Page 117 of Infatuated as They Come
My eyes closed, wishing I could stop myself from replaying those words over and over. “I am not like him. You don’t know what you’re fucking talking about. I’m not him and I never will be and what you think happened didn’t happen, so if you just shut up and let me explain—”
“No one believes that. Not even you.”
“Holly was upset, okay? She wasn’t in the best mood tonight, and we had a fight earlier and—”
“About what? What did you do?”
“We just had an argument, okay? That was it. I didn’t touch her. I’ve never, ever thought about hurting like that. Why would I? I love her. She’s the most important person in the world to me, I’d never treat her like that.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You never have, so I don’t expect you to. I’ve never laid a finger on Holly and I never would. If you don’t believe me, talk to her when she sobersup and she’ll tell you what happened. Until then,” I said, nodding over to the cop car, “why don’t you tell your friend over there to get these fucking cuffs off me?”
“You think you’re off the hook, kid? You think you’re gonna drive away with my daughter in that truck she bought you after youbeatherup?”
Frustration flaring, I shook my head. “I didn’t beat her up.”
“You’re done. You think juvie was bad? You’re not a kid anymore. It’s prison this time.”
“Yeah, that’d be perfect for you, wouldn’t it? You’d finally have a chance to get rid of me. I know it pisses you off that your daughter loves me. You hate it that she wants a guy like me, that she doesn’t care about where I’m from or what I can give her. She loves me and you hate it. You hate that you can’t change her mind, that even though she’s been around rich assholes her whole life she still chose me.” I was trying to keep my voice measured, but the words were just rushing out of my mouth. “That’s all this is: you looking for an excuse, you looking for any sign of me fucking up because you want to keep us apart, and this would be the biggest fuck up I could possibly manage. And you know what? I’d fucking encourage you to kick my ass if I ever hurt Holly like that. I’ddeserveit. But I did not do what you think I did.”
“What did I just say to you? I don’t believe you. You can’t be trusted.” He eyed me up and down, hands on my chest to shove me back up against the car. “It’s just in your genetics to be a woman beating scumbag, I guess.”
“Alright, what is it?” I shrugged. “You want a fight? I’ll give you a fight if that’s what you want.”
“There we go. What did I just say? You’re just proving me right.”
“I’d never put my hands on Holly, but you? Maybe you and me should just fucking get it over with already, ‘cause I know you’ve been itching for a fight too.”
He took a step back from me, shaking his head. “Not worth it.” Then he turned to the cop. “We’re pressing charges. I want him in a cell tonight. Negligence, furnishing alcohol to a minor, domestic assault. All three.”
My eyes shut at that last one. I didn’t ever want that label next to my name,because that meant that I was like my dad, and that was the last person I ever wanted to be. I watched as Holly’s dad jumped into his car and took off, and there he went, taking Holly with him, my bad night getting worse by the second. I stayed quiet, Fowler’s hands on my shoulders as he pushed me away from the truck.
“Watch your head,” Fowler said as he guided me into the back of his car.
“Fuck you.”
He scoffed and slammed the door shut and I let my head loll back, tired and pissed off at the cops and Holly’s dad and myself for fucking up the whole night. I should have been with her. Should have been watching those movies with her next to me, her head on my shoulder and our fingers tangled together. Instead the sound of sirens filled my ears as Fowler took off down the road.
That invisible bridge between me and Holly suddenly felt a million times longer.
Chapter 29
Holly
The first thing I felt when I woke up was an intense pounding in my head. Like something heavy and sharp was smacking against me over and over. I tried to turn, but all that seemed to do was make the pain worse.
“God,” I muttered, my fingers massaging at my scalp as I slowly sat up. My eyes opened to reveal my bedroom and it gradually dawned on me that it was Christmas morning. The heat was on full blast and usually I would have loved that, but my body felt far too hot with all the blankets on me. Why were there so many?
I took in a deep breath, rubbing my face with my hands, but that just forced me to hiss sharply. The right side of my face absolutely stung and I quickly snatched my hands away, kicking off the heap of blankets that covered my body. That was when I realized that I was still in my dress from last night.
I sat there, head and face throbbing as I tried to figure out why my mind felt so strange and blurry. I didn’t remember falling asleep in my bed. I didn’t remember falling asleep at all. I massaged at my forehead, attempting to put the pieces together. Yesterday morning had started off mostly normal, but then there had been that fight with Sawyer and I instantly frowned at the memory.
My fingers moved to my cheek, gently brushing against the tender skin there, and then I suddenly remembered where the pain had come from. I had hit the bar top pretty hard after I thought drinking my pain awaywould be a good decision. God, how embarrassing. There was probably a bruise the size of my fist on my face. At least Sawyer eventually showed up and brought me home.
I wondered if he got any sleep last night. I swung my feet off the bed, just about to get up to find him so we could work out what the hell was going on between us when I saw Mom standing in the doorway. Arms wrapped around herself, she was in a soft pink robe, her dark hair falling against her shoulders. She usually never looked so casual, even first thing in the morning. Even on Christmas.
“Hi,” I said softly.
