Crank (The Gibson Boys 1)

“Peck, give us a second,” he says.

“No,” I insist. “Don’t, Peck. Please don’t leave me.”

“Sienna, let me talk to you.” Walker’s voice sticks the knife in further. “Please, baby.”

Sitting up straight, I look at him. The tears have stalled, an effect of the adrenaline, and in its place is all I can describe as rage.

My whole body trembles, actually shaking like I’m freezing. But I’m not. The longer I look at him, the hotter I get.

“You’re married?” I ask, my teeth grinding against each other.

“Sienna . . .”

“It’s a yes or no question. Are. You. Married?”

“Technically, yes.”

“Fuck you.” I get to my feet and head back towards the road.

He grabs my arm and spins me around to face him. “Listen to me.”

“Yes, I will listen to you. I’ll listen to you tell me why you just humiliated me in front of your whole family,” I say, my voice shaking. “Does everyone know this? The whole town?”

“Sienna,” Peck starts, “calm down.”

“Go, Peck,” Walker rumbles.

“I told you this was gonna fucking happen,” Peck roars, ripping into Walker.

“What was I supposed to do?” Walker barks, his hands clenching at his sides. “I didn’t fucking know where she was! How do you divorce a woman who doesn’t want to be found?”

“You go find her,” Peck seethes. “Like we told you. Like all of us fucking told you!”

“Get out of here,” Walker warns.

“Peck,” I say, resting my hand against his chest and gently moving him back. “I need a ride home. Will you take me?”

“Of course.”

“Can you get your truck and pick me up? I want to talk to Walker alone for a minute.”

He watches Walker over my head, pure disappointment scrawled across his face. “You sure?” Peck asks me.

“Yes.”

With a final shake of his head aimed at his cousin, Peck stomps back down the road.

“Don’t be mad at him,” I tell Walker. “He did nothing wrong.”

He runs a hand down his face, his eyes wide and full. “Sienna, listen to me. I haven’t seen Tabby in four years.”

“Tabby,” I say, testing her name out on my tongue. “That’s your wife, right?”

“Don’t make this harder than it is.”

“Me?” I ask in disbelief. “You’re the one who led me on while you have a wife. A wife!” My laughter spills into the night, the sound haunting even to me. “Why would you do this to me? Why would you do this to anyone?”

The tears come again. I breathe in his cologne, look at his handsome face, and realize . . . he belongs to someone else.

“How could you humiliate me like this?” I croak. “What must everyone think? Oh, God . . .” I say, feeling like I might throw up.

“It’s not like that,” he says, extending a hand towards me. I step out of his reach. “Let me explain.”

Spying headlights coming down the road, I shrug in the saddest, most defeated way. “You turned me into the kind of woman I hate. The ignorant, selfish . . .” My words break off, a sob capturing the rest of the thought. I shake off his hug and step towards the sidewalk as Peck nears.

“Sienna, please, don’t walk away.”

“You have no right to ask that of me,” I sniffle. “You have no right to say anything to me.”

“I don’t love her. I don’t want her,” he insists. “Please, Sienna. I want to talk about this. Don’t walk away.”

I’m around the truck before Peck gets it stopped. Climbing inside, I refuse to look at Walker. “Go,” I tell Peck.

He rips down the street. Before we turn the corner, I let myself look one last time in the mirror to see Walker standing in the middle of the street looking as broken as I am.

“DO YOU NEED ANYTHING, sweetie?”

Delaney’s mom stands in the doorway of her guest room, a light blue robe tied at her waist. She was so kind when I pulled up, mascara smearing down my face. But seeing her standing here, that maternal aura around her—I just want my mom.

“It’s late,” I tell her. “Go to bed. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be down the hall if you need me.” She steps into the hallway and pulls the door softly behind her.

The late night moon shines in the window of the bedroom I’ve never stayed in before. As soon as Peck dropped me off at home, I hopped into my car and drove here, not knowing Delaney went to Chicago for the weekend. I knew Walker would come by and I didn’t want to see him. As I lie here, alone, so very, very alone, I replay every moment I’ve had with him over in my mind.

It’s unbelievable to think he was married the whole time I was with him. The web of emotions is too tightly strung together to even make sense of them. The anger gives way to embarrassment which opens up to a sadness that I’ve never felt before.