“It’s so easy for you, huh? Forgetting about me, about us.”
“I didn’t say that!”
“You didn’t have to! Don’t worry, I’m packing up my shit. I’ll be out of your life soon enough. You’ll have the house all to yourself, exactly like you want.”
“What?” I jerked back. “I don’t even want this house! You’re the one who insisted I keep it.”
“I built this house for you, Kinley. It was never mine.”
“No! You built this house for the family that we don’t have. The one I can’t—”
“Maybe you can have Jax move in since he’s always here to pick up the pieces for you.”
“Fuck you!”
He didn’t hesitate, ripping our photobooth pictures in his hands.
“Noooooo…”
He tossed them on the floor in between us, and they scattered to the ground.
“I can’t believe you just did that. Those are the first pictures we ever took together, Christian. How could you do that?”
He got right in my face, backing me up against the wall. “The same way you could just rip apart our marriage and then throw it away like it meant nothing.”
Tears slid down the sides of my face, and he took one last look at me, spewing, “You wanted this. Remember that. You have no one to blame but yourself, sweetness.”
I winced. It was the first time he’d used my term of endearment in such a hurtful way. My chest rose and fell, feeling like I was going to crumble to the floor at any second.
“Get out,” I hissed, not wanting to see his face anymore.
“With pleasure.” He spun around and left.
I jolted when I heard the front door slam before my feet moved on their own as if I was being pulled by a string. Falling to my knees, I grabbed all the pieces of our pictures from the photo booth that night.
I couldn’t believe he’d tore apart our past.
But I was tearing apart our future.
The irony was not lost on me.
Holding the torn images in my hands, I was shaking as I tried to put them back together on the carpet. Except now, they weren’t flawless and beautiful. The one that caught my attention the most was the photo where we were kissing. It had one huge tear down the middle of our faces.
Symbolizing how broken we truly were.
Piece by piece.
Bit by bit.
We were figments of who we used to be.
Throwing me right back to that night.
When he once again stitched my heart back together, not caring I was the one who was broken.
Chapter 7
Kinley
Then
It was the annual back-to-school carnival in Fort Worth, and everyone from our small town was there to celebrate the end of summer. Usually, I avoided this fair like the plague, but Christian was insistent on us going and wasn’t taking no for an answer. Since that night on the lake two months ago, we’d spent almost every day together when I wasn’t with Jax.
I could immediately tell that Christian didn’t like our friendship, not that I could blame him. We were best friends, and with all the rumors about us, I knew he had concerns but hadn’t mentioned them yet. I was aware it was coming, though.
Christian and I were getting closer, and the more time I’d spent with Jax, the harsher his tone would become when he’d call me to hang out. The second I said I was with Jax, it was like night and day with his voice. He was biting his tongue, biding his time to bring it up ,and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t doing the same when it came down to asking him what we were doing and where this was going.
This was the first time I had these deep, intense feelings for a guy. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Jax, but it wasn’t like that between us. It was like a sister loved a brother, and the feeling was mutual. But you wouldn’t think that with the way Christian and Jax treated one another.
Jax was as protective over me as Christian was. He’d already warned me about Christian, saying he was going to hurt me. Christian had the worst reputation with girls, and everyone knew it.
He was a huge player, and Jax was simply being a good friend, wanting me to steer clear of him. As much as I was worried that he would hurt me, I couldn’t stay away from him. There was something about the way Christian looked at me, talked to me, made me feel that I couldn’t ignore or push away.
He made me happy, triggering butterflies in my stomach every time we were together. I never wanted our time to come to an end. It was getting harder to hide my real feelings about him, and a huge part of me knew he was aware of the effect he was having on me.
Once I stepped out of Christian’s truck at the fair, he waited for me by the hitch of his truck, extending his hand when I got close to him. I cocked my head to the side, raising an eyebrow. He was going to hold my hand in public, and since we always hung out alone, I was a little caught off guard by his gesture. This only confused me further as to where our relationship was going. The more time we spent together, the more I realized how much of a romantic he truly was.
“Let’s go show off my girl, huh?” He grinned while I grabbed his hand.
I tried to keep my amused expression to myself as he tugged me toward him. We walked hand-in-hand into the carnival, strolling past all the rides until we were by the water. The fair was next to Eagle Mountain Marina, and he led us down to the docks.
Christian loved the boats. He was always talking about them, saying how much he wanted to own a yacht one day. When we reached the end of the boat slip, he stepped over the railing onto a gorgeous yacht.
“Whoa. I’m not down for breaking and entering.”
He grinned again. “Don’t you trust me?”
“Not if we get arrested for trespassing.”
He laughed, nodding to the front of the boat. It was only then that I noticed there was a blanket spread out on the bow. He winked, pulling me onto the yacht.
“Wow,” was all I could manage to say as I slowly turned in a circle, taking in my surroundings.
The sun had just set, and every star shined bright above the water. I took in the blanket and picnic basket that was perfectly placed in the center of the bow.
“Is this another one of your moves? Do you bring all your girls here? I can see why you get laid as much as you do.” I chuckled to no avail, taking in his stern expression. “What?”
“Sweetness, let’s get one thing straight, alright?” He placed his finger under my chin to get me to look up at him, and I did, anxiously waiting for what he was going to say.
“Anytime we do things together, it’s the first time for me too.”
I shyly smiled, his words warming my heart. Making me feel like shit for what I’d said before.
“If there’s anything important you need to know about me, it’s that I don’t do anything I don’t want to. But with you… I don’t know how to explain it, Kinley. I was drawn to you from the first day you walked into my science class in sixth grade.”
“What?” I jerked back. “You remember that?”
He smiled. “The girl with the turquoise backpack.”
My eyes widened. “Turquoise is my favorite color.”