No Perfect Hero(59)

He's gone, and Haley goes loose, groaning as she leans hard on Tara. I cross to her quickly, starting to reach for her, then damning it all and resting a hand to the small of her back.

“Hey,” I say. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Maybe,” she says, then shakes her head quickly. “No.”

“Come on.” It feels natural to curl my arm around her, gather her against me, and guide her toward the door. “Let’s get you somewhere private where you can wind down.”

She’s stiff for a moment before she leans against me as if she needs me to hold her up, fitting herself into the crook of my arm. My chest warms. I feel almost satisfied right now, being able to do something for her.

To be her physical and metaphorical shield.

I’d do it for anyone stuck in a situation they don’t want to be in, especially with a fuck like her ex, but it feels more right to do it for Hay.

After this, I'm sure we're technically friends. And that's when it hits me.

I’ve been lying to myself.

Never in a million years will I get off being nothing more than 'friends' with this chick.

I've got to make a move. One that's a lot more fun than throwing the bastard who broke her heart into the dirt.

One fine day, when she’s in a better place for it, when her eyes don’t look so hollow and shocked and she’s got her fire back, it's gonna happen.

Haley and I need to have a talk.





11





Disaster Zone (Haley)





I so wasn’t ready to see Eddy again.

That’s what I keep thinking on the drive back to Charming Inn. Kicking myself the whole way.

Honestly, I wasn’t ready to see him again because I never wanted to see him at all. And when he showed up outside the cabin with that shit-eating grin and the pleading started...I had to spare Tara from a scene.

She was half the reason I didn’t punch him right then. And the other half was because just seeing his face brought that horrible, sick feeling back.

The same feeling I'd had in the bridal shop, in the fitting room, in the dress I was going to wear to our freaking wedding. I couldn’t find either him or Britney anywhere. So I followed the hint of familiar voices and walked in on them fucking in a fitting room with her bridesmaid dress around her hips.

If they wanted to completely destroy me in three seconds flat, they'd found a good way to do it.

I’ve always prided myself on being strong. Practical and no-nonsense, to balance my creative flights of fancy.

But that day something fragile and emotional inside me shattered, some precious thing I’d trusted to Eddy to hold.

He'd crushed it like a playground bully swinging a baseball bat at a ladybug.

And then he'd shown up today and used the sharp jagged fragments to try to cut me again.

All because the selfish prick can’t stand losing.

All because he never learned to take no for an answer.

All because it’s too big a blow to his ego.

That had to be part of the thrill, for him, the day he was busted – playing this risky game of getting caught, convinced he could manage both Britney and me in the same building, with no one the wiser.

It’s strange how clearly I can see him now.

I don’t know why I ever fell for his flat, false, too-smooth face. Why I thought he was someone he wasn’t. Why I believed I loved him, when I know now I can do so much better.

Not that the man sitting quietly behind the steering wheel is any sane option for better, but...I can’t deny one thing.

If my heart sank at the sight of Eddy, it nearly floated to the moon when Warren called me his girl.

I'm not crazy. I know it was just a heat of the moment thing meant to scare Eddy off, but it made me realize my feelings are way more conflicted than I thought.

I can’t dwell on them right now, though. I’m not going to lie, I’m down in a dark place, and when Warren pulls the truck up near our cabin and we get out, the first thing I do is tell Tara to go up to the main house and see if Ms. Wilma needs some help with her crocheting.

It’s better right now. Better for everyone.

She keeps giving me these mournful little looks that tell me her ten-year-old head is too conscious about how I'm feeling. I don’t want the awful way I feel to rub off on her and bring her down. She’s too young, might end up imprinting something she’ll carry forever and that's hardly fair.

Eddy already did enough damage to me.

I won’t let that damage spill over onto her.

Tara’s the happiest little girl I’ve ever known, and if I have anything to say about it, that's how it'll stay.

But Warren’s almost hovering as we mount the steps. Rather than going for his door, he gives me a worried look.

“Can I come in, Hay?”

Honest to God, I don't know.

I frown, looking up at him. I still can’t believe he did that, fighting like he did.

I don’t even know how he knew where to find me, but I can hazard a guess, and that guess involves pigtails. “Why?”

“Because.” He flexes his hands, shaking his head once, that wild crop of dark hair teasing across stern brows that just don’t look as severe as usual. Not when he’s looking at me like I might break. “Because there's no fucking way you should be alone right now.”