Seth & Greyson (The Coincidence #7)(32)

I bite down on my lip and clench my phone in my hand as something snaps inside me. I think about what Greyson said. He’s so right. Life’s way too short to keep living like this.

I glance at the faint scars on my hand, the ones my mother made me cover up, and it fuels me with enough rage to stand up and confront her in a room full of people.

“Actually, that was Greyson,” I tell her. “You know, my boyfriend I met at college.”

Her face drains of color as her fingers strangle the cup she’s holding. “He’s kidding,” she says to everyone with an off-pitch laugh.

“No, I’m not.” My voice shakes, but I manage to stand firm. “And you know it. You’ve known it for a while now.”

“Shut your mouth,” she snaps, slamming the glass down on the table in front of her.

“”No, I’m not going to stay silent anymore,” I reply, my voice growing firmer. “This is who I am and you’re going to either have to accept it or stop forcing me to come home.”

It grows so quiet you could hear a pin drop. One of my uncles chokes on a cough and my aunt starts crying.

My mother trembles with rage as she rises from her chair and points to the door. “Get out of my house.”

“Gladly.” My legs shake as I pick up my coat and storm out the door. “Fuck,” I curse when I realize my car’s blocked in.

Having nowhere else to go, I slip on my coat and start walking down the icy sidewalk. The air has a nip to it and a layer of snow covers the grass. Goosebumps dot my arms and my teeth chatter, but I continue moving until finally I reach the gas station about a mile away. Inside, the place is practically empty. Even the tiny diner at the back has a total of zero customers. Taking a seat at one of the tables, I pull out my phone to text Greyson, but realizing how much I need to hear his voice, I end up dialing his number instead.

“Hey,” he says as he picks up. “I was just thinking about you.”


I slump back in the seat. “That’s because I’m hard to forget.”

“What’s wrong?” he asks immediately. “And don’t say nothing. I can tell by your voice there’s something wrong.”

I blow out a breath. “So, remember how when we were texting, I said I wanted to scream the truth to everyone?”

“Oh, my God, you did?” He sounds worried.

“Well, not so dramatically, but yeah, I kind of declared to everyone that I was dating you.”

He hesitates before he asks, “And what happened?”

“Pretty much what I thought would happen.” I trace the cracks in the table. “My mother threw me out.”

“Seth, I’m so sorry. I wish I was there with you… But I’m really proud of you.”

“Thanks.” I glance out the window as snow begins to fall. “I think I’m going to drive back to school tonight.”

“I don’t like the idea of you on the road that late. Or spending the weekend by yourself,” he says. “Isn’t there somewhere you can crash until Sunday?”

“My car.” I sigh tiredly. “It’s better if I go back. Being here… It brings up too much painful shit.”

“Well, if you do, call me while you’re on the road and I’ll talk to you during the drive.”

“You know it’s like a three-hour drive, right?”

“What? I can talk for three hours straight,” he says and I snort skeptically. “Okay, well, you can, then.”

“Sounds good… God, I can’t wait until Monday when everything goes back to normal.” I peer over my shoulder as the door dings and someone walks in. When I see who it is, my sullen mood sinks further. “And the day just keeps on getting shittier.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Braiden just walked in.” I don’t know why I’m so surprised. Mapleville is a small town. I should have known there was a chance I’d cross paths with him.

“Huh? Where the hell are you?”

“At a gas station.” I rise from the chair as Braiden spots me.

He freezes in front of the cash register with a deer in the headlights look on his face.

“Don’t hang up on me,” Greyson begs anxiously. “Just walk out of there, okay? Seth, are you listening to me?”

“Yeah, I’m listening.” I keep my eyes on Braiden.

He looks the same; tall, muscular, with brown hair that matches his eyes. I’m sure he’s still f*cking hot, but right now all I can see is the anger he had in his eyes when he tried to break me.

My pulse is racing so quickly I feel like I’m one step away from dropping dead. Somehow I manage to put one foot in front of the other and move toward the door.

Braiden glances over his shoulder at the cashier, who’s reading a magazine and chomping on her gum. He relaxes a bit as he turns around and gives me a tense smile. “Hey.”

My scars pulsate as I force words out of my mouth. “Are you serious?”

His expression drops. “Huh?”

“You seriously think you can speak to me?” I wrap my fingers around the door handle. “You have no right to talk to me anymore. You made that decision six months ago.”

“Seth, if you’d just talk to me, I could explain myself. What happened… I didn’t have a choice.”