“I told you. I have to.”
“You’re a grown ass woman. You can do what you want.”
“Exactly. What I want is to go home and see my mom and my brothers. It doesn’t change the way I feel about you.”
He frowns but gives me a nod as I pack my bag. The stalker was caught and dealt with. Turns out he was a thug working under the orders of Tiny Leone. A guy who from my understanding runs the cartel in Texas. It was his house that Sara was found at when Danny kidnapped her for Marek in my place. The whole thing makes my head hurt.
As for that dude in the mountains…we don’t know who he was or where he came from. I’m simply happy that nothing too terrible happened to me. I was afraid the guy was going to rape me, but he had some sick fetish. Told me I looked like his Momma’s favorite doll and that I was gonna be her birthday present.
I didn’t even know Cocky was there until that morning when Wendell, the creepy dude told me he caught a new dog and needed to chain him up. I wanted to help Cocky, but I was scared. I had already been bathed and groomed to look like a doll. At least when he sewed my lips shut he rubbed some toothache gel on them to numb them some.
When Quinn and Terror showed up we were celebrating his Momma’s birthday and they crashed the party. Thank God.
“Will you be back?”
I shrug. “I’m going to a concert with Sara in a month I think. It’s in Nashville. Maybe we could meet up after.”
“So that’s it? You’re just going to go home and pretend none of this happened. That we never happened?”
“What do you want from me, Quinn? I have a job.”
“So, quit. Work for me. Be my assistant. My secretary. I need you, Harley, and I’m asking you to stay. To give me a shot. To be my girl.”
“Want me to stay here and be your
old lady because that ain’t me, babe. I like you. We have a good time together but…all this bad stuff. I don’t want to live it. I don’t want to worry that there will be another bad guy wanting to use me to hurt you. I don’t want to worry that you might not come home one day.”
“Listen, that’s a risk you are going to face no matter who you are with. If you are saying walk away from the club and you’ll be with me then I won’t choose.”
“I’m not asking you to choose. I’m asking you to go at my pace. To see where things go. Danny and Sara made it work. He waited over six months for her.”
“Yeah but he knew where they were headed. He knew he was going to marry her.”
My jaw drops. “Are you saying you want to marry me? Quinn, that’s crazy!?”
He shakes his head and slams the bathroom door.
I feel like I have entered an alternate reality.
A knock sounds at the front door. I know it’s Sara here to drive me back to Drag Creek. She’s taking CT to see her folks.
“Just a sec,” I call out to her. I go over to the bathroom door and tap lightly. “Quinn…Sara’s here. Are you at least going to tell me goodbye?” He says nothing and my heart falls to my feet. I hear his fist hit the wall. “Please, Quinn. Say something.”
The door opens, and he pushes past me. He won’t even look at me, and I don’t know what hurts more. His silence or that he refuses to meet my eyes.
“Just go,” he growls.
“Quinn…don’t be mad at me.”
“I’m not mad at you, Harley. I’m just not strong enough to watch you go. I would walk through fire for you and you can’t even meet me halfway.” He grabs his cigarettes off the counter and takes a beer from the fridge. I pick up my bag as he goes out on the patio and lights up without looking back.
I feel like my heart has been ripped out and stomped on even though I am the one leaving.
——
Drag Creek, Kentucky
It’s been one week since I have been back home. I thought I was okay after everything that has happened but I’m not. I can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see that creepy guy from the woods and his burned hands coming at my mouth to sew my lips shut.