Page 74 of Broken Pieces
“You’re such a heartless asshole.”
“Keep your voice down.” My tone is steel, final.
But she holds her ground. “I know what you did. And yeah, that was some next-level asshole shit, even by your standards.”
Fuck.
I wonder what she told her. If the memory still burns. Whether the hurt still hits.
I turn slow, my stare cutting into hers. “You done?”
Cassie doesn’t flinch. Her chin tips higher. “Not even close.”
That’s it.
I drop the socket set with a sharp clang and close the distance.
My hand clamps around her arm. Not enough to bruise. Just enough to jolt her.
She stumbles when I yank her toward the door.
“We’re not doing this in here,” I mutter, dragging her across the floor.
Cassie twists hard. “Oh, fuck you. You think hauling me outside makes you some kind of big man?”
I shove the door open with my shoulder, sunlight crashing down on us as it slams shut behind. I drop her arm but plant myself between her and the door.
No fucking way she’s going back in there.
Cassie spins, her eyes blazing. “I came to you because I don’t know what the fuck to do.”
Her voice cracks. Tears bite at her lashes, and for a second, I catch everything.
The way she cares.
The way Skylar means something real to her.
She softens but only for a breath.“I’m scared she’s gonna end up sleeping on the street.”
Then she catches the way I’m looking at her.
Her jaw sets. Her spine straightens. “Not that you’d fucking care anyway, asshole.”
I smirk. I can’t help myself.
She’s grit and steel and every kind of stubborn. Walked into a place she didn’t want to be to fight for someone else.
Skylar’s lucky she’s got someone like that in her corner.
Cassie jabs her finger into my chest. “She’s fucking drowning in all the worry, Zane. And you’re standing here, not giving a shit. I figured you’d understand, me showing up here, being one of us.”
I get what she means. An unwanted foster kid, surviving on our own. But I don’t let her off easy.
I fold my arms over my chest, lean back on my heels, and let the silence stretch until it hurts.
“So are you gonna say why you came here…” I ask, voice low. “Or keep circling around it like a coward?”
Her jaw clenches.
