Southern Storm (Southern 3)

Jacob and Beau ignored me at first, but then when we got back to the house, I would be stuck waiting for my mother to finish, so Beau was stuck with me. Slowly but surely, we became three peas in a pod until that fateful day when our lives changed. I want to say I wish I could go back and change it. I want to say I regret everything, but then I would regret Ethan, and I refuse to allow him to feel like I’ve felt my whole life. He was never going to be told that he was lucky I kept him. He was never going to be told I had no choice. He will always know how much he is loved and how much he is wanted. I hope that if he ever finds out what I did, he will still love me as much as he does today.

Starting my car, I make my way toward my house. When I walk into the cold house, I take off the new black shoes I paid way too much for. I can’t even return them now since I scuffed the heel. I close my eyes, and all I can see is the hurt on Beau’s face. My knees give out, and I collapse with a sob, lying on the floor with my broken heart. When I finally peel myself off the floor, I walk to the couch. The same couch I spent every single night watching movies with Beau on. The same couch I bought because he came shopping with me and said it suited me. I grab the blanket hanging over the couch and cover myself with it. The smell of Beau is all around me since he fell asleep on the couch just yesterday, and I didn’t have the heart to wake him up. So I just put the blanket over him and watched him sleep, wishing I could curl up next to him. Even more, I wished he would take my hand and lead me to my bed. But instead, I moved his hair away from his forehead and bent down to kiss him lightly and then I walked to bed. By the time I woke up this morning, he was gone, but he left me a little note on the counter like he always does.

Closing my eyes, I can’t stop the tears, and my eyes are burning and getting heavy. Then I hear the soft knock on my door. I think it’s my imagination, but then I hear it again. I get up and make my way to the door with only the light from the moon streaming in the window. I don’t check to see who it is, which is stupid of me since not too long ago someone was in town chasing Casey’s girl. I open the door, and I see him standing there with his hands gripping my doorframe and his head hanging. When he finally looks up, I see that his eyes are bloodshot. My heart breaks again when I look at the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.

“Beau,” I whisper in a plea.

“I’m sorry,” he says, and the sob rips through me. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Chapter Three

Beau

“I’m so, so sorry.” Those are the only words I say right now. I stand here, and my whole body is numb as I look at her still dressed. Her eyes and nose are both red, and her hand over her mouth stops the sob that rips through her. My hands drop from the doorframe, and I rush in, wrapping one arm around her waist. She wraps her arms around my neck and buries her face in my neck. All I can do is realize that with her in my arms, I feel like everything is going to be okay. Her tears soak my skin as I walk her farther into her house and close the door behind me.

Two hours ago, my life changed, and for the first time, I couldn’t control it. I had no way of controlling how this was going to play out, and that made me struggle even more.

I sat in my office chair, watching the tiny droplets of amber liquid travel along the wall to the floor. My eyes remained fixated on the wall when the door opened , and I looked up to see Jacob walk in with Kallie behind him.

“What the fuck?” he asked, looking at me and then at the bottle. I didn’t know what to say.

He came into the room and sat on the brown leather couch against the wall. “Are you ready now?” I knew he was giving me time to cool off. I didn’t even care that he sucker punched me because I would have done the same to him.

“Why?” I looked over at him and then Kallie, who sat next to him. She wiped her eyes with her thumb, not looking at me. “How?”