I slid out of the booth and rushed through the diner, pushing the glass door open with every bit of strength I could muster. The moment I hit the sidewalk, I inhaled sharply allowing the late December air to hit me full force. Every moment we spent together flashed before me. Meeting him in Delights, realizing he worked at Bangs and Beats, staying in his apartment, telling him my fears, the dates, the kisses, the sex, the beginnings of love.
All of it was based on a lie.
“Eden.” A faint voice sounded behind me, a voice that I instantly recognized.
I swung around slowly and came face to face with the concerned face of Josh Crawford. I didn’t even know if I wanted to see him. His face dropped the moment our eyes connected, and he didn’t falter until he had me tucked in against his chest and his arms surrounding me. I fell into the confines of his broad chest as realization flooded me.
“Pretty girl, let it all out,” he soothed in my ear, and his hand ran through my hair. I burst into tears right there on the sidewalk in the arms of a man whose brother was slowly yet surely becoming my everything. Tears flowed for my past, for my present, and for my future. I cried for the sudden sense of closure that flooded me. Seeing Jeremy hadn’t frightened me—it had shocked me, yes, but frightened me, no. An offering of closure of my past was handed to me, the closure that I had been so desperate to gain, the closure of everything that was Jeremy Davis. It felt amazing, fucking fantastic, like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders…But that lasted a split second because I had a new gaping wound to contend with, a new weight on my shoulders, and it all revolved around Ky Crawford.
“What can I do?” Josh whispered in my ear.
“I don’t know.”
“Eden!” Ky’s panic voice roared in my ears. “Fuck! Baby!”
He grabbed me from Josh’s embrace and twisted me so I stood in front of him. His eyes anxiously took me in. “Get away from me,” I hissed, and he froze.
“Baby please,” Ky pleaded, regret dripped from every word.
My heart shattered. “Please don’t call me that.”
“Ky fucking Crawford misses his chance to save the day…yet again!” Jeremy taunted as he stalked through the diner door in a cloud of spite.
Pure hatred covered Ky’s face, and he rushed toward Jeremy like a man being swallowed by murderous rage. Ky pinned Jeremy against the brick wall and his fist connected over and over again with Jeremy’s face and body with bone crushing intensity.
“Why the fuck would you do this?” Ky screamed. “She has done nothing to you!”
I never imagined seeing this side of Ky. The anger, the pure rage in his words and actions were on full display before me. This wasn’t the guy who had spoken so quietly in our moments together; it wasn’t the guy whose gentle touch felt like heaven; it wasn’t the guy who I was willing to leave everything for.
Even through his beaten and bloodied face, I was still witnessing the evil on Jeremy’s face and heard the vindictiveness in his words when he spat, “She put me in jail for four fucking years!”
“You raped her!” Ky roared into the chilled air.
Hearing those words fall from Ky’s lips made everything so real. I didn’t want to be here. I started backing away until I hit the wall of Josh. His hand gripped mine tightly taking away my desire to run.
“And you couldn’t fucking stop me,” Jeremy yelled before his fist connected with Ky’s cheek; instantly blood trickled down his face. I gasped, wanting to help him, to protect him, and it confused me.
“Call the police Aunt Carole,” Josh yelled as Jeremy started laying into Ky.
“I can’t be here,” I whispered. “Josh, take me away.”
I had been back at my apartment for an hour, and I had no fucking clue where Josh or Eden had gone. Jeremy had disappeared the moment the word police hit the air and I knew he’d go underground. My face was bruised and bloodied and my ribs ached, but I didn’t give a shit. I needed Eden; I needed a minute to explain; I needed to finally tell her the truth.
The apartment door crept open at a painstakingly slow rate. Every creak, every second it took to open felt like a thousand painful stabs to my already aching heart. I stared at the space, my heart beating frantically in my chest as I silently prayed that Eden would walk through; I hoped this was all a fucked-up nightmare, one that I was desperate to wake from.
Eden appeared through the door, and my breath jammed in the back of my throat. The urge to run to her and crush her against my body as my arms locked around her was so fucking strong but the girl who appeared before me wasn’t the Eden I had quickly fallen for. Her face was void of emotion; her body was stiff and rigid as she walked into the apartment. Josh followed closely behind her with a solemn face and tight lips. When he met my gaze he gave me a knowing nod.
Fuck!
Eden moved through my apartment so forcefully. There was not an ounce of softness in her step. Her eyes latched onto the floorboards below, and she remained silent. I stood like a statue, watching her with hawk like eyes. She refused to acknowledge my presence. I cringed as she passed the glass top table in the foyer, the same table where she usually dropped her keys and bag when she came home. Home. Today she didn’t. The moment she disappeared down the hall, I came to life. I rushed two steps at a time down the hall and spotted her just as she turned into my bedroom. Josh was close on my heels.
I stepped through the bedroom door and my heart died a little at the sight before me. Eden had her suitcase on the bed and was rushing between the bathroom and bedroom with her toiletries and the remnants of her clothes that I had torn from her body only hours ago; she jammed them forcefully into her suitcase.
Josh patted me on the shoulder, and I turned to look at him. “I’ll give you a minute,” he said softly and then walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
The tension in the room was abundant, and Eden refused to look at me or even acknowledge my existence. I hesitated and lowered myself on to the edge of the bed, where I sat silently and watched her. Even though she was here, standing barely a foot away from me, I knew she wasn’t really here. She was in a zone and making it clear that I was not welcomed. She rushed around the room like a mad woman, looking for her things and throwing them into the suitcase without a care. Finality was a bitch of a thing.
“Eden, please say something,” I pleaded, finally finding my voice. I reached out, my fingertips brushing the skin of her forearm, and she ripped away from me before I could take another breath. She froze and finally turned and looked at me. The blue eyes that had started to shine with life and freedom now looked like hope had been ripped from deep within her soul, and I was the asshole who was to blame.
“I have absolutely nothing to say to you,” she whispered and took a step away from my touch and moved to the other side of the room. She stood by the window with her arms folded over her chest and a scowl took over her beautiful face.
I stood from the bed and broke the distance between us. “Well I have a shitload to say to you.”
The briefest of smirks graced her gorgeously pout lips as she narrowed her eyes at me. She took one-step toward me until we were chest-to-chest, heat to heat, heart to heart. The intensity around us swirled and tormented every emotion running through my veins.
“Really?” she huffed. “So now you want to talk? You’ve had four fucking years to talk Ky. Four years to tell me who you were. But no, you didn’t. You had to play these fucked-up games.”
“Nothing about you is or was a game Eden.” I took a chance and slowly raised my hands to cup her face. Her eyes found mine and swam with indecision as she looked at me. “Do you hear me? Nothing is a game!”