Tamed (Torn #5)(30)

“What?” I asked curiously.

“My mom showed up at Drake’s house yesterday.”

“What?” I shrieked.

I hated Chloe’s mother. She’d abused her own daughter both mentally and physically her entire life. It’d been a long time since any of us had seen her, and I had hoped that she’d disappeared permanently. Nothing good ever came from her presence.

“What happened? What did she want?” Logan asked.

I glanced over to see worry in his eyes.

Chloe shrugged, but she wouldn’t look at either of us. “Apparently, my aunt is dying. My mom wants me to go to Ocean City with her to see my aunt one last time.”

“Holy shit,” I said.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve never been close to my aunt, but she has always been good to me. She even helped me get home when my mom left me at her house one summer.”

“Still, no one would expect you to go see her with your mom there,” Logan said.

Chloe finally looked up. “I’m going.”

“You can’t be serious!” I exclaimed.

“I am. My mom only wants me to go because my aunt plans to leave money for both of us, but she won’t if she doesn’t see me for herself.”

“No money is worth dealing with your mother,” I said, surprised that Chloe would even want that money. It wasn’t like her at all.

“I’m not going for the money. I’m going to make sure that my aunt doesn’t give my mom a damn dime. She doesn’t deserve it. Besides, she’ll only use it on drugs. I know her.”

“You’re absolutely insane, woman!” I told her.

“Chloe, this is insane. You’re willingly walking into the belly of the beast. Even if you change your aunt’s mind, you’re still going to be stuck in a house with that woman when your aunt breaks the news. I don’t see that ending well,” Logan said as he looked at Chloe with concern.

“I won’t be there when my aunt tells her. I’m only staying long enough to convince her not to give my mom the money, and then I’ll be in my car on my way to one of Drake’s shows. But if things do go bad, Danny will be there to help me, and I’m sure Jordan will be, too.”

Adam, Drake, and the rest of the band were leaving in two weeks to go on tour. They’d managed to book a few shows on the East Coast, mainly playing in small bars like Gold’s. I hated to think about Adam leaving even if it was only for the summer. I shouldn’t care though. Logan and I were leaving for Charleston in two days. Logan and his mom didn’t get along well, so he was going to use Chloe’s old room at my house.

Even though I knew Chloe’s cousin, Danny, and his best friend, Jordan, were going to be at her aunt’s house, I still didn’t like the idea of her being under the same roof as her mom.

“How long are you staying?” I asked before sipping my coffee.

“Not long. Drake will be playing shows in Maryland while I’m there, so whenever I’m done at my aunt’s house, I’m going to meet up with him and continue on.”

“So, you’ll still be gone all summer?” I pouted.

When Chloe had mentioned that she was going to stay with Drake instead of coming home with Logan and me, I’d been pissed. I’d expected this summer to be a break from all the craziness. I’d hoped things really would go back to normal between the three of us, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen.

“Yes, I’m still going with Drake. You’ll have Logan to keep you company. Take him shopping,” Chloe said.

I didn’t miss the glare Logan sent her way.

“Yeah, not happening. I have better things to do than walk around the mall for six hours while Amber searches for the perfect pair of shoes,” he said with a visible shudder.

Chloe laughed, earning a glare from me. My two best friends liked to tease me over the amount of time I spent shopping. I couldn’t help it. Clothes were my life.

“Shut up, both of you. I don’t need either of you to go shopping with me. I can have fun all by myself!” I said, still glaring.

“We know you can, Amber,” Chloe said as she tried to hide a smile.

“And you’d better freaking call me at least once a week while you’re gone! I mean it. I can’t go from spending every day with you to nothing for three months,” I said.

“You know I will. I’m going to miss you guys, too, you know. This isn’t all one-sided. It’s been a long time since I spent any real amount of time without you two, and it’s going to suck.”

“Damn straight it will!” I practically pulled her from her seat to hug her.

Chloe giggled as she turned her head to look at Logan, who was watching us as if we’d lost our minds.

“Get over here, big guy. Group hug!” Chloe said.

He rolled his eyes as he leaned in and wrapped his arms around both of us. “You two are completely mental. How I’m even friends with either of you, I’ll never know.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “You know you love us both, so shut up.”

“Yeah, I do,” Logan said as he pulled away.

He wouldn’t look at Chloe. I fought to hide my frown. God, he was still hurting so much. I wasn’t sure if time would be enough to fix what love had done to him.