Page 34 of You for Her (The Edge of Retaliation 2)
I hold her eyes, and then turn without another word.
I can’t promise something like that.
I just can’t.
I get in my car and drive to the first on the list of bars she gave me. He’s not at the first or the second, but finally, I find him at the third. He’s sitting at the end of the bar, in the shadows, head down, drink in front of him. He’s staring into the amber liquid, his shoulders slumped. I’m not a monster, seeing him like this bothers me. It hurts me.
I never realized just how much more pain I was going to cause tonight.
I feel horrible that I didn’t consider what hearing the news would do to him. I was so wrapped up in my own story, wanting to call them out for what they’d done, that I didn’t consider that my actions have consequences. That’s why I’m here, because he owes me to apologize at the very least for the bomb I dropped on him. Hearing what happened to Celia would have crushed him. Nobody deserves that.
I walk over and sit beside him. It takes him a few moments to look up at me, but when he does, his eyes harden. His jaw tightens and he glares at me like I’m the last person he’d ever want to see. “What the fuck are you doin’ here?”
I take in a deep breath through my nose, and say, “I’m here to talk to you.”
“Does it look like I want to talk to anyone?”
“Look, Tanner,” I begin, my voice monotone and emotionless, “I understand tonight was probably really hard for you and-”
He stands, his barstool skidding back so hard it slams into a table behind him. People stop and watch, their eyes wide. “You know what’s fuckin’ hard for me?” he roars, slamming his fist down on the bar, “Is knowin’ my sister got fuckin’ raped by eight men. That’s hard for me. Do not come in here and try to fuckin’ make this better. I fucked you over, or have you forgotten that already?”
“No, I haven’t.” I try, but he turns and starts walking out. “That’s not why I’m here, though.”
“Are you stupid?” he barks, panting with rage. “Why would you come after me? Why would you apologize for what I found out? Isn’t this what you wanted, Callie? To make me suffer for what I did to you? Isn’t this exactly how you wanted this to go?”
“No, Tanner, it isn’t. I didn’t think of what this would do to you, and I’m sorry for that. For the rest of it, well, I’m not okay…but…”
He laughs bitterly. “Stick with your plan. You went through with it, now you live with it. You made a choice. We’ve all made choices. I’m living with mine. Start fuckin’ living with yours.”
He turns and starts shoving past people to get out of the bar as quickly as he can.
“Tanner!” I yell.
He looks back at me. “Go fuck yourself, Callie.”
Then he disappears out the front door.
Well.
This is going well.
“TANNER WAIT!” I CALL, rushing out the front door after him.
He turns and walks down an alley, completely ignoring me. I run as fast as I can to catch up, ducking into the darkness after him. I finally catch up to him mid-way down, and I grab his shoulder, stopping him. He spins around, panting with rage, and barks, “Give up. You’ve done what you came here to do. What more could you possibly fuckin’ want from me?”
“I want to tell you I’m sorry,” I pant. “Not about what happened, but about Celia. Nobody should ever have to find out someone they love so dearly has gone through something like that. I never meant to cause you any pain uncovering the truth about her. I didn’t know that…”
His eyes narrow and he crosses his big arms. “Didn’t know what?”
“I didn’t know that’s what happened to her,” I confess, my voice dropping low. “I knew she had gotten hurt, I knew Chase was involved, I knew Tatum helped him but I didn’t know exactly what it was that happened to her. I knew Tatum would admit it if I was clever, and he did.”
He gives me a feral smile, one made up of anger and rage. “Excellent little plan, Callie. It worked out well for you then, didn’t it? You got exactly what you wanted. You got your revenge on all of us. Fuck, you really are clever, aren’t you? Does it feel good? I know it made me feel good, for a time.”
“I never…”
“Don’t,” he growls. “Don’t you stand there and tell me you never meant for me to get hurt, because you damn well did. I know what I did to you, you know what I did to you. This is what you wanted. You wanted me to fuckin’ suffer.”
