Page 19 of The Comeback Road
Jace stood, staring at me, and since he didn’t feel the need to respond, I kept going. “Youknewexactly what you were doing, what we were doing. We spent weeks building up to this. You knew my past, and you tossed it in my face. You took every conversation, every truth, and tainted it. Friends? We were never friends, and with friends like you, who needs them. I’d rather learn to live without you than learn to live with your disrespect, which is exactly what you asking to be friends is. Disrespect. Disrespectful to me. Disrespectful to yourwife.” I couldn’t help but choke on the word. It felt like it was being branded into my tongue. It felt wrong to say.So wrong.
Jace looked like I had reached out and smacked him. He almost looked green at my words, and I couldn’t find it in me to care, just like he didn’t care whathewas doing tome.
“Leave. I don’t want you here.”
I turned on him before he could say anything. I felt the air move as if he reached for me, but then I heard Remi before I saw her. “She asked you to leave, Jace. Don’t make this something it doesn’t have to be.” Her voice was smooth and low, almost as if she were talking to a toddler in the middle of a tantrum.
“Remi…” I didn’t stick around to hear what else they had to say. I made my way back up to my room, knowing I needed tostart packing, and that it was the perfect distraction from what was happening downstairs. I decided I’d go down once I knew the coast was clear and fill Remi in. Unfortunately for me, she would probably speak with Jace about what happened as well. I knew it would probably be a few minutes before he was gone again.
In a methodical rhythm that gave a beat to my hollow feelings, I packed quickly, and instead of packing light, I fit everything I thought I could possibly need. I packed for an extended trip. Anything else I needed, I’d just buy. I must have gotten lost in the routine I’d perfected over the years. One second, I was packing, and two blinks later, Remi was standing in front of me. I titled my head to her in question at my closed door.
“I knocked.” She shrugged in explanation. “I owe you a debt I can never repay.” I couldn’t help but look at her questioningly. “For what you did for Raya. Putting yourself between her and Lance.”
I laughed for real that time. “Don’t ever thank me for that. She’s safe with me, always.” That startled her a little bit, which made sense. Not a single person knew the real me, and I tried to swallow the lump in my throat at that thought.No one.
“Still. Lance, he’s…Well, he’s all charm, no personality, and a short fuse. Makes for an ass of a person.” There was a look that crossed her features when she saidshort fuse.
“Has he ever hurt you?”
She shrugged, but didn’t answer my question. “He taught me how to take a punch, that’s for sure.”
That’s it. I really am going to kill this guy.I growled while looking at her. “Raya?” I was barely able to get the word out, but she was shaking her head before I finished asking.
“I got her out before that.” She kept her eyes on the ground, which only made me angrier. It was not at all the tough-as-nails single mom I’d started to get to know.
“Anyone ever teach you not to take a punch, but to throw one?” She looked up at me, a bit taken aback by my question. “No.”
“Hm. We’re going to fix that. I have to leave for a work trip, but when I get back, that’s going to change.”
“I thought you worked for Jace and Dexter.”
“Ah, good things come to those who wait.”
I did what I did best—avoided any real questions with humor.
“Thank you,” she whispered again, and squeezed my hand, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Don’t mention it.” I squeezed her hand back.
“I’ll let you get back to packing.” She got up and closed the door behind her. I fell back onto my bed in between shirts that didn’t make the cut, and I stared at the ceiling, feeling like I was floating in uncertainty. Floating in the wonder of what thehellwould happen next and where I actually belonged.
Chapter Seventeen
Lexie
When the sun rose, I was already awake, still staring at the ceiling as if it held all the answers to my questions. I knew I needed to get up and start my exit plan, and I knew I needed to have a more in-depth conversation with Magnolia without giving much away. Slowly, I pulled the comforter off me, threw my long red hair up in a bun, and made my way downstairs, where I already heard voices and smelled coffee. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes that the house was already awake. It was barely past 6 a.m.
Magnolia and Sloan were a normal sight in the morning, but Dexter sitting at the island was weird, and had me approaching with caution. “Okay, fine, you can have the one puppy. But I swear to God, Dex, it’s not a cactus. You cannot forget to water it.”
“For the record, I overwatered it.” He shot her a sheepish look.
“Overweight pets are also a problem,” she bit back at him. But I saw the corner of her lips tip up, and knew she was happy with her decision. It was just another reminder of how everything seemed to be slipping into place for everyone else.
“Magnolia, please, give the guy a break.” I entered the kitchen and snagged the cup of coffee Dexter was holding in his hands, doing my best to plaster a smile on my face and hoping the cup would hide the fact that it was fake.
“Hey! Rude,” Dexter grumbled at me.
“Listen, you want to use my coffee and my cup, you pay the tax.” I lifted the cup in his direction in thanks. “What are you doing here at the ass crack of dawn anyway? Seems a little early to be harassing people.”
