Who. I should have known. I cross my arms together and raise a brow, waiting for him to explain. “My dad showed up to my mom’s house after the ceremony, and we got into an argument. And because I’m eighteen now and refuse to let himcontrol my life anymore, he made sure I had a souvenir to remind me that I’m wrong.”
Luke lifts up his dark-green shirt, revealing another bruise on his ribcage. How could a person be such a monster? I thought my father was bad, but Davis takes the cake. Unlike me, Luke doesn’t have a positive male figure to help him heal, like Pops was for me, and it breaks my heart for him. The thought sends hot rage down my spine.
“If my mom didn’t need me, I would move away with you and Raine,” he confesses, looking toward the crowd and pulling a bottle of beer to his lips.
“I, uh…” I start to say, but my throat feels dry. “We’re not?—”
“You're not what?” he says, snapping his head to look at me.
“We’re not leaving.”
I look over the crowd before I find Raine. She’s a few feet away, closer to the water line, sitting next to Olivia on a log. Olivia is listening intently to whatever Raine is telling her, and she reaches over to give her a big hug. Raine’s back is to me, but Olivia’s eyes are searching the crowd, and once she finds me, I don’t miss the sharpness in her gaze.
“I can’t leave. I’m staying to help Pops out for a while. Raine refuses to leave without me.”
The laugh that escapes Luke is wicked. He brings the bottle back to his lips and takes a big swig before tossing the empty bottle onto the ground. “You’re so selfish. She can’t stay here. If you think my dad treats me bad, you have no idea what he’ll do to Raine. Even though she’ll be eighteen in a few weeks, that means nothing to him. As long as she’s here, he’ll make sure she slowly rots.”
“But she can live with her grandparents for a while until we?—”
“That never stopped him before. He’s addicted to control, and you can’t save her. Nothing can except distance. He’ll find a wayto ruin her.”
He’ll ruin her.
The words ring inside my head and sink deeply into my heart. I’m supposed to protect Raine, not put her in danger. I know Luke is right. Davis will never stop, and I’m going to be the reason she can’t get away from him.
Selfishly, I want her to stay, but when you love someone, sometimes you have to choose to let them go. Promise me you’ll make sure she gets out of this town.
The promise I had made to her Mamaw sobers me to the reality of our choices. If I choose to go with Raine, I’ll be selfish in leaving my family when they need my help. If I let Raine stay, it’ll be for my own selfishness. There’s only one way to do this right by everyone, and it's for me to deny what I want most.
“I have to break up with her,” I admit, and the words taste sour in my mouth.
“What?” Luke slurs, his face contorting.
“If I break up with her, she won’t have a reason to stay, and she’ll leave.” I say it matter-of-factly, shrugging my shoulders before peering off into the distance to where Raine and Olivia are still seated. “I love her enough to let her go.”
“That’s not what I was trying to say,” Luke’s voice quivers, and he turns toward me, his eyes brimmed with tears. It’s the first time I’ve seen Luke break down his walls and truly shown how broken he is. Davis did that to him. Luke wipes his cheeks and exhales. “But I don’t want him to hurt her.”
“I don’t want that either,” I proclaim, holding up my hands, allowing the truth to settle deep within my gut.
He nods, running a hand through his hair before limping away and leaving me alone with my thoughts. Hatred for Davis lights every nerve in my body on fire until I’m consumed with rage. I have to destroy what Raine and I have because ofhim.
But how do I break up with Raine? I look around, begging for an idea to pop out at me, when I see Luke with a shot of something honey brown in his hand. Raine and Olivia are making their way around the fire toward him. Furyseems to be leading my actions, and without thinking, I stomp my way toward Luke and snatch the small glass from his hands.
Raine’s eyes widen as she looks at the shot in my hand and begins shaking her head. I despise how she’s looking at me. Disbelief and fear wash over her expression. I look at her, focusing on my hatred for Davis, and toss back the fiery liquid.
“Ryland!” she hisses, her mouth hanging open as if she can’t believe I did that. I get it because I can’t believe it either.
But the need to get her out of Covewood is what’s driving me.
“Why?” She shakes her head again, her eyes trailing me up and down. In order to keep my promise to her Mamaw, I have to break a promise I made to Raine. We always said we would never drink alcohol because we both saw how it ruined the lives of our parents. I knew taking a shot in front of her would make her angry with me and, in turn, help me find a way to break up with her.
Even so, I loathe myself right now.
“You know why,” I grumble, my voice sounding foreign. “We both know that no matter what we do, we’re over.”
She blinks, clearly bewildered at how I’m acting, and I feel myself start to slip and want to say I’m sorry. But the image of Raine with Luke’s bruises on her face takes over my thoughts, and it’s enough to push me to do what I need to do.
“What are you talking about? Where is this coming from all of a sudden?” she hisses, shaking her head in disbelief.
