Page 45 of Finding Carly
The last thing Carly wanted to do was give Luke more power over her. His father had done that long enough. So she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. She was still trembling from the adrenaline coursing through her body, but she forced herself to meet his gaze.
“Your father ruined hisownlife,” she spat. “I didn’t ask him to belittle me and treat me as if I were a moron. I didn’t deserve to be smacked around. No one does. I don’t think he even liked me very much, so I have no idea why he wasn’t thrilled when I finally broke up with him. All he had to do was move on, and he’d still be here to knock around some other woman. But instead, he lost his fucking mind. He tried tokidnapme, which I’m sure you knew all about. I have no doubt you knew every detail of his plan—and that makes you just as bad as he was.”
Carly was practically sweating by the time she’d finished speaking, but it felt good to stand up to Luke. She’d tried to make the man like her for way too long, and it was freeing to finally not give a shit what he thought of her.
Luke took a step toward her, and Kenna said, “Do it, asshole. I dare you.” She was holding her phone up, obviously filming.
He glared at them both and scowled. “You aren’t worth the effort,” he said.
“Come on,” Rebecca said, tugging on his arm.
“I’m guessing he treats you like shit,” Carly said in a slightly more subdued tone. “Get out now while you can. Before he ruins your life.”
“Shut up, bitch!” Luke growled. He turned to his girlfriend and pushed her hard enough to make her stumble. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
He left his cart right there at the end of the aisle as he stomped off, with Rebecca protesting about leaving their groceries.
“What a fucking dickhead,” Kenna said, lowering her phone.
Carly couldn’t stop herself from throwing her arms around her friend. She wanted to thank her for standing up for her. For being there. For being smart enough to film their encounter, thus making Luke think twice about whatever he might have done to her. She also needed Kenna’s support so she didn’t fall into a puddle right there in the middle of the store.
“You’re okay,” Kenna soothed, holding onto her tightly. She obviously felt her shaking. They stood there in each other’s arms for at least a minute before Carly felt as if she wouldn’t fall on her face if she let go.
Taking a deep breath, she did her best to get control over her emotions. “That was kind of fun.”
Kenna grinned. “It was, wasn’t it?”
“And Elizabeth was right, pretending you aren’t scared does kind of work.”
“You were amazing,” Kenna praised. “I bet it felt good too, didn’t it?”
“It totally did,” Carly agreed. “I used to tiptoe around him because I so desperately wanted him to like me. And getting along with him made Shawn happy. Well, not happy, but you know what I mean. Not worrying about what Luke thought of me and saying what I was thinking felt awesome.”
“He’s a dick,” Kenna said.
“Yup. It’s gonna suck having to tell Jag about this. I’m sure he’s going to want me to call Detective Lee too.”
“Which will probably mean the attention Luke’s getting from the cops will increase, which in turn will piss him off more,” Kenna said.
“No doubt,” Carly agreed. Then she shook her head in amazement. “I can’t believe I’m not a complete basket case right now. If this happened even a few weeks ago, I would’ve probably needed to be carted away and sedated.”
“Would it be weird for me to tell you how much I love you right now?” Kenna asked.
Carly grinned. “Nope.”
“Good. I love you, Carly. You’re amazing.”
“I think the same about you,” Carly told her. They smiled at each other.
“Come on, let’s finish up shopping and get you home. You need to get on with seducing Jag.”
Carly almost choked. “Um, what?”
“You guys have been tiptoeing around each other for months. You need to get on with things already.”
“How do you know we haven’t?” Carly asked.
“Because you would’ve told me about it by now,” Kenna said as they headed up another aisle.
