Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 53529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
“What if I told you I won’t leave again,” I say. “No more saving the world. No more playing hero. It’ll be just you and me and no one else—”
“Huff!” Luna appears right in front of us, wearing a black tank and yoga pants, looking rather muscular.
River jolts in her seat, and so do I.
“Jesus Christ!” Luna spouts excitedly, jumping up and down in the sand. “It worked! It worked! I’m just like you.”
“You’re okay…” I whoosh out a breath, relieved. “I was just about to go looking for you.”
Luna marches over. “You wouldn’t have found me. For some reason, I decided to go to Costco. I think I was imagining their muffins, because I was lying in a pile of them when I woke up.”
I stand. “How about everything else? Any other symptoms? Heart palpitations? Anger?”
“Nope. I’m ready to go save the world with you.” Luna goes in for a hug, and that’s when it hits me.
I can feel River’s seething anger.
Slowly, I turn my head. River’s face is an angry red; her fists are balled.
“River, I can explain. Luna doesn’t know what we just talked about and—”
River stands and points at Luna. “You made her your sidekick, Huff!” River yells. “Your fucking sidekick! And she can have the drug, but I get your dick to stay alive. How convenient!”
“Yes, but—”
“But it’s just supposed to be you and me, right?” she says rhetorically. “Isn’t that what you just said? No more hero. Just the two of us.” River stands. “We’re done, Huff. Done. Do you hear me?”
River goes inside the cabin, and I follow her up the stairs.
“Sam, it’s time to go.” She starts shaking him.
“Why won’t you let me explain, Riv?” I say. “A lot happened and—”
“I don’t want to hear it. I’m leaving. I never want to see you again.” River tries to wake Sam again.
“But what about your heart?” I say. “What if you’re still hooked on—”
“What? Your cum?” She laughs bitterly. “Well, good thing it won’t matter because my heart’s already broken. Thanks to you.”
Sam starts rousing. “What’s going on?”
“You still have that friend’s house we can go to?” River asks.
“Yeah. We can stay there while I hire a lawyer to keep us out of Clover.”
River looks over my shoulder at Luna, who’s now standing behind me. “Can you take us there?”
“River, I’ll do it,” I say.
“No. You keep your fucking hands off me.” River pushes past me. “See you outside, Sam and Luna.”
I can’t believe this. I just can’t win with this girl. All sense of reason dissolves from my head, replaced by anger, frustration, and, well, fucking everything!
I follow River downstairs and outside to the beach. “You know what, Riv? Fine. I accept your decision. Because no woman in her right mind would be pissed off at me after everything I went through to get you back while keeping my promise to not martyr myself. I went through hell for you, and you won’t even listen to what I have to say.”
“No, Huff. I went through hell. Again and again and again. But still you’ve managed to make it all about you for the hundredth time.”
“At some point, my life does need to be about me, River, and I’m not going to say sorry for it anymore. I’m not here to bow down and grovel at your feet. I’m not here to make Kyle an international star. I’m not here to be anyone’s bitch.”
River stares, and I can tell I’m losing my temper. I can’t afford to.
I look at Luna, who’s standing on the porch, watching worriedly while River and I go at it.
“Luna,” I say, “I gotta take off. Please take River and her new boyfriend wherever they want to go.”
“Where are you going?” Luna asks.
“To punch some trees.”
“Not cool. But okay.”
I zip out of there and take out my anger on innocent foliage once again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
By the time I get back, Luna is eating a cheeseburger and fries inside the cabin at the little coffee table in the living room.
“Hi,” I say.
“Ohmygod, Huff. This is amazing. I just thought of this diner I used to go to as a kid and poof! There I was ordering takeout. This is incredible.”
“Yeah, well, just remember that when I try to detox you.” I take a seat across from her.
“Are you sure that’s necessary?” she asks. “Because I feel great!”
“I went into cardiac arrest. Took months of smaller doses before I could safely stop.”
“It’s just strange that Morris wouldn’t have fixed that bug.”
I shrug, not wanting to talk about him.
“Fry?” Luna asks, a little too cheery for my mood.
“No, thanks,” I say glumly.
“Hey, don’t worry, Huff. Just give River time to cool off. She’s been through a lot. She’ll come around.”
I don’t think so. “I’ve known her most of my life, and she’s never shut me out like that. I think it’s really over.” And I can’t stop feeling guilty. And then angry. And then guilty again. Everything she’s been through—the pain, the heartache, being kidnapped and drugged—wasn’t easy. I feel like I broke her. I broke us.