Young Love (Bloomfield #4) (23 page)

“No, he’s not. If he let you slip away, then he definitely isn’t. Any guy would be lucky to call you his girl, and he just threw that away. Don’t let him have a hold over you.”

I nodded, blinking back the tears that had started to burn my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was end up crying like a baby in the middle of the dance floor.

“Come on,” Adrien said, pulling me into a one-armed hug. “Let’s go get us some drinks, and then we can show these people how to really dance.”

Laughing, I swiped at the few tears that had managed to slip out, and nodded in agreement. Grey was not going to ruin another night for me. He was not going to ruin anymore nights for me. I was done worrying about what he thought.

***

“My feet are killing me,” I complained.

“No complaining!” Adrien said as he twirled me around with one hand and Cat with the other. “You two are my tiny dancers, and you shall continue to dance!”

“Geez, we’re not monkeys,” Cat said even though she was smiling.

“Dance monkeys, dance!”

We both shook our heads at each other as Adrien laughed beside us. There were a number of girls who had been vying for his attention all night, but he’d ignored them all. It seemed he’d put his playboy ways away for the night to keep me as entertained as possible. I couldn’t have been more grateful to him.

He’d made this night bearable. Grey hadn’t left, but he also hadn’t come up to us again. That didn’t mean that I hadn’t felt his eyes on me the entire time. Whenever I’d sneak a peek in his direction he’d be looking at me. Our gazes would meet and my breath would get lodged in my throat until Adrien did something to pull me back again.

It wasn’t easy, but I did manage to have a good time in spite of his shadowing presence. Like a dark cloud before a storm, his very existence in the bar loomed over me. There was an intangible pull between us that kept making me want to go over and be near him, even though he’d broken my heart.

Adrien was my anchor. He kept me away, and I would never forget that. I was thankful to have a friend like him, someone who knew when I needed a firm hand to keep me from making a mistake. That’s all it would be if I gave in and went to see what Grey had wanted to talk about – a mistake. There was nothing left to say between us, and I’d only be hurting myself more if I believed otherwise.

“Seriously,” I said, stopping in the middle of the dance floor to catch my breath. “My feet can’t take much more of this.”

“Then take off those evil torture devices,” he said, motioning to my high heels.

I scrunched up my nose. “I’m not going barefoot on this floor. It’s sticky and nasty.”

He sighed. “Fine, we’ll call it a night.”

I glanced over at the group of girls watching him like a hawk, and gave him a knowing look. “
You
don’t have to call it a night,” I said with a wink. “I can manage to get home by myself.”

He scoffed. “No way. If I let you go now, you’ll likely find your way to that asshole.” He shook his head. “Not going to happen, sweetheart. I will deliver you to your doorstep like the true gentleman that I am.”

I snorted. “I highly doubt the women of Bloomfield would consider you a gentleman.”

He just grinned as he led us off the dance floor, his hand planted firmly on my lower back. We approached the group, and I couldn’t help but feel goose bumps rise along my arms as I stood close to where Grey sat at the bar. When I glanced up at him through my lashes, I was met with those blue orbs staring right at me. I quickly looked away, rubbing my sweaty palms against the bottom of my dress.

“Are you heading home, Honor?” Chloe asked.

I looked up at her, Grey still in my peripheral vision. “Yeah, I have class tomorrow, so I need to head back.”

“You want us to come too?” Cat offered.

“No, I’ve got her,” Adrien answered.

“You’re going to drive her home?” Chloe asked, biting her lip.

“Yeah, my car is outside.”

“The hell you are,” I heard a deep voice say a second before I felt Grey brush up against my arm. I couldn’t even bring myself to look up at him.

Adrien twisted his body toward Grey, the two of them towering over me.

“Yes, I am,” he said.

“You’ve been drinking all night,” Grey said, his voice deeper than usual.

Adrien laughed. “Relax, old man. I’m fine.” His hand wrapped around my arm gently. “Come on, Honor. Let’s get you home.”

I nodded, turning to follow him when another hand gripped my other arm. Finally I looked up at him, swallowing at the pleading look in his eyes, all the hardness from before gone now.

“Honor, don’t get in a car with him. It’s not safe. I’ll drive you home, or pay for a cab, whichever you want. But don’t get in a car with this guy when he’s been drinking all night,” Grey said.

“I will always keep Honor safe,” Adrien said before I could muster up a reply. “We’re leaving now, buddy. So take your fucking hand off her.”

Grey didn’t look at him, his eyes still locked with mine in a silent appeal.

“I’ll be fine, Grey,” I said with a small smile. “I’m safe with Adrien.”

He flinched, his eyes turning sad for a second before they hardened again and he dropped my arm. Without waiting for anyone else to chime in, I started toward the front door with Adrien close behind.

“That guy seriously doesn’t know when to back off,” Adrien said as we approached his car. He opened the door, holding mine open as I got in before running around the front to climb into the driver’s seat. I didn’t respond, my mind too muddled to carry on a conversation.

As if sensing my distance, Adrien turned on the radio and backed out. We drove in silence, the music between us. I stared off out the window, unseeing as the world whipped by.

A loud honk snapped me out of my haze. I turned my head just in time to see two headlights coming directly at us.

“Adrien!” I called out, looking at him just as his eyes snapped open.

“Fuck!”

He turned the wheel sharply to the right, the tires squealing as he got out of the way of oncoming traffic. Suddenly the car dipped down into the ditch at the side of the road, speeding up the other side, clumps of earth flying up around the car.

My body jostled from side to side as he tried to straighten the car, jerking the wheel back left before we went head first into the trees lining the other side of the ditch. I sucked in a breath as the front end went back into the ditch with a sickening crunch.

It flew back up onto the road, tires squealing against pavement. The smell of burning rubber was evident, even from inside the car.

“Fuck!” Adrien shouted again.

I looked out my window just in time to see the bright lights of oncoming traffic driving directly at us again as we sat horizontally across the road. I squeezed my eyes shut just before the sound of metal hitting metal, and the explosion of glass rang out around us.

Chapter 28

Grey

I left the bar as soon as they did. That was it. I’d done my best to keep a happy face on for my friends, but there was only so much I could take. Not only had I had to sit there and watch her dance with another guy all night, but then I’d had to watch her leave with him.

I’m safe with Adrien.

Those words had cut deeper than any knife could. I’m safer with him than I am with you, that’s what I had heard. Adrien wouldn’t break her heart the way I had. She was safe with him.

I’d never felt so wounded in my life. As soon as I shut the door to my apartment behind me I let loose the rage that had been eating away at me. Throwing out my first, I punched a hole in the wall, the drywall crumbling beneath my knuckles. Blood instantly welled where my skin split, the pain a welcoming sensation after this night’s events.

I’d fucked up worse than I’d ever fucked up, and I’d done a lot of stupid shit in my life. Losing Honor was definitely the worst of them all. Tonight proved to me that there would be no winning her back either. She wouldn’t even speak with me, let alone give me another shot.

Did I want another shot?

Fuck, I didn’t even know. My head was so messed up, I was having a hard time thinking straight. Seeing her and being close to her made me want to do whatever I could to make things right between us. When I was alone though, I’d doubt myself all over again.

Shaking out my hand, I headed to my bathroom and grabbed a quick shower before pulling on some pants and falling into bed. I lay there, staring up at the ceiling, my mind racing too fast for sleep to take me.

“Fuck it,” I said. Getting up, not bothering to put on a shirt, I marched through the apartment and out into the hall, stopping at her door. I banged on it, waiting for her to answer.

She might not have wanted to speak to me at the bar, but she would speak to me now. I didn’t know what I wanted to say, but I knew when I saw her it would come to me. I just needed to be around her, I needed to hold her again to help make sense of the confusion in my mind.

Maybe it wouldn’t work if she moved to New York, but then again maybe it would. Why not try? Why not give it a shot instead of just throwing away the first real thing I’d ever had in my life? If we only had one chance at love in our lifetime, this was mine, and I had let it slip through my fingers. I had to get it back.

I banged on the door again, my body vibrating with anticipation. “Honor, it’s me,” I called through the door. “Open up. We need to talk.”

I waited, and still she wouldn’t come to the door.

“Honor,” I said again. “Please let me in. I know you don’t want to speak to me, but I’m not going away until you do.”

She still didn’t come. I took a step back and realization washed over me like a bucket of ice. She wasn’t home. She hadn’t come back here.

Fuck.

Fuck!

She’d gone home with
him.

Bile crept up the back of my throat as I stood there in the hallway in just my pajama pants, staring at her door like some love-sick fool. Here I was, waiting to crawl back to her and beg for her to give me another shot, and she was with someone else.

I let out a slow breath, that hole in my chest increasing tenfold. On wooden legs, I turned and walked back into my apartment, shutting the door behind me and leaning back against it.

I’d lost her.

***

My head was ringing as I blinked open my eyes. Moaning, I looked over at the window in my bedroom to see it was still dark outside. It took a moment to realize that it wasn’t my head ringing, but my phone beside the bed.

I rolled over, looking at the clock to see I’d only been asleep for two hours. It had taken me forever to finally settle down, and now I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be able to do it again. Picking up my phone, I saw Kyle’s name flashing across the screen before it went to voice mail.

The grogginess lifted from my mind the second I saw he’d called three times.

“What the hell?”

Just as I went to call him back, my phone rang again, his name flashing.

“Kyle?” I said as I answered.

“Fuck, Grey,” his voice came from the other end. “You sleep like the dead.”

“Sorry,” I said, pushing myself up into a sitting position. “Is something wrong? Why the fuck are you calling me so late?”

The silence on the other end was filled with so much tension that my hand instinctively gripped the phone tighter. Something bad had happened.

“It’s Honor, man,” he said, shattering my world.

“What about her? What happened?”

“She got into a car accident earlier.”

I was up and out of my bed before I could even blink. “Is she okay? Where is she?”

“It’s not good, Grey,” he said, his voice remorseful. “We’re at the hospital now.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” I clicked off the phone and grabbed the first piece of clothing I could find. My hands shook as I made my way through my apartment.

Honor.

That was the only thing that was going through my mind as I raced through the city.

***

My feet froze to a stop the second I saw my friends sitting in the waiting room. Chloe, Cat and Olivia huddled together, their eyes rimmed red from crying.

I tried to breathe past the weight that had settled in my chest. My heart stopped as I met Kyle’s eyes, the look there telling me that whatever he needed to tell me, he didn’t want to be the one to do it.

“Don’t tell me…”I said, shaking my head, unable to finish the sentence. If she was…gone…I couldn’t even think of it. It wasn’t possible. A bright life like hers was not allowed to be snuffed out so soon.

I couldn’t go on without her. I loved Honor.

I
loved
Honor.

I was a fucking childish idiot, and I didn’t deserve her, but I loved her. More than anything and anyone in the world. I couldn’t lose her for good. I couldn’t.

Kyle approached me slowly, his skin paler than usual.

“She’s in surgery,” he said, rubbing his mouth, looking as exhausted as I felt just then. “They said she’s stable so far, but we won’t know much more until surgery is over.”

“Did…” my voice cracked, the emotion lodged in my throat making it hard to speak around. I cleared it. “Did someone call her mom?”

He nodded. “I called her and Perrie. They’re waiting to talk to the doctor in the family waiting room. They wouldn’t let us all go back there.”

I eyed the door he motioned to. I should be back there. I wanted to be back there.

I wanted to be Honor’s family. I wanted to be her everything.

“Come on,” Kyle said, gripping my shoulder. “Come sit down and wait.”

I shook my head. “I can’t sit,” I admitted.

He simply nodded, not arguing. I paced right outside that door, waiting for someone to come out. It felt like hours before anyone came. It could have been only minutes for all I knew. Time seemed to stand still in these places, especially when you’re waiting for news about a loved one.

When it finally opened, I practically tackled the person who came out. Perrie stood there, her eyes red as she looked up at me.

“Please don’t tell me…” I said, everything inside me freezing in the purest form of fear a person could feel.