Page 57 of Prickly Pair
Nick climbed up a little higher. I heard more voices down below, but didn’t pay attention as Nick started to step onto the scaffolding.
“Nick!” I shouted. “Stop. Get off the fucking roof. I don’t need your help.”
Panic speared through me as he put his weight on the scaffolding. The scaffolding that wasnotnailed in properly because when it came to my safety, I rarely gave as much of a fuck as I did for other people.
“Nick, get off,” I said. “Please.”
“Why are you so fucking stubborn?” he growled. “Just let me help.”
“I don’t want your help, I don’t want your anything, I don’t even want you here. Getoff.”
“Is this because of Evie?” Nick yelled. “Is that why you won’t give me a second chance?”
My stomach lurched as he stepped onto the scaffolding fully and moved closer towards me. “No. Fuck. Maybe. Please get off, Nick. Please. This isn’t built to support two?—”
The crack of wood was like a strike of lightning. I lunged towards him as he started to fall, everything happening at once. His fingers brushed mine, but it was too late. Nick’s shout rang out as he tumbled off the side of the roof, and I heard the sickening thud of his body against the ground.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Austin
Oh god, no. No, no, no.
I immediately went to the edge, barely breathing as shouts boomed around me and strangers rushed outside. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t fucking breathe. My head kept spinning as I stared at him, but then a moan parted his lips.
“Did you fucking push him?” a man called up.
“What?” I squeezed out.
“I heard them arguing about some woman,” the stranger said to another person. A crowd was starting to form.
No. I would never do that. I would never push someone off a roof?—
“What the hell is going on?” Mateo’s voice was like a splash of cold water in the face. I spotted him and Dallas coming through the gate, sirens swelling in the distance.
Then I saw Evie running across the street with June right behind her.
I had to get down. I made my way over to the ladder and climbed down quickly, trembling once my boots hit the ground. More shouts sounded, but I couldn’t catch my breath. I slumped back against the wall.
Nick had fallen off the roof, and it was my fault. I didn’t secure the scaffolding. He could have died. He could still die—what the fuck was I thinking?
A firm hand gripped my shoulder and Levi’s face appeared in front of mine. “Austin, what is going on? Are you okay?”
I heard that stranger’s voice again. The one saying I pushed Nick.
“I didn’t push him,” I rasped.
“I know that,” Levi scoffed. “Fuck. You look like you’re about to pass out. We need to get you some water.”
“I have to take groceries to my mom?—”
“Austin.”Levi gave me a gentle shake. “Stop it, okay? Just stop. Come on.”
His arm slid around my waist, and I didn’t push away the support. We rounded the corner, and I went still.
Evie was bent over Nick, tears streaming down her cheeks. That one guy kept talking at the small crowd that had gathered.They were fighting over a woman.
It wasn’t true, not really. But Evie’s eyes darted up to me, and the look of betrayal on her face was a knife to the heart.
