Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
“Well, that was tense,” Diego commented as he carelessly sat back down on the couch, not at all bothered by what had just happened or the fact that his ex’s dead boyfriend was now laying by my feet.
I kept my eyes locked on Damien as he turned to face me. I couldn’t bring myself to look away from him, even as I felt nausea beginning to churn in my stomach.
“Why?” I asked him quietly, my voice trembling as I tried to keep my emotions in check. I wouldn’t break—not right now.
“He fucking hit you, Hayley,” Damien told me, his voice calm and controlled despite the muscle ticking in his jaw, letting me know just how furious he still was.
“That punch was meant for you, Damien, and you know it,” I reminded him. Damien’s eyes flashed with anger at me before he smothered it. “Drake was a friend, Damien,” I choked out, tears beginning to swim in my eyes.
“Hayley—" he said hoarsely, his eyes revealing his panic as I stepped back from him.
“Don’t,” I snapped at him, swallowing hard despite the pain in my face.
I turned away from him and stormed into our room, slamming the door shut behind me and locking it. I knew a locked door wouldn’t keep Damien out if he really wanted to talk to me, but I was hoping that he was still trying to be the new Damien. If he was, I knew the new Damien wouldn’t break the door down no matter how much he wanted to.
I collapsed onto our bed and curled into a ball, stuffing my face into my pillow as my shoulders began to shake with my sobs.
I’m so sorry, Drake.
I pried my eyes open when I felt someone running their hand over my hair, their other hand holding my own, rubbing their thumb over my knuckles.
“Hayley, baby, I am so sorry,” I heard Damien quietly rasp. “I didn’t think; I’ll admit that. I was so blinded by my rage that I did the first thing that came to mind,” he admitted.
“I thought you had changed, Damien,” I whispered as I looked up at him.
“I have, darlin’. I swear I have,” he told me, his eyes boring into my own with so much intensity that it was almost hard to keep my eyes locked with his. “I’m not the same man that I was, Hayley. I swear I’m not. It’s just—fuck, when I saw him hit you, I fucking saw red. Nothing mattered except releasing the rage that I was feeling and protecting you.”
“He didn’t deserve to die, Damien,” I whispered.
He dropped his face onto my hands. “I know, baby, and I’m sorry,” he quietly replied. “I know that sorry doesn’t make up for anything, but I can’t go back and change the decision that I made.”
“I want to be alone, Damien,” I choked out, tears glistening in my eyes.
His eyes met mine, holding so much pain and sadness that it made my chest physically ache. I wanted so badly just to pretend everything was okay and pull him onto the bed with me, but I couldn’t do that. What he did wasn’t okay. A friend of mine—granted, not that great of one, but a friend, nonetheless—had died tonight because Damien had been careless and had acted on his anger.
“I’ll go,” he whispered, pressing his lips to my hands. “I’ll be around.” He swallowed hard, ripping his eyes from mine.
He pressed his lips to my temple, and I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately trying to contain my tears and the pain that I was feeling until he left the room.
“I love you,” he whispered.
But I didn’t realize that when I told him I wanted to be alone, he had taken it in the most literal sense.
Because when I woke up the next morning, some of his clothes were missing, and I was met by Miles in the kitchen instead of Damien.
“Where’s Damien?” I asked him, fearing his answer but needing to know.
Miles shrugged. “He left,” he told me. Pain squeezed my chest. “He told me to keep an eye on you, that he’ll be around. He said you were pretty torn apart about Drake and that it would probably take a while for you to want him back around again.”
“Miles, I didn’t—" I started, tears filling my eyes. I knew I had lost Drake over a huge misunderstanding, but was it wrong of me to not have wanted Damien gone for good? I had just wanted some time alone last night to try to come to terms with losing Drake—a friend. As fucked up as it was, I still would have wanted Damien to console me eventually even though he was the cause of the pain.
But I had lost Damien once, and the pain of leaving him had been just as bad as it had been when I had lost myself the first time being with him.