Page 22 of Hate So Deep

I have my suspicions as to why, but I’ve never asked and if he wanted me to know he would tell me.

“So?” Colt says and I roll my eyes to the ceiling.

“What?”

“That’s it?” Wadding up the shirt he tosses it on the bench before saying, “You gonna see her.”

“Why the fuck would I do that? It’s done. There’s nothing more to say.”

Although he doesn’t comment, I can practically feel his thoughts battering at my skull but I’m not having this conversation with him.

Stacey Hughes means nothing to me and that’s a stone-cold fact.

Chapter 8

NOW

Lauren

I lick my wounds the next few days while the world continues to orbit around me.

After Dirk’s lecture which I’m still trying to process—I mean, was he being an ass or does he really believe that shit—I came home.

Mom must still be at the hospital and while I feel bad that she’s alone, I know my overtures are unwanted and therefore I leave it alone.

Still, I wish she could see that I’m hurting too. We could be grieving together.

Instead, I’m on my fucking own…the story of my life.

Of course, her ears must have been burning because while I sit through my pity party of one, she calls me.

Groaning under my breath, I answer only to pause when she says, “Lauren?”

She’s the only one who refuses to call me Lala as though having a pet name is beneath her. Or maybe she doesn’t fucking care enough to bother.

“Yeah?” I say.

When she pauses, I lean forward, staring at the fluffy tufts of carpet between my fingers.

We’ve never been particularly close but the distance between us since Buck’s accident feels insurmountable, despite the fact that I’m her child too.

“I spoke to the police,” she says, and I close my eyes.

“Okay,” I whisper.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you saw your brother that night?” she snarls.

This is it. What I feared. What if I hurt my own brother?

We were no closer than Mom and I but he was my brother…

“I…I don't remember,” I mumble before shrugging helplessly.

There’s a beat of silence before she says, “Of course you don’t.”

I shiver at her cold tone but don’t bother to respond. It wouldn’t matter anyway.

Her mind is made up.

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