When I turn back, Mitch is there in front of me. He folds me up in his arms, squeezing so hard my ribs scream in protest. “Mac,” he mutters near my ear, not letting go. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I whisper, but the word is a lie because I’ll never be okay again.
“Good.” His voice hardens. “Because I’m going to fucking kill you.”
I’ve heard the threat a thousand times before, but this time there’s a wealth of hurt in the words. Tears burn. I blink them back. I’m not going to cry. “You can kill me later,” I whisper. “Just get me out of here. Please, Mitch.” My voice cracks and when he draws back to look at me, he nods once, his face pale.
He was expecting trouble over getting me home and my lack of fight has him worried. “Get in the car.”
I step around him and walk toward it. I don’t look back. And I don’t breathe. I can’t. My chest is too tight.
Elijah is standing by the open back passenger door. The closer I get, the easier it is to read the relief in his eyes. “Why did you come?” I ask, reaching the car.
“I came because I care about you, Mac.”
I nod. Eli has always been another brother figure in my life. When I go to slide inside the car, he stops me with a hand to the shoulder. “What were you thinking?”
My jaw tightens as I look him in the eye. “Excuse me?”
“This stunt was childish, Mac.”
“I don’t need a lecture from you.”
His lips mash together as though he’s carefully considering his next words. “You’re right. You don’t need it. But you hurt a lot of people, including me.”
Elijah’s eyes are pained and remorse fills me. “I know. I’m sorry.” But if I had the choice, I’d still do it all over again. My actions in leaving were rash and impulsive, but they were worth it.
His hand squeezes my shoulder before letting go, and I climb inside the car.
Jared occupies the driver’s seat, and Travis sits in the back. They both swivel their bodies to face me as Elijah slides in. I scoot into the middle to give him room as my brothers sit tense, their shoulders tight and mouths pressed in grim lines. They’re expecting me to cause a scene. I want to. There’s an urge inside me to scream until my voice gives out, but I don’t. I’ve been defeated in a battle I didn’t see coming. Now I just want to huddle in a ball and will this hideously painful ache to go away.
I look through the front window. Mitch is talking to Jake. I don’t know what they’re saying, and I don’t care. Getting out of here is my number one priority.
“Mac,” Travis begins.
I cut him off before he gets another word out. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“We don’t care what you want,” Jared adds, his tone furious. “You’re—”
My brother’s statement is the equivalent of poking an injured bear. I turn my head to look at him, my eyes narrowing to slits. “Of course you don’t care what I want,” I hiss, rejection burning a hole right through me. My gaze shifts to Travis. “Neither do you. None of you do!”
And Jake least of all.
My heart squeezes.
“Assheads,” I mutter, wiping at my eyes. Do not fucking cry, I order myself. Don’t do it.
“Mac,” Travis tries again.
I hunch over, hiding my head in the palms of my hands, and burst into tears. My sobs are loud and ragged, their intensity so deep it hurts my chest. Shock fills the car in a thick cloud. I can’t see it, but I feel it.
Elijah drags me toward him. His arms lock around me, anchoring me to him. “Jesus, Mac,” he mutters as I soak his shirt with my tears.
Travis leans down and tips my chin up with his hand so he can meet my eyes. “Of course we care. You’re our little Mactard. A fucking Valentine. When we found out you were gone we—”
“We were terrified,” Jared cuts in. My eyes open to swollen slits and see the sincerity on his face. Then Mitch gets in the front passenger seat. He looks at Elijah, Travis, and Jared in turn, giving them a sharp nod.
“All good?” Elijah asks.
Mitch takes me in. The distress on my face is brighter than a neon sign. His eyes turn hard before he looks at them again. “All good.” Then Jared starts the car and we drive away.
The ache inside grows bigger the further we drive, until the pain becomes so unbearable I feel I’ll explode.
My brothers last twenty minutes before the lecture begins. I sit there dully, tuning them out as I stare out the window. We hit the freeway and the scenery is a blur as the miles between Jake and I grow bigger, and the cracks in my heart grow wider and deeper.
“Love is such bullshit,” I mutter to myself, finding my anger. It fills up the hollow ache in my heart.
“Don’t say that,” Elijah whispers beside me, his hand falling onto my knee in a soothing gesture.
“Jake can go to hell,” I vow with steely determination, ignoring my brother’s best friend. “I hope he falls face-first in a pile of fire ants. I hope his precious rusty car spontaneously combusts. With him in it,” I add snidely. “I hope—”
“Are you even listening to us?” Mitch asks, his voice high with incredulity as I mutter away to myself.
I turn my head. My brothers are staring, and Jared is throwing concerned glances my way from the rearview mirror. The pressure of their censure, along with my compromised emotions, weighs on me like a smothering blanket. All of a sudden I can’t breathe. It leaves me lightheaded and reckless. The sudden lapse of sanity has me blurting out the one thing guaranteed to shut them all up. “I’m pregnant.”
The words are flippant. A diversion attempt. And I put them out there without giving a single thought to the ramifications. Four pairs of eyes widen like dinner plates, and Elijah’s hand freezes on my knee. Time stands still as they absorb my shocking announcement. Jared clearly struggles the most because the car veers right off the road.
“Jared!” I shout as we hurtle toward an embankment at high speed.
He curses wildly and grapples with the steering wheel. Mitch yells at him to brake. Jared jabs at the brakes, but his timing is all wrong because we’ve just reached loose gravel. Tyres spin beneath us and any control Jared has on the car is gone. We begin to skid and the back end flies out behind us in a dizzying circle. My hands grip the headrest in front of me, and I hold on as we spin with a force so strong it steals my breath.
“Get your foot off the motherfucking brake!” Travis yells.
Jared does and the car slows but it’s too late. “Fuck!” he shouts. “We’re going to flip over. Everyone brace!”
There’s no time for panic. It all happens too fast. The wheels lift from the ground with wild momentum. Travis slams his arm hard across my chest, pinning me back in the seat as the world rolls before my eyes. My neck and back jolt with sickening force, and the crunch and screech of grinding metal reach my ears when the car slams upside-down on its roof. We roll again and again, the windows around us shattering. Glass splinters the air and cuts my skin like razor blades. A sharp sliver gouges my brow and blood fills my vision.
“Mac, close your eyes!” Eli orders.
I scrunch my eyes closed, blonde hair whipping around my face as blackness descends.
JAKE
One hour earlier…