Page 37 of You for Her (The Edge of Retaliation 2)
It could be longer. It depends on how far we get each day.
I really wish we could have afforded the flight, but too many of us wanted to come and, honestly, five days on the road is probably a good idea to simmer down Tanner’s anger. Right now, and for the last few hours, he has been driving, hands firmly planted on the wheel, gripping so tightly his knuckles are white, staring straight ahead. I know he has a lot going through his head right now.
I unleashed hell.
I am sorry for what I told him, for the pain it caused him. I’m not cruel enough to be that cold. It would have hurt, and that really sucks.
But I’m not sorry for bringing it to the surface, for bringing him down like he brought me down.
Maybe now he understands how it feels to be me.
I stare out the window at the passing trees and think of Celia. I think of the horror she must have endured. When I closed my eyes last night, she was all I could see. Even though I don’t know exactly what happened, moment for moment, I know that what she went through is probably one of the worst things a human could endure. At the hands of her boyfriend, in a sense. She paid for his choices.
Did she know he was into drugs?
Did it come as a shock to her?
Was she in on it too?
Did Tanner have any idea?
Did Tatum know before Chase asked for his help?
I have so many questions, but I’m not going to ask them.
I don’t even want to talk to Tanner, let alone ask him questions.
I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, and he turns and stares at me. “What?”
I look away quickly and he focuses on the road.
“Is that all it took?” he murmurs. “Is that how long you looked away from the road before you hit my sister?”
I grit my teeth, and growl.
I tried. I tried to not despise him for what he did, I even went after him to say sorry, but if he wants to treat me like a fucking criminal, and like I mean absolutely nothing, then I’ll return the favor.
“I owe you no explanations, Tanner. You haven’t been interested in my side of the story since it happened, don’t bother asking for details now.”
“Tell me what happened.”
I laugh, bitterly and look over to him. “You used me. You made me believe that I’d actually met a fucking decent human. You let me fall …” I stop talking and look away, my eyes burning with unshed tears. “You don’t deserve to hear my side of the story now, when you didn’t care to hear it before.”
The car goes silent again, and I hear Ethan shuffle in the back seat, clearly wanting to say or do something, but completely unable to. We’re all stuck together, no matter what we do, we’re stuck in this car, on this road trip, together.
Chase is going to have to answer up to Tanner, which is probably worse than anything he could have imagined from me.
I’m finally going to get the justice Celia and I both deserve.
“She wasn’t depressed,” Tanner says, his voice low. “I didn’t … I didn’t see it. She acted happy. She acted fine. I didn’t notice because I was in my own world. I didn’t believe it, when I heard what you were claiming. I was so fuckin’ angry at you …”
I swallow, and stare out the window, my whole body on high alert, my heart aching, my chest tight. I’m not going to stop him from talking. No way. I want to hear what he has to say, I want to hear what’s swirling around in his head. I want to know everything, so I can finish this book and close it forever.
“I was havin’ a hard time, I didn’t notice. Because of me, because we all didn’t see what she was goin’ through. She’s gone. I’m not askin’ for your forgiveness, don’t fuckin’ care if you like me or not. I just want to know what happened that night. I want to know. I’m asking for the story, from your mouth.”
I clench my teeth together, trying to keep my emotions in check. It’s hard, really fucking hard. Partially because I want to tell him my side, I’ve wanted to tell her family my side for so long. The other part a little hurt that he doesn’t care how I feel toward him. Even though I know he’s a liar, and a cheat, and everything else bad in this world, there were moments I actually believed he liked me. Moments I actually believed he cared.
Was it all an act?
Every second of it?
“I’ll answer your question, but then you’ll answer one for me. Honesty for honesty. Do we have a deal?” I ask, my voice hard even though inside I’m dying.
