Page 31 of Taurus

“Isn’t it fucking obvious?”

“No!” I shout in frustration. “No, it’s not. Your mood has shifted so quickly, I have whiplash! You don’t get to be a wonderful human to me, almost kiss me, then treat me like a piece of shit again!”

“You think that’s what I’m doing?” Water is dripping off the tip of his nose. “Goddammit, Parker, I’m trying so hard to let you go.”

“What does that even mean?”

He doesn’t answer me though. He looks over my shoulder and his eyes go wide. “Marjorie.”

He takes off into the dark with only his flashlight and I follow, slipping and sliding in the mud. When I finally catch up, Austin is coming back in my direction with the soaking wet chicken in his hands.

“Let’s get back in the house,” he tells me. “Now.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” I snark back, being a brat because right now, I think I deserve to be one.

The rain is so loud. The wind is deafening. The thunder is even more so.

I don’t even hear the cracking of the tree branch above me as the wind whips around, trying its best to rip it from its home on the trunk.

Austin is just ahead of me, making his way up the stairs to the front porch to put Marjorie in the house, when it finally snaps. Lightning shines bright in the sky, accompanied by a huge clap of thunder that pulls a shriek from my chest.

“Parker!” I hear Austin shout as the large branch falls down right in front of me, close enough that it scrapes along my arm and I stumble backward, falling onto my back with a harsh thump.

I’m fine, completely fine. I know that immediately. The only thing hurt is my pride, but what I am, without a doubt, is pissed off.

I’m not pissed at Austin because obviously he didn’t make the branch fall, but I know that I’m going to take it out on him, because that’s what we do. We fight. Noah and Allie style.

“What the fuck, Austin!” I shout, pushing myself up from the mud.

“What do you mean ‘what the fuck, Austin?’” He tries to help me up, and I try to shove his hands off of me, but he’s having none of it. He lifts me off the ground like I weigh no more than a feather pillow. “You shouldn’t have even been out here in this shit!”

“I came out here to make sure you were okay!”

He whips around to face me. “You make me fucking crazy, did you know that?”

“The feeling is mutual!”

“God, Parker, I’ve tried so hard to keep this easy between us.” We are standing just by the front steps, still in the pouring rain like we stepped out of a fucking movie scene. “I wanted this to be simple for both of us.”

“Has anything ever been simple with us?” I push my wet hair from my face. “Christ, Austin, I wanted you to kiss me that night, drunk or not. I threw myself at you and you just…”

“I WAS TRYING TO PROTECT BOTH OF US!” he shouts over the pounding rain then places his hand on his chest.

“FROM WHAT?” I shout back.

“From the heartbreak we are both going to feel when you leave again.”

“You were heartbroken?? YOU LET ME GO! You didn’t even sleep with anyone. You didn’t do anything WRONG! You just let me walk away without a fight.” I shove him back with both hands. “Why?”

“YOU WOULD HAVE NEVER BELIEVED ME! You were so sure I was a cheating son of a bitch and you used that as your way out. You never wanted to be here for the rest of your life.” He steps closer and reaches for my face and I let him take it between his hands. “You told me so many times that you couldn’t wait to leave. Your life was bigger than me… bigger than I could have given you. So yes… I let you go.”

“I hate you,” I tell him with tears in my eyes.

“I know.” He runs his thumb across my lips, “I hate me too,”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t stop myself from doing this any longer,”

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