Page 84 of Heartbreaker

When I go to open her car door I see hesitancy in her eyes and I want to know why.

There is nothing for her to be ashamed of. We both grew up in a trailer. We both didn’t have money and lived in a shitty town.

“You can wait out here while I get my things,” she mumbles, her eyes not meeting mine.

Grasping her chin I tip it upwards so her eyes stay on mine. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

I give her a pointed look. “You’re lying.”

She sighs but it’s full of nervous energy. “Just don’t get mad at me.”

My brows furrow as I ask confused, “Why would I ever get mad at you?”

Pulling out her pinky she brings it in front of me. It reminds me of old times. “Promise?”

Seeing that this means very much to her I interlock her pinky with mine. “I promise.”

Then she takes my hand and leads me inside her trailer.

When I was dating her sister, a time in my life I wish I could just erase, we didn’t spend much time in here. Our time was spent at the local diner maybe even a club or two but not much here.

Doesn’t mean I don’t know my way around her trailer. I also remember what her room looks like. Two twins bed that when Iwas over would be put together to make one bigger bed, a small closet, random posters and a simple black nightstand.

I’m expecting us to walk pass the kitchen and down the small hallway to make a swift right. That’s where the bedroom they shared is at.

But she doesn’t.

She doesn’t do that at all.

Instead she stops directly in the family room where there is that old busted couch. She crouches down next to the oversized dresser residing next to the couch. And as she shifts through it, pulling out clothes as she does I come to the realization that this is where she has slept all these years.

And there’s a rage, a fury that burns through my veins as I watch her have hardly any clothing. My jaw clenches and my fists grow tight by my side. “How long?” My voice is harsh but not meant towards her. It’s for the fucking situation she’s been living in.

God, how could I have been so fucking blind?

Why did she never tell me?

“You promised you wouldn’t be mad at me,” she reminds me in a whisper.

“I’m not mad at you, Alice. I’m beyond furious at your mother. I feel a blinding rage towards your sister. She said you shared a room with her but that was a lie wasn’t it?”

Her eyes are sad as she nods her head in reply confirming what I said. I swear profusely underneath my breath. The need to smash something, punch my fist through the thin walls is all consuming.

“This couch has been your bed and that dresser holds everything you own.” She nods her head again. “For how long, Alice?”

Her voice is small when she answers, “Since I was seven.”

Holy motherfucking of fuck.

She’s been sleeping on that uncomfortable old beat down couch for fifteen years.

Fifteen goddamned years!

“Why? Why would they do that to you?” I demand to know an answer. I need to know why they would do such a horrible thing to an angel like her.

She swallows, her eyes glancing all around the room. “Because they hate me. My mother always has and my sister did ever since she turned ten. They don’t want me. They never did.”