Page 61 of Chasing Wildflowers
My gaze stays locked on hers, the words leaving my mouth in a rush. “I didn’t send you flowers.”
Her smile drops, brows knitting together in confusion. “Then who sent me flowers?”
This is it, band-aid off.
She can hate me if she wants, but I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep her safe. Even if that means carrying her out of here kicking and screaming.
“The person who sent me to find you.”
The song flowing from the jukebox ends, leaving us in silence that feels too heavy, too still.
I watch as her face goes from confusion to realization to disbelief.
“What did you just say?” she asks, as if willing me to say something different.
Footsteps thud behind me. “I thought we agreed on telling her calmly?” Kam demands, voice sharp.
I don’t have to turn around to know she’s shooting daggers at the back of my head. I can feel the intensity of her stare, and her disdain. Safe to say she’s no longer team Jameson.
I grit my teeth, eyes still locked on Lane. “I thought I told you to stay in the truck.”
Kam steps past me, placing herself between me and Lane; acting as a barrier. She turns to me, hands on her hips, head cocked to the side. “One, you aren’t my boss and don’t get to tell me what to do. And two, do you really think she’s going to go anywhere with you, asshole?”
Lane’s eyes dart between us nervously, panic bleeding into her voice. “Kam, what the hell is going on right now? Is this some kind of prank? Because it’s not very funny.”
Kam turns to her, voice softening. “Do you trust me?”
Lane bites her lip, eyes still flicking nervously between us. “You’re really fucking scaring me right now, Kam. Did you know why he was here?”
Kam scoffs, folding her arms across her chest. “Seriously, Lane? Is that what you think of me? After five years? That I’d help someone hurt you? That I’d let someone take you from me?”
Kam shoots a death glare over her shoulder at me, before turning her attention back to Lane. “The only reason I haven’t gone Lorena Bobbitt on him is because he is the only person that can help keep you safe.”
“We have to go now,” I grit out, urgency taking over. I need to get Lane out of here now.
Lane crosses her arms, eyes blazing, her feet planted firmly on the ground. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she snaps, the words dripping with defiance.
Kam strides across the bar, her footsteps the only sound over the pounding of my own heart. “We don’t have a choice, Lane. I don’t know the first thing aboutkeeping you hidden, and we don’t have time to get you another new identity.”
Lane’s head snaps to Kam. “You know what I did?”
Kam nods, keeping her stride steady, closing the distance between them. “I’m glad you killed him,” she says calmly, reaching her hand out.
Lane bites her lip, eyes darting between me and Kam again, her body stiff with uncertainty. Her hand trembles as she reaches out, then slowly, almost reluctantly, she slips it into Kam’s.
Putting all of her trust in her best friend and none of it in me.
Twenty-six
Lane
Jameson leads us out the door, his head sweeping slowly from side to side, scanning the surroundings with sharp, deliberate movements. His hand rests on a gun at his hip, one I’ve never seen him carry before.
He stops beside his Bronco and pulls the back door open. Kam climbs in first, quick and sure, but I freeze when I see a man I don’t recognize in the passenger seat.
“That’s just Jameson’s partner, Miles. He’s a bit of an asshole,” Kam says, glancing over her shoulder when she notices my hesitation.
“I’m not an asshole,Kameron,” Miles replies, using her full name like a weapon. “I just don’t think someone should voice everything that’s in their head.”
