Crave Me (The Good Ol' Boys #4)(128)

She saved my life.

Again.

The last thing I remembered was seeing her with Esteban. The image would be forever ingrained in my mind. Burned into my soul.

My mistakes. My choices My weaknesses.

Cost me the love of my life.

She unknowingly slipped through my grasps. That was the hardest pill for me to swallow. Seeing her move on was my rock bottom.

She was now the one that got away.

It was the last day of my hospital stay before I was discharged to the rehab facility. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared of my future and everything it had in store for me.

A life without Briggs.

I shut my eyes, needing a moment of clarity. A few seconds to calm my plaguing thoughts.

“I love you, Daisy. I’ll always love you. No matter what.”

She smiled. “I know. I’m yours.”

I immediately opened my eyes sensing her presence. There she was, standing by the open door, her dark brown hair flowing all around her face. She was a sight for sore eyes, wearing jeans with a sweater and her favorite tattered Chucks. She looked so tired like she hadn’t slept in days. Once again I was the reason for her discomfort and pain. Dark circles were prominent under her swollen eyes.

She was still so f*cking beautiful.

Beautifully broken.

“Hey,” she announced, barely above a whisper.

I smiled. I couldn’t help it. “Hey,” I rasped.

We both stared at each other, lost in our own thoughts. I looked over at my sitter with a pleading expression. I couldn’t be left alone. They even had cameras set up in my room, watching my every move. The nurse was in there with all my visitors, overhearing every private conversation. I silently prayed she would grant my request this one time.

She met my eyes, and then peered back at Briggs.

“You’re Briggs?” she stated, raising her eyebrows.

“Yes.”

“He owes you his life, young lady.” She nodded toward me.

“In a way, I owe him my life, too. So I guess we’re even,” Briggs said out of nowhere, bringing my attention back to her.

“You have twenty minutes. I’m going to get some coffee, and I will be standing right outside that door. No funny business, okay?”

I held up three fingers. “Scouts honor.”

She left, closing the door behind her. Briggs didn’t move from where she was standing against the wall. The craving to hold her was as powerful as the craving to use had been.

Both were deadly for me.

“Your hair,” I coaxed, nodding to her, breaking the silence between us.

She smiled, grabbing the ends and looking down at them.

“Yeah,” she simply stated not elaborating any further.

Awkward silence filled the space between us.

“You still have your tattoos, right?” I chuckled.

She nodded never breaking eye contact, finally asking, “So, how do you feel?” Like she’d been waiting to ask since she found me in the warehouse.

I shrugged. “Like shit. Which is better than I deserve. You’re looking at me like I’m going to break or something, Briggs.”

She shook her head, looking down at the ground. I immediately regretted saying something.

“You weren’t breathing, Austin. I couldn’t feel your heart, your pulse. You died right in front of me.” She rubbed her forehead, deeply sighing as if she was reliving it all over again in her mind.

“Are you okay?” I asked, pulling her away from her thoughts.

She eyed me cautiously. “I was. I think. I don’t even know anymore.” She pushed off the wall and walked over to sit in the chair by the side of my bed. “I left the hospital when they told us you were going to be okay. I had every intention of not coming back. But my mind has stayed with your unconscious body in the warehouse, Austin. I see you lying there on that filthy floor, unresponsive every time I close my damn eyes. I haven’t been able to sleep since that night. I keep thinking that if Dylan hadn’t called me first, I wouldn’t have answered your call. Or what if I hadn’t been in Oak Island when I answered you. You would have died. My therapist—”

“Therapist?” I frowned.

“I’ve been seeing her since I left you. She’s been helping me understand everything. My childhood, my uncle, you, me, us… f*ck, my life, I guess. She told me that I was the one that ran away from you. I would never be able to move on until we had closure or some sense of peace. It was then that I realized I never changed my phone number even after she told me I needed to. I knew… I knew in my heart that this was going to happen. Subconsciously, I had been waiting for it,” she paused to let her words sink in.

Peering around the room for a few seconds, battling a visible internal struggle in her mind. She didn’t have to tell me what she was about to say. I knew it from the moment I opened my eyes and saw her standing in front of me.

I said it for her instead, “You’re here to say goodbye.”





<>Briggs<>


We locked eyes.

Seeing each other's truths for the first time in two and a half years.

“Yes.” I nodded. “I can’t run away from you again. It almost killed me as much as it did you, the last time. I need to say my peace and walk away this time.”