And when my eyes finally adjust and I see what and who is making the noise, I feel something inside me snap.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask, storming over to him.
He turns, his face instantly registering both who I am and the fact that he’s been caught. I watch as he pulls his hand from his pants, his face covered in guilt and fear, but before he has a chance to even move, I reach out and grab the front of his shirt yanking him closer.
“You sick fucking loser,” I spit out, getting right up in his face.
“I wasn’t…I…” he stammers, but I don’t give him a chance to say anything more as I spin him around and slam him up against the side of the house.
His head hits the wall with a thud, bouncing off it as he lets out a hard breath. I look up, see the blinds of Ruby’s window not fully closed. Inside, I can see her moving around, dressed in a pair of fitted sweats and a tank and oblivious to what I know this sick fuck was doing as he stood outside watching her.
“You are one sick fuck, you know that?” I repeat, slamming him against the house again. “It’s you that’s been out here. You that’s been watching her.”
He narrows his eyes at me, as though somehow I’m the one in the wrong here as his hands move to my chest and he shoves me away. “I wasn’t—”
But I don’t give him a chance to defend himself as my hand curls into a fist and I slam it into his face. I watch as he stumbles backward, his hands coming up to his nose, which is now bleeding. “What the hell!” he yells, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Fury courses through me, my heart pounding in my chest and the blood thundering through my veins. All other thoughts are pushed from my head, drowned out by the loud screaming inside my skull as I step toward him and start smashing my fist into his face, over and over and over again.
“You disgust me. You’re fucking sick.”
My words are loud, punctuated by his groans and the sound of my fist hitting his face.
He grunts with every impact, his hands held up in some pitiful attempt to defend himself. But I don’t relent, not even when my knuckles start to bleed and I hear the crack of something breaking.
“Caleb!”
I barely register the sound of my name as I move closer, grabbing the asshole by the collar and throwing him onto the ground. He falls onto his back, his open pants only reaffirming what I knew he was doing when I caught him spying on Ruby.
Without thinking, I step closer, kicking him in the groin as if to let him know just what I think about that.
“I fucking knew you were a sick perv,” I spit out, my foot once again kicking his body. He groans at the impact as he attempts to roll away from me.
But I don’t let up, my vision clouded with anger and hate and disgust as I continue to kick him, all the while shouting out insults at this man.
Suddenly, I’m yanked backward as strong arms wrap around my chest and lift me off my feet. I fight the hold, my body struggling against the restraint.
“Caleb,” comes the sharp bite of my name in my ear.
But I don’t listen, pulling free as I lunge for the creepy fucking professor who was standing outside Ruby’s window. Before I reach him though, I’m once again pulled back, strong arms wrapping around me as Reid’s voice says, “You need to calm the fuck down.”
I shake my head, my eyes locked on the asshole who started this. “No, let me go, you need to—”
“I’m not letting you go, Caleb,” Reid says, his voice eerily calm.
“He was fucking watching her, he was—”
“I know what he was doing,” Reid says, his voice low. “But you’re going to kill him, you’re—”
“Let me fucking go,” I yell, struggling in Reid’s hold.
All of a sudden, my face is against the house, my whole body pressed against it as Reid stands behind me, all of his body weight pushed against me. “Stop,” he says, his mouth at my ear, the word low and firm.
And strangely familiar.
It hits me like a punch in the gut, hard and fast and completely unexpected.
I freeze, my heart pounding in my chest as I try to force air into my lungs, which now feel like they are wrapped in a vice. My head feels strange, my vision going as I start to feel dizzy, like I might pass out. Without warning, my legs suddenly give way beneath me as a barrage of memories and images and words flood through my brain.
“Whoa, hold on. I’ve got you.”
I feel my body get lowered to the ground, an arm around my shoulder as my ass hits the ground and my head falls between my knees, my eyes closing.
I feel waves of nausea crashing over me, every breath a struggle to draw into my lungs.
Somewhere, in the distance, I hear voices.
“Is he okay?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What happened.”
“He caught Keller outside your window, he—”
“We need to call the police.”
“Oh my god.”
A hand takes mine, gently pulling as I feel fingers brush against my bloody knuckles.
“Caleb?” comes her voice, soft and gentle and filled with worry and fear.
I lift my head, force my eyes open to see what I’ve done.
Ruby’s professor lies beaten and bloody on the ground. He’s groaning, his arms wrapped around his body as he attempts to roll over. Next to me is Reid, his arm still around my shoulder, but in a way that’s done to stop me from moving. Behind him is Sie, staring down at me with a look on her face that screams pity.
But when I turn to my other side, to the voice that I crave, I see Ruby.
She’s staring back at me with fear in her eyes.
Fear.
And that’s when I truly feel myself fall apart.
Because that’s when I know I’ve ruined everything.
What’s Next?
Are you dying to know what happens to Caleb and his relationship with Ruby? We’ve got you covered! Continue Caleb and Ruby’s story in Rescue Me.
Grab it here!
Rescue Me: Caleb and Ruby Book Two
Life at its most complex can be rescuing.
Caleb Parker has fallen apart and her support has never wavered. But she knows the worst is yet to come.
Ruby Collins stood by him and he’ll do anything to hang onto her. Even if it means admitting he needs help.
With the fallout from Caleb’s actions affecting them both, Ruby is about to discover just how much they need each other.
With the past still looming, it could be the future that rescues them.
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Did you love reading about the Hawthorn Hills crew? OMG, you did!!?? We’re thrilled and we want to say thank you by offering you even more! This FREE prequel gives you a glimpse into early lives of Sienna, Caleb and Reid and takes place before the events of Complicate Me (Book One).
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