“Tyler! Stop! What are you doing?” I scream as he whales punch after punch on the blond guy.
The next thing I know, Mason and Asher pull Tyler back while the other group of guys helps their own out.
My friends surround me, but I stand there frozen.
Unable to move. Unable to think.
It hurts.
Everything hurts.
And then I run.
ChapterFive
Chloe
I don’t look back, don’t check to see if anyone is following me. I don’t care.
Every part of my body hurts. My chest, my head, my heart. They all hurt so fucking bad I can’t breathe. The scar of leaving each other once again being torn open and bleeding out, the wound as fresh as the day I got it.
“Chloe! Wait! Please!”
I hear his voice behind me, but I don’t stop. I want to be far, far away from it all.
If only the sand would open up and suck me down. Make me disappear.
If only…
My legs burn, and every breath is painful. I can’t run anymore, so I stop and fall to my knees, the tears rushing down my cheeks.
“Lo, I’m so sorry.”
I continue to ignore his voice even though it’s beside me now. I’m too lost in my own emotions. It’s like a tidal wave of them hit me all at once.
“Just breathe,” Tyler says.
What should be comforting only goes up my ass sideways.
“Just breathe?” I explode, tears flying off my face. I must look like a wild animal right now, but fuck if I care. I can’t see past the tunnel that is Tyler, my vision stuck on him. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“Whoa, Lo, calm down.” Tyler reaches out to place a hand on my back, but I slap it away. A hurt look passes across his face, and I instantly regret it. “I’m so… so… so many damn things I can’t even express it!” I yell through sobs. “How dare you, Tyler? You lied to me!”
“I know, I’m sorry. I was trying not to piss you off, but obviously, that backfired.”
“You think?!” I throw my hands up in the air and pull my legs out from under me to sit in the sand. I fold my arms across my chest and turn away from him. I can’t even look at him right now.
The face I love so much.
The face I’ve dreamed of since I got here.
“On top of everything else, punching that guy back there—was it really necessary? How embarrassing, Tyler! And I don’t need you to protect me! I can do it for myself!”
“It didn’t seem like it. Those two scumbags had their hands all over you.” Tyler sneers.
“I was fine. I’m a big girl. I don’t need protection.”
Shit! I hate how mad I am. I should be ecstatic to see him. The day he showed up on my doorstep should’ve been happy. But instead, something is stopping me. A wall built around my heart, out of protection maybe, fear… I don’t know.