Broken Beautiful Hearts(107)

He scratches the back of his head. “What do you mean?”

The tunnel walls look as if they’re getting narrower, squeezing closer to Reed—and me. I take a shuddering breath.

Don’t let him see how scared you are.

“Please don’t play this game with me. I broke up with you because you were doping. Then you decided to push me down a flight of stairs. I don’t really think there’s much left to talk about. Unless you want to discuss the fact that you’ve been stalking me and leaving dead animals in my locker. Because that kind of stuff definitely shows a girl how much you love her.”

Reed’s jaw twitches, and I scoot my feet back rather than taking a step. If he senses fear or weakness, he’ll attack.

“I told you I was sorry about your knee. I didn’t mean it. Nothing like that will ever happen again. And you can’t blame me for wanting to check up on you. You just disappeared.”

“Reed, I think we should get out of here. The cops are searching the building and arresting everyone. They already have a bunch of guys handcuffed out front, including Billy. It’s only a matter of time before they come down here.”

“First, they have to find the entrance to tunnel in that thrashed-out basement.”

“You found it.”

I can’t see the end of the tunnel from here, which means it isn’t as close as I thought. Suddenly, I’m dizzy.

“And then I covered it up.”

“With what? It’s a tunnel, not a porthole.” The panic is getting worse.

“I don’t want to waste any more time talking about cops and tunnels,” Reed says, moving closer. “I want to talk about us. I messed up. I admit it, and I’m sorry. But we belong together. You know that. I just won the regional championship. Aren’t you happy for me? Everything is going to be great now. Just give me one more chance. I won’t screw it up.”

The tunnel walls look like they’re expanding and contracting around us. I know I’m imagining it, but it feels so real. I can’t leave because I’m stuck listening to Reed’s bullshit. The panic recedes and another feeling replaces it.

Rage.

“We don’t belong together, Reed, and we’re never going to end up together. I saw what you did to Tess.”

He flinches.

“Yeah. I saw her face. You haven’t changed; you’re getting worse. If you could do that to your own sister—”

“Shut up,” he growls.

“Reed, please. You need help. Can’t you see what this is doing to you?” I don’t actually care if he gets help anymore. Too much has happened. Seeing Tess’ face was the final straw. But right now I’ll say anything to get away from him.

“I still love you, and I’m not giving up. I went easy on that guy Owen, but if you won’t give me another chance and you start screwing around with someone else, I’ll make him pay.” Reed narrows his eyes. “And I’ll enjoy every minute of it.”

The voice in the back of my head whispers to me, Do whatever you can to get away from him.

My instincts failed me the night Reed pushed me. I didn’t see it coming. But now I know what I’m looking for—the empty look in his eye. My little voice is right this time, and I need to listen.

The tunnel is cold, but Reed is sweating. I wonder how long ago he took a dose and what that means for me.

Get away from him. Now.

There’s no way I can outrun him. Not when my knee still isn’t a hundred percent.

I flash on an image of Owen and Tucker in the ring, when Owen was teaching him self-defense. The palm strike doesn’t require a lot of strength to execute, and an attacker’s size doesn’t matter unless you can’t reach the person’s nose.

Still …

I haven’t really practiced.

What if I try it on Reed and it doesn’t work? It might set him off.

My heart pounds against my rib cage, like it’s trying to break out. I’m not sure if it’s because of Reed or the tunnel.

“What we have isn’t the kind of thing you walk away from, Peyton. And once we work things out, our relationship will be different. You’ll see. I’ll stop doping, if that’s what you want.”

He’s lying, and he’s not even doing it well.

Reed paces back and forth in front of me.

“You’d really quit?” I pretend his answer matters to me. Maybe it’s the wrong move, but I don’t have time to think it through. It’s a Hail Mary—a last-ditch effort to save myself—and right now it’s my only shot.

Reed stops pacing and stares at me for a moment. “Yeah. I swear. Then we can pick up where we left off.”

Like nothing happened.

That’s what he means.

“You can quit just like that?” I ask. “Isn’t your body used to that stuff now?”

“People quit all the time. Other guys on my team have done it. You just stop.” He smiles and moves closer. “You don’t know how happy that would make me. One chance. That’s all I’m asking for. I won’t screw things up this time.”

You’ll just punch me in the face the first time I piss you off.

Reed reaches out to tuck my hair behind my ear, and I try not to cringe. His touch makes my skin crawl. “I knew you’d come around. What we have is special.”