Page 111 of Unleashed

“I get it.” There’s a hint of sadness on her features. “Sometimes it can feel wrong to be happy. Scary, even.”

That’s exactly it. I’m a little scared of being happy. Of course I’ve been happy with Zara in my life, but this is different. Being happy with Zara and loving her is a completely different sort of experience than being happy with Trevor and loving him.

Fuck a duck. I love Trevor.

I don’t know why that annoys me, but it does. Trevor annoys me in general. At least, I thought the nagging, gnawing sensation I get when I think of him was annoyance.

Is that actually what love feels like?

“Yeah. I’ve made that face before.” Ruth hooks an arm around my shoulders, tipping her head against mine as we continue walking. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it.”

Brooke uses the fob in her hand to unlock her SUV, the lights blinking back at us when she pushes the button. “Who wants shotgun?”

I glance over to find Lindsey is now even paler than before, and her steps are starting to slow.

That definitely isn’t just me. Something is for sure wrong.

I step away from Ruth and hook my arm into our new friend’s. “Ruth can have it. I’ll sit in the back with Lindsey.”

“Aweso—” Brooke yelps, doing a little bounce in her heels as one of the front headlights on her car breaks, the plastic cover shattering across the blacktop in front of us.

“What the fuck?” How the hell did that happen? I’ve never seen something spontaneously combust like that.

There’s a weird whistling sound behind me, and I turn, thinking maybe Trevor came out to tell me goodbye one last time and is trying to get my attention. But instead of seeing Trevor, I witness the side window explode on a sedan a few feet away.

“Holy shit.” My brain can’t make sense of what it’s seeing. Things don’t just blow up like that. Not for no reas⁠—

“Get down.” Lindsey uses the arm still looped in mine to fling me toward the passenger side of Brooke’s SUV.

Somehow, I manage not to fall on my face as I stumble forward, a little offended at the way she just hurled me at the blacktop. I regain my footing just beside the passenger door and turn. “What the fuck, Linds⁠—”

The pretty blonde has now grabbed Brooke and Ruth and is forcing them my way, a wild look in her blue eyes. She must be strong as hell, because she gets them moving so fast the three of us collide, all going down in a heap.

With me at the bottom.

“What in the hell is your problem?” I try to wriggle my way free of the pile. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Stay down.” Lindsey grabs the front of my sweater as I start to stand up. “You’re going to get shot.”

“Shot?” What the fuck does she mean, shot?”

There’s another whistling sound and suddenly there’s a hole in the corner of the hood on the truck next to us.

“Oh my God.” I go down to my hands and knees, crawling away from the impact. “Is someone shooting at us?”

“No.” Lindsey manages to get free of Ruth and Brooke’s tangled limbs and begins pushing them my way. “Someone’s shooting at me.”

“You?” Brooke scoots closer to the body of her SUV. “Why would they be shooting at you?”

“It’s a really long story.” Lindsey gives Ruth another shove, getting her between me and Brooke. “You guys stay here. They should leave you alone once I’m gone.” She peeks through the side window in the direction the shots are coming from, then gets into starting position.

Like she’s gonna make a run for it.

“No fucking way.” I grab for her, managing to get a grip on her purse. “You can’t go out there. They’ll kill you.”

“I’d rather they kill me than you.” Lindsey slides free of her purse and my hold on her. “This is my fault. I brought this here.”

She attempts to take off again, only to be tackled by Ruth, who wraps both arms around Lindsey’s legs, taking her down and sending us into a pileup again.