if he thinks I don’t care, but when I hear him say he loves me, I’m gutted. Breath leaves my body, and I want to cry. “You love me?”
His face fills with scorn. “I did. I don’t now, and I never will again. I don’t make the same mistake twice, and you were a mistake, Kerry. Stay away from me. Drop my class. Leave this college. If I ever see you again, I’ll report this.”
He turns and leaves before I have a chance to say a word. I may have saved the man I love, but I lost him in the process.
CHAPTER 13
Josh picks me up from the hospital with Beth in tow. “Are you all right? What the hell happened?”