Take Me On

I choke on my own spit. “You what?”


“Beat the shit out of him. I then told him if he lifted a finger to any of his kids again, I’d call the police and let them watch us as I beat the shit out of him again and then they could arrest us both.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah. But I could never stop him with the words.”

“Jax is a good guy because of you,” I say.

“Your cousin doesn’t have much and it’s going to kill him when you go.”

“I can’t stay.”

“I hoped by training West you’d find your fight again.”

“My fight’s gone.”

“You’re too young for that, Haley. Take a look at your father. Is that what you want to be? We could blame what happened with Matt, but you still had some fight in you then. When you lied about what happened with Conner to save Jax and Kaden, I thought maybe you were on the right track.”

I turn my head as the deep, dark secret I fought to protect rolls off his tongue. “How did you know?”

“Jax and Kaden knew the moment you came home with no meds you were jumped and they knew Conner was the one to do it. Besides, they also knew you could kick Conner’s ass.”

I chuckle, though I don’t know why. Matt never flinched from the assumption that West was strong enough to take on Conner, but I wasn’t. I trained Matt. I dated him. You’d think he would have known.

John continues, “I told Jax and Kaden to let you fight your own fights. With Matt, Conner and your uncle—with whoever. Unless you asked for help. I thought if you had to fight in some area in your life, it would prove to you how strong you really are or at least teach you how to rely on us. Even if we wanted, we couldn’t help unless you let us.”

I think of meeting West, arguing with him, teaching him to fight. “It almost worked.”

“It doesn’t have to be almost. Stay, Haley. You’ve always had the heart. You just need to start leading with that instead of your head.”

I snort. Here I’ve been trying to convince West differently. The memory causes a slice of pain. God, I’ve lost the guy I loved. I loved him. I loved him so much and he walked away the moment his father snapped his fingers. He couldn’t have loved me back.

“Mom needs me.” And until last night, I’ve been able to pretend the truth hasn’t existed. “Dad’s a mess.”

“You’re eighteen. There comes a point in time when you need to start making your own decisions about your life. You can’t control your father and you can’t help your mother. They’ll either make it or they won’t.”

“What about Maggie?”

“I raised your mother. She’ll take care of Maggie and, trust me, your great-aunt will keep Maggie in line, too. The old bat is too mean to die.”

John scratches his forehead and I’ve never seen such an unsure gesture from him.

“What?” I hope it’s not bad. I’m already free-falling and I don’t feel like hitting a few rocks on the way down.

“When you get to California, you should talk to someone.”

“Talk?”

“Yeah.” His hand waves in the air. “A professional—like that Mrs. Collins.”

Uh...no. “I don’t need—”

“You do,” he cuts me off. “Something happened to you and as hard as I tried I couldn’t fix it. If you have to go, go, but don’t continue to live a half life.”

Mom sticks her head in the gym. “Can you lend a hand, Dad?”

John stands and Mom smiles at me. It’s not a reassuring smile. It’s the type that says she wishes she could reassure me. “Get your brother and cousin. I want to say our goodbyes and get on the road.”

I nod. That describes my life—nothing but goodbyes.





West

With Abby riding shotgun, I weave through the streets of the industrial park at sixty miles per hour and slam on the brakes when we reach the last warehouse. I throw the car into Park and I’m out the door with the keys still in the ignition.

John steps out of his camper. “Heard you broke my granddaughter’s heart.”

“Where is she?”

“Gone. She left with her mother and father for California a half hour ago.”

He’s talking, but my back is already turned toward him. I slam the door to my car and the tires squeal as I back out and floor the gas.

Abby grabs on to the console. “What are you doing?”

“We’re going after Haley.”

“That was a stop sign. What the hell? Slow down. Slow down! West, fucking stop!”

I slam my brakes and we both lunge forward at the red stoplight.

“We’ve got to catch up. I’ve got to give her the option. I shouldn’t have tried to control her life.”

“Did you notice Kaden standing in the entrance of the gym?”

I blink. “No. Do you think John lied? Do you think she’s still there?”

Abby reaches over and shifts the car into Park. “She’s gone, West. Haley’s made her choice.”