Page 3 of Shade
I look back over to Willa who is pointing to her watch, mouthing to me we have to leave. I know I don’t have time for Rhya’s bullshit. I don’t. But I also can’t let this go. Not this time.
My jaw snaps closed, a rush of adrenaline hitting my stomach with a jolt. “I’m coming over,” I tell her, then hang up before she can tell me no.
Fury settles into my bones, and I make my way through the house and stop at the door.
Do you see that guy at the door? The one shaking with anger, his body vibrating with years of uncontrolled misery that he can’t let her go? That’s what years of allowing someone else to control you does to a person. That’s the side-effects.
I stand there, shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans and stare at the door, my heart pounding in my ears, searching for an answer.
Don’t go to her.
I can tell myself this a thousand times, but it doesn’t make a goddamn bit of difference. I know what I’m going to find when I do go over there, but then again, I need to. I have to show myself once again why she values our friendship so little. I need to know why she fucked me over without any concern for how it affects me.
“Shade, you reallydon’thave time,” Willa tells me, disappointment flooding her eyes. If there’s one person I disappoint more than the rest, it’s probably Willa. Or maybe Roan, my oldest brother. They both want the best for me, and they know Rhya isn’t it. Yet here I am, still doing exactly what I say I won’t. Chasing her.
“I’ll only be twenty minutes,” I tell her, reaching for my key to my bike and my helmet on the table next to the door. “I’ll meet you at the airport.”
Tucking her dark hair behind her ears, she holds her phone up and reaches for her bag on the white marble entry of my house. “If you’re late. . . .” She leaves the words there knowing what it means if I’m late for my flight to Seattle, what that will mean.
It means missing my meeting with Red Bull.
It means possibly losing my spot with the X-Fighters because of Rhya. I’m the defending World Tour Champion, but it doesn’t mean shit if you can’t show up and give respect to the people who helped you get there.
With one last look, I give Willa a weak smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll meet you there.”
Do you think she believes me? The trepidation in her eyes says otherwise, doesn’t it?
I’ll meet you therecould be my famous last words because I have no idea what I’m going to face at Rhya’s apartment.
