Page 72 of The Comeback Pact

West should retaliate. West should kill him. That would solve all our problems.

Cade slips out the front door. He takes in Sydney and Kenna huddled together, but he makes a beeline for me. “Brother, we’re getting you out of here. Keys?” When I don’t move, he scans the parking lot, then moves toward me. “I’m not getting touchy-feely.” He reaches a hand into my pocket to grab the keys to my truck. “This way.”

I fall in after him. I’m good at taking orders. Run this play, not that one. I can understand the thought process behind getting me and Kenna out of here. It’s smart. Strategic. Take me out of the equation and everything in there will calm down.

Sydney guides Kenna the same way. Her car is parked next to my truck, and for the first time since I got it, I don’t take any pleasure seeing my name splashed across the side.

“In the passenger seat,” Cade orders, pointing toward the cab. He peers at the girls. “Are you coming with us?”

Sydney moves away to look at Kenna.

“I want to go home,” Kenna whimpers. “Please.”

Her whole body shakes, tears streaming down her face stained red from embarrassment. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get this image of her out of my head.

He just did to her what he always did to me. He made her feel small. Worthless. He made her dim her light.

Before I step into the truck, I grab Kenna’s cheeks and make her look at me. I finally find my voice through it all. “That man is an ignorant narcissist. But you, Kenna… You’re beautiful inside and out. The words of small-minded people don’t affect us. Do you understand? They do not affect us.”

I hold her gaze until she nods. Tears still build in her eyes and threaten to spill down her face, but at least she’s focused on me now.

This girl… Damn. Her strength never ceases to amaze me. She is more beautiful than the most traditionally perfect human. “I love you,” I whisper.

She sucks in a breath, biting her tear-moistened lip.

At that moment, the bell above the door sounds, signaling someone is either coming or going.

“In. Now,” Cade orders.

I squeeze her cheeks gently and then turn, getting in the truck. Sydney helps Kenna into the other car, and when Cade starts to back out, I tell him to stop. “Make sure Kenna gets out of here safely.”

Cade taps his fingers on the gear shift, and as soon as Sydney maneuvers her car out of the parking lot, Cade is right behind her. Except, they turn right. And we turn left.

I hope that’s not a sign of what’s to come.

I want to go the same way Kenna does, but I don’t know if she’ll ever forgive me for this new round of public humiliation. Or if I even deserve her.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

Kenna

Sydneyand I had fallen asleep on the couch watching the new rom-com on Netflix. I wake to the credits and stretch. My whole body is exhausted. Crying always does that to me. It’s like spending too much time in the sun, it wears me out from the inside.

I let out a breath. It’s been hours, and even though we put the movie on to take our minds off what happened, it didn’t work until I fell asleep. Now, everything comes rushing back to me.

West’s father is a dick. I play my fingers over my scar. Oddly enough, being with West has made me forget almost completely that it’s there. Now, I’ve been thrown back to hating what happened to me all over again. I’ll always have this reality check when I glance in the mirror.

I pull my feet off Sydney’s lap carefully and reach over to turn the TV off. The clock on the wall reads one a.m. Yawning, I place the blanket over Sydney, but she stirs. “Hmm, huh?” She blinks sleepily a few times, then looks around the room. “I’m going to bed,” she mutters before standing and padding to her room in a dazed state.

She was a great friend tonight.

She bumps into the wall and keeps going, disappearing behind her bedroom door. I lay the blanket back on the couch, grab my phone, and turn the lights off as I head to my room. After shutting my bedroom door behind me, I walk to my bed, thinking about West.

He hadn’t said anything all day, and we barely got a few words out to one another before the night went to shit. I’m worried for him. I’m pissed for myself.

Maybe I should’ve gone with him and Cade, but I was just so embarrassed to be called out for being West Brooks’s ugly girlfriend.

My throat closes, and I have to take a few breaths so I don’t downward spiral again. I look toward my David Boudia poster, but it’s not there. My phone is, however, and it notifies me that I have a message from someone surprising.

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