We’d had an amazing night together, if you ignored the fact that her ex-boyfriend had physically attacked her. We’d had mind-blowing sex, and seeing as it was her first time, I knew that wasn’t the norm, yet everything was different with this girl. We just fit. And now I didn’t know what the fuck to think. Was it all going to be thrown away because of Alec fucking Taulson’s accident?
Did I want him to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair? Hell no. I didn’t wish that upon anyone. But everyone in town was talking about the accident now, and everyone knew the asshole had gotten behind the wheel drunk. He’d made a choice, that once again his daddy would cover up, and he’d get away with it. If this were me or Jax or Shaw, we’d be locked up right now. The selfish prick had put others’ lives in danger, and he’d hurt himself. It was a tough lesson, but maybe it was time the dude started accepting some responsibility for his fucked-up choices.
Don’t even get me started on the fact that I’d found him shaking Adelaide against a brick wall. He’d marked her arms and scared the shit out of her. All because she didn’t want to be with him anymore. He’d had another damn temper tantrum, and now he was playing the victim as he lay in a hospital bed. He’s lucky he didn’t kill anyone.
Adelaide emerged from the window and made her way down the tree as I stood beneath it, ready to catch her if she fell. Hell, I’d always catch this girl if she fell for as long as she’d allow me to.
When her feet hit the ground, she turned immediately into my chest and my arms wrapped around her, and she cried. We just stood there for a few minutes so she could let it all out.
She pulled away and looked up at me. Her eyes were puffy and swollen as if she’d been crying since I’d last seen her nearly twenty-four hours ago. So much had changed in such a short time.
“Jett. I’m so sorry. My phone died. My life is a mess. Things are so bad.” The tears started to fall again as she spoke. Her voice trembled, and I could hear all the sadness in her words.
“I’ve heard some. What’s the prognosis?” I asked, knowing that she needed to talk about it.
“They’re hopeful that he’ll walk again. He had surgery and it’s a waiting game now. It’s going to be a long road. I mean, what if he can’t leave for school in the fall? What if he’s in a wheelchair forever?” she said, covering her mouth to muffle her sobs.
“Then he’ll work hard to survive. He’s alive. He’s speaking. He’ll get the best medical care out there. He’s going to be okay either way.” I reached for her hand, intertwining our fingers.
“He can’t do it on his own.” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
“He has a family, Ace. And they have all the resources, so he’ll get the best care out there.”
“His mom is threatening to call the dean at TU and tell him that you punched Alec before the accident. She’s going to try to blame you if I don’t do what she wants me to do.” The words came out like she’d been holding them in for far too long and she just needed to say them. The hurt in her eyes caused my breath to catch in my throat.
Jesus Christ. She wanted to protect me.
“Listen to me. Let her make the call. I will not be yet another person who lets you make a decision based on me. Let her give it her best shot. I don’t give a shit. I pulled that son of a bitch off you, and unless he wants his family to know the truth, he won’t let this go that far. Because I’ll tell the fucking truth. He hurt you. I saw the bruises. And I didn’t put him drunk behind the wheel. I’m sure his rich daddy is going to get away with covering up what he did, but Alec knows the truth. He made choices that he has to live with. And he can blame as many people as he wants, but it won’t change what he did.”
“They don’t care, don’t you get that? So, what, they just cause you to lose your scholarship and he wins? No. You’ve worked too hard for this. I won’t let that happen. I don’t care what I have to do.” She looked up at me and I saw it all right there.
Her need to do what she thought was right. Her need to do for everyone else but herself.
But I also saw the fear. She was afraid of the Taulsons and fuck them for doing that to her.
“No, Ace. You don’t get to use me to take the easy road. Fuck that.” I crossed my arms over my chest and studied her.
“What do you mean?”
“It would be easy to just do what everyone wants you to do. To go to State. To help Alec. To make your mother happy and Alec’s crazy-ass mother happy. And for what? Life is short. Stop living for everyone else. What do you want?”
“You know what I want.”
“I do. I think you’re the only one who needs convincing. But don’t leave here thinking you’re doing me a favor. I don’t need a favor, Ace. I only need you. I can handle whatever they want to throw at me. I have a good relationship with the coach at TU. There are several witnesses that saw Alec last night, the state he was in. They may be able to bully the doctor, but everyone in this town knows what went down. I have the truth on my side.”
She covered her face with her hands and sobbed. “I know, Jett—I’m scared, I don’t know what to do.”
“Yeah, you do. Trust yourself.” I pulled her in for a hug when the sound of a door opening startled me from around the corner.
“Adelaide Charlotte, get inside,” her mother said, standing there in a long dark robe looking at her daughter like she’d just committed the cardinal sin.
She pulled away, and her gaze locked with mine. No words were said. But we both knew how we felt without speaking a word.
I walked to my bike and fired up the engine, not knowing where to go or what to do. There was a good fucking chance that she’d do what was expected of her. Hell, she’d been doing it her entire life. The thought of losing her left me feeling gutted. I pulled into the motor club and sat on my bike until a light came on upstairs. Wren lived in the apartment above the shop and he pulled the door open.
“Heard a lot of shit is going down with that asshole that used to date your girl. Come on up.” He held the door open, and I made my way up the stairs and inside.
“I didn’t know where to go,” I said over the lump lodged in my throat.
“You came to the right place. I know a little something about this shit.”
“Well, looky here. Didn’t expect to see you in here without your better half. You want one hot chocolate with extra sprinkles?” Lenny asked.
The fucker knew I didn’t like sprinkles.
“One hot chocolate, no sprinkles.”
“Coming right up.”
I moved to a table in the back. No one else was in the shop, which was exactly why I came here. I’d just had my last day of high school, and I hadn’t heard more than a text from Adelaide since I’d left her standing in her front yard after her mother found us outside three days ago. Coco, Ivy, Maura, and Gigi were touching base with me every day, and none of them had spoken to her. They were receiving the same text I was.