Page 55 of The Monster I Am
“Sorry?” I glance between them. “What do you mean?”
I can’t deny that I haven’t thought about that night at least a hundred times. All I remember is the acceptance that I was going to die before everything started to go hazy and then I blacked out. When I regained consciousness in the medical center, finding Rylan waiting for me, I had assumed that, like the medical bills, he had something to do with it.
The idea I nearly met my end was far too overwhelming to discuss. So, I ignored the lingering questions, processing as little as possible until I accepted the fact the Willowbrook man had saved me.
Except, I was wrong. Rylan wasn’t the Willowbrook anti-hero when it came to my escape.
Ever since the fire, Hunter had been insufferable, making sure I knew how miserable my existence made him. It never dawned on me that he could have been the one who pulled me out. It had taken every ounce of strength to shove him out the window. It’s perplexing to think he somehow came back in to grabme.
Asshole. I could have pulled a muscle doing that. Maybe I did—I was in so much pain that it’s a possibility. I was just a little distracted by other screaming body parts to pay attention.
“After he escaped, he immediately dived back in to grab you,” Rylan says, face all serious and a little pained.
Tai nods in agreement. “Bastard didn’t even wait for us to have a hold of him. Thankfully, I’m super fast though.”
Rylan scoffs to my right at the jab toward his speed skills. “Anyway, we’re not sure what’s been up his ass lately. We assumed he was battling some suppressed trauma. But after his little confession, I’m starting to think that’s not completely accurate.”
Blowing kissing gestures at me—to, you know, emphasize what they are referring to in case I’ve forgotten—Tai grins. “I gotta know… Who kissed who first?”
I cock an eyebrow at him. “You’re a nosy ass. You know that, right?”
He shrugs. “Yep. But I’m lovable regardless.”
My eyes drift to Rylan. We still haven’t had a chance to talk about…that. Man—can I just deal with one disaster at a time without more crises being tossed at me? I only have two arms to juggle with.
“He kissed me first,” I admit to them. “But I’m not ready for any awkward conversations about this weird dynamic between all of us.”
Rylan’s brows furrow, clearly on the same wavelength as me about our little Lawless Dragons situation. “That’s a discussionfor another day. But it’s not important. H said my father paid you a visit.”
I sigh quietly, slumping back into my pillows. “Yep. He’s a charmer,” I mumble sarcastically. “Can I just offer my condolences? ‘Sympathies’ doesn’t quite measure up to the dumpster fire it must be having to deal with that man.”
“He certainly keeps things interesting.”
Tai lays on his stomach facing me, resting his chin on his knuckles. “Come on—tell us all the details. It must be good if it broke Hunter and he felt the need to smooch you. Or were you rambling so he had to shut you up?”
“I’ll shut you up,” I threaten playfully. “Hard to talk when your face is smothered by pussy.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Tai shoots back. “Or better yet—You sit, Rylan listens. I think we can handle multitasking.”
I laugh while simultaneously cringing. “No offence, but I don’t think I’d be able to come on your face while talking about Mayor Astor. Not even if you had three tongues.”
“Three tongues, you say?” Tai wiggles his eyebrows at Rylan.
Rolling his eyes, Ry reaches behind me and grabs a pillow, launching it at Tai’s head. “This idiot’s comments aside, fill us in on what my father had to say. Bearing in mind I’m about three seconds away from storming into his office and ripping his head from his shoulders.”
I shuffle closer to him, cupping his hand. “It’s a trap and you know it. All we can do is call his bluff and watch each other’s backs,” I say, before diving into the specific details of Max’s warning.
When I get to the part about my father, the guys fall quiet, somber looks on their faces.
It just about kills me to be honest. This is what I always fear.
The pity.
I don’t need to be reminded that it’s messed up. I keep trying to put it out of my mind, but the fact he’s so close, living a whole new life without me is heart breaking.
After everything I went through when Mom died, I don’t know if I can ever forgive him. You divorce partners, not kids.
I needed him. But I was forced to go through it alone, struggling with the crushing weight of grief and burdens I never should have had to face.
