“Kenny,” he whispers as if my name is sacred. It does strange things to my heart, but I silence her. It doesn’t matter if his touch is gentle or his words are kind. Conner left me. He pushed me into Warren’s arms and... He. Left. Me.
“Get the hell away from me.” I use all my might to shove him away.
Conner stumbles back, shock etched into his expression. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“Whatever, Conner. Just go.”
He narrows his eyes with defiance. “I’m not leaving. I can’t.”
“Fine.” Indignation burns through me. “But I’m done talking.” Turning my face away from him, I close my eyes and hope sleep will come easily while knowing that it won’t.
Silence engulfs us as I lie there, still and unmoving. I can hear Conner, every gentle inhale and exhale.
After a few minutes, I think he’s fallen asleep. But then his voice pierces the darkness.
“I’m sorry, Kenny. I’m really fucking sorry.”
The next time I wake, Conner is gone. I should feel relieved, but part of me can’t help but feel disappointed.
I test the waters and sit up. Everything hurts, but I persevere. I need to get up today. I need to put on a brave face and show Conner and everyone else that I’m okay.
Maybe then James will let me leave without a fight.
A knock at the door makes me groan.
“Yeah?” I call.
“Hey, it’s me.” Hadley appears. “I brought you some supplies.” She slips inside and places the piles of clothes and toiletries on the desk. “I figured we’re about the same size.”
“Thanks.” I give her a tight smile.
“Listen, I just wanted you to know that I won’t tell anyone.”
My lips purse. When she’d stopped by last night, I hadn’t really told her anything. She’d deduced what had happened and I didn’t deny it.
What was the point?
Girls knew. They had some kind of weird female intuition about these things. I’d known the second she stepped into the room.
“So you and Remi haven’t been talking about what happened?” Accusation clings to every word.
“Kennedy, we’re not your enemies.”
“But you’re not my friends either,” I sneer. “You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve been through, what I’ve survived. Just because you’ve fallen for all... this.” I throw my hands up. “Doesn’t mean I’m looking to be the Jaggers’ next charity case.”
She gives me a sad smile. “They just want to help.”
“Yeah, well I don’t need anyone’s help.”
Hadley’s breath catches and regret slices through me. But it’s just too much. Being here. Conner. His dad.
Her standing there, looking at me with pity in her eyes.
“I’ll go.” She turns to leave, but I call after her.
“Wait. I’m sorry, okay? It’s just a lot. I’m not used to...”
“People caring.”
It isn’t a question, and there’s something in her expression that tells me she knows exactly what I mean.
Maybe I was too quick to judge her.
“Thank you,” I force out. “For the things.”
“Anytime.” She smiles wider. “Ellen is making breakfast if you want to join us.”
“Is Conner—”
“He’s hungover in bed. I’m sorry about that, by the way. I tried to keep him away.”
“You knew?”
“I found him in here this morning and managed to drag him to one of the guest rooms. You were sleeping, and I didn’t want to wake you.”
A faint smile traces my lips. I would have liked to see her manhandle him out of the room.
“You two are close, huh?”
“Me and Conner? We’re... friends.”
It’s not what she says but what she doesn’t say that piques my interest. I don’t push, though. I’m not sure I want to know.
“He really won’t be there?” I ask, because I can’t remember the last time I ate something homemade.
“I don’t think he’ll be surfacing anytime soon.”
“Okay, then. Maybe I’ll come.”
“I’d like that, Kennedy.” Hadley smiles, and this time it doesn’t make me bristle. “We all would.”
Chapter Four
Conner
I’ve woken up a couple times in the past few hours when people come up and down the stairs, but every time I’ve opened my eyes, the room was spinning and my head was pounding.
This time, everything hurts a little less. Well, everything aside from my heart. That motherfucker is still aching, knowing Kenny is broken and bruised and trying to push me away.
I blow out a long breath and fall onto my back.
I try to swallow, but my mouth is as dry as a fucking desert. I look at the nightstand and sigh when I find a glass of water and a box of Advil waiting for me.
“Hadley,” I breathe, a small smile playing on my lips. I have a vague recollection of the scent of her perfume last night. I guess that explains why I woke up in one of Dad’s guest rooms after falling asleep in the chair in my bedroom.
I swallow down two pills before sinking back into the bed. My stomach grumbles, but I’m not sure I’ve got it in me to drag my ass all the way to the kitchen. So I lie staring at the ceiling, trying to come up with a plan.
I need Kenny to talk to me. I need to know the truth about how she ended up as she did, and I need to put a fucking bullet through someone’s head for ever laying a finger on her.
My thoughts are cut short when a knock sounds out.
“Come in,” I call, hoping it might be Hadley with food. I’m disappointed when a figure steps inside and I find Dad standing at the side of the bed, dressed as if he’s just emerged from a meeting.
“I hope that bottle was worth it. I’d been saving it for fifteen years for a special occasion.”
“Shit,” I groan, pushing back into the pillows, wishing they’d just swallow me whole.
The mattress compresses as he joins me, but he doesn’t say anything for a long second.
“Did you know Kennedy’s aunt died?”
That gets me moving, and I sit bolt upright in bed. “No, I had no idea.”
“Over the summer, apparently.”
“Shit.” I drag a hand down my face. “Where has she been living?”
“With Warren.”
My entire body tenses and my fists curl at just hearing that cunt’s name.
He did this. Kenny might be protecting him for some fucked-up reason, but I know this was because of him. I don’t need the evidence that James seems so insistent on.
“What?” I seethe, panic trickling through me. “She can’t go back there.”
James swallows nervously. I’ve never seen him anything but sure of himself, even with the fucked-up situations we’ve brought upon him since we arrived. The sight has dread settling in the pit of my stomach.
“I’ve arranged a place for her to stay, but she needs to agree.”