Come Back for Me (Arrowood Brothers #1)(21)

I stay upright, staring into his vengeful eyes. “You can hit me, break me, cut me down, but I am not staying!”

Kevin grips my hair again, pulling me up to my feet. The pain is so bad I scream, unable to hold it back. Everything feels heavy and even breathing feels like work.

He hauls me back toward the house as I try to keep up, stumbling along the way.

“You don’t have to stay, Ellie, but you’re not going anywhere.”





Chapter Nine


Connor





“Just tonight. No names. No anything. Just . . . I need to feel.” Her voice is pleading.

“Feel me.”

Her deep blue eyes stare into mine, and I swear she sees all my demons and chases them away.

Tonight, I’m not some kid who has dealt with his drunk dad, who thanked him with his fists and vitriol. I’m not the child of the man who threatened to ruin my life with the lies my brothers and I have told—to protect him.

I’m not Connor Arrowood, the youngest brother, the troublemaker who barely made it out of high school.

Right now, to her, my Angel, I’m a god. She looks at me with so much hope and honesty that it humbles me.

“Tomorrow . . .” I say as I gently brush my thumb across her cheek.

“No tomorrows.”

I want to tell her that tomorrow I leave for boot camp. She should know that, even though we are agreeing to only one night, I’ll come back for her. She just has to wait.

“There’s more,” I start, but her hand covers my lips.

“There’s nothing but tonight. I want us to get lost in each other, can you give me that?”

I’ll give her everything.

Her hand lowers, and she replaces it with her mouth. I kiss her, giving her the answer through touch.

We barely say a word as we slowly undress each other in a hotel room three towns over from Sugarloaf. I’m here to remember. I’m here to forget. I’m not even sure why I came, but maybe it was for her.

I’m eighteen years old but feel as if I’ve lived a thirty-year-old’s life. Dealing with the loss of my mother, my drunk father, the beatings, the lies, and having to make decisions I never should’ve had to make—because of him.

Right now, I don’t feel any of that. I’m a guy who is going to love a woman who is far better than he is.

“Connor!”

I look around, not knowing where the sound is coming from. No one else is here. It’s only my Angel and me.

“Connor! Connor! Help!”

I shoot up out of bed, my dream fading away as I search for the noise.

“Please! Be home! Please! Connor, I need you!”

Hadley.

I jump out of bed, throwing my shorts on as I rush to the door. “Hadley?”

When I open the door, she’s standing there, hair plastered to her face and eyes red rimmed. She grabs my hand, pulling me. “You have to come! You have to help!”

“Come where?”

“Hurry!” she screams.

Hadley is trembling, gripping my hand so tight that I can almost feel the fear inside her. She stares at me, broken, sad, and terrified. Images of what can be wrong flash in my mind because I remember that look. I remember running with my face a mess, praying I could find some help.

Before I go there, I need her to tell me what happened so I can prepare. I use my years of training to slow down my rapid heart rate and the urge to rush over.

I squat down to her level, gripping both her small hands in mine. “I need you to tell me what’s wrong?”

Her head moves to where her house would be and then back to me. “She told me to run.”

“Your mother?”

She nods. “He . . . he was . . . we tried.”

I scoop her up quickly, gathering her in my arms and rushing into the house. Once I know she’s safely in the house, I sit her down and try to get more from her. “Is it your dad?” Hadley cries harder, and there’s a painful tightness in my throat. I want to hold her, comfort this kid who is falling apart, but I urge her gaze back to mine. “I need you to tell me so I can help her.”

“He had her, but she made me run and told me not to stop.”

Fuck.

For just a second, I’m Hadley. I’m running, remembering how Declan screamed until I couldn’t hear him as I fled. I can feel the fear inside my body as I wouldn’t stop, finding that tree, praying he wouldn’t follow me.

Declan protected me and I will do anything to do the same for Ellie now.

“Okay, I want you to stay here, lock the door behind me, and call 9-1-1 right away. Tell them what happened.”

“I’m scared.”

I shake my head, pulling on my bravest face. “I know you are, but you got to me and now I need you to call the police so that we can make sure everyone is safe. I will come back here as soon as I can.”

“With Mommy?”

I really fucking hope so. I know better than to make promises I can’t keep.

“I’m going to try. Just don’t answer the door unless it’s me or Sheriff Mendoza . . . is he still the sheriff?” She nods. “Good, only us, okay?”

I hate that I’m leaving her alone in this broken house, but Ellie needs help. If she had Hadley run . . . it was to protect her, like my brothers did for me.