Lead Me Home (Fight for Me #3)(108)

She tightened her arms around her as a hot wind blew through, her skin sticky from the exertion and her face hot from the tears.

She was so over this. It was as if all four of them were playing a stupid game and none of them were gonna win.

She almost rolled her eyes.

As if she didn’t know about Ollie and Nikki.

She’d known for years that there was something extra special about the two of them. That they were more. Their spirits seemed tangled in a way that’d been intended before time existed.

Made for each other.

Did they really think she would consider that a bad thing?

Did they even know her at all?

She just wanted them to embrace it.

Live free.

The same as she wanted for herself and Rex.

And the only thing it felt like was they were clipping her wings.

Cutting little bits of her away as they pushed her further to the outside.

There was no reason for them to be hiding, just like there was no reason for her and Rex to be hiding.

Rex.

At the thought of his name, her chest pulled tight.

Stretched and yearned.

She loved him so much. She didn’t think she really knew how much until she’d had to watch him kiss that girl.

And she was the one who got to stay.

The one who was with him.

New tears pricked at her eyes.

He hadn’t come after her. Hadn’t stood up for her. Instead, he’d just driven a knife into her heart.

No more.

She stumbled to a stop.

No more.

Maybe Rex didn’t know what she wanted. That she wanted him to stand up for her. Make a claim.

Fight for her.

She’d just have to do it herself.

She touched the red, woven bracelet that she always wore around her left wrist. The other two matching pieces belonging to Ollie and Nikki.

Her best friends.

But they had to realize her life was changing, too.

All of them had to make room for something new.

She came to a stop.

Realization struck.

She was gonna turn around, go back to that camp, and demand Rex say it.

Tell Ollie.

She was his and he was hers and no one would have anything bad to say about it.

Because it was good.

They were good.

Ollie and Nikki were good.

She started to cross the road but froze when headlights cut into the night and a loud car roared around the corner.

She took a step back away from the road as it flew by before the red brake lights flashed, splashing the color all over the night as the old car skidded to a stop.

Her heart trembled with a dose of anxiety.

She squinted her eyes, relief leaving her on a breath when she realized she recognized that car.

Nikki’s grandpa.

He could give her a ride back to the lake.

She jogged that way with a smile on her face, and she saw his silhouette as he leaned over to fling open the passenger door as she approached. She started to duck her head inside to say hello when her knees wobbled beneath her.

Not Nikki’s grandpa.

It was Nikki’s uncle.

Todd.

He grinned, his teeth stained yellow from cigarettes, his hands still greasy from always working on cars.

There was something about him Sydney had never liked. The way he looked at Nikki. Watched her too close.

“Well, look who it is. Sydney Sue. Where’s my Nikki Lou?”

Unease rippled through her consciousness, a cringe rolling through her at the stupid, creepy nicknames he’d give them, as if it was actually their middle names.

“She’s at home,” Sydney lied. Not sure why.

He frowned. “That so?”

His eyes moved over her, and a cold shiver rippled down her back.

“What are you doin’ out here all alone?”

“I’m just heading home,” she said, angling back.

“I’ll give you a ride.”

She backed away. “No, that’s okay. My brother should be coming this way in a second, anyway.”

She pinned on a smile and hoped he’d fall for the lie.

He wasn’t exactly the smartest guy she knew.

His eyes flicked from her face and down to her chest. “You look different than her.”

He said it as if she should be ashamed of it. As if it were disappointing.

Then he shrugged. “Guess for tonight, you’ll have to do.”





37





Ollie





“Don’t do anything until I get there, Ollie. I’m right behind you.”

“No promises, man.”

Not when it came to Nikki.

My Nikki.

My girl who’d been desperate to be there through this with me, and I’d been too much of a fool to see it for what it was.

Thinking I forever owed a debt, the girl nothing but a tease, a torment of what I couldn’t have.

When in reality?

She’d been a gift, always right there, waiting for me to accept it.

I tossed my cell to the seat beside me and made a sharp right onto the drive that was close to being hidden under a thicket of trees that ran the land.

Engine roaring, I gunned the accelerator. My Mustang bounced on the dirt road, wheels kicking up a cloud of dust as I flew down the narrow lane.