Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 65585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
“No,” Gabby says. “I will tell you something and I’d put my life on the line I believe this so wholeheartedly, those guys have done some bad shit, but they would never, ever murder an innocent person for seeing something they shouldn’t have. They’re not monsters.”
Her voice is firm, unwavering. Her eyes are fierce. What she’s saying, she’s saying with fact, with determination and belief.
I trust her.
“I didn’t think so,” I say, “and I’m sorry if my question upset you, but ...”
“Taj was our friend,” Kara finishes, her voice slightly shaky.
Gabby’s face softens and she nods. “I get that, and I know you’re just looking for answers, but I promise you that those guys had nothing to do with what happened to your friend. What you saw, it had nothing to do with the retreat. Rhett needs to be more careful, which is why I think you need to tell him that you saw everything. The one thing I don’t want to see happen, is for him to lose everything he has worked for.”
I shake my head, hesitant. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea ...”
“Trust me, Rhett likes you and I think if you tell him, it’ll be a good thing. He won’t react how you think, just talk to him.”
She’s wrong, though.
Rhett did like me, now he’s angry because he blames me for everything going bad.
I don’t say that, though.
I just swiftly change the subject and enjoy the rest of the morning laughing and chatting with these girls.
I have my answers.
But they’re not necessarily the answers I was looking for.
I’m back to square one.
With no idea what direction to take next.
“I’M GOING TO FIND RHETT and chat with him,” I tell Kara, pulling on my boots later that night. “I think Gabby is right, I think it’s the best thing to do.”
Kara nods. “I agree. I’m going to keep digging and figure out if I can find anything that might give us some answers on Taj and who might be involved. Let me know how you go with Rhett.”
I nod and get a coat, because it’s raining out.
I pull my hoodie up and over my head and then make the walk toward the main house. I haven’t spoken to Rhett since I got back from in town, in fact, I haven’t even seen him but it has been playing on my mind. I do want to apologize for the fact that we all did something stupid, but I’m also not going to let him treat me like crap because I don’t stand for that shit. He has no right to take it out on me, and he needs to know that.
I’m certain it’ll be a splendid conversation.
I reach the house and hear the men chatting inside. I walk up the front steps and bang on the door, it is Madden who comes to it. “Lei, you good?”
“Yeah, I was wondering if Rhett was here?”
He looks to the side and then turns around, glancing back at something.
“He’s occupied.”
Oh. Right. Occupied.
“Oh, can you tell him I came by then?”
I go to step away when I catch a glimpse of what Madden was looking at behind him. All the guys are sitting in the living room, drinking and laughing. Rhett is on the sofa and there is a woman next to him, her legs over his lap, laughing with a drink in her hand. She’s gorgeous, I mean the kind of gorgeous he spent the last week tell me wasn’t what men were looking for.
I’m not jealous because she’s beautiful, no, the pain inside is because yet another person has fed me bullshit stories.
I turn on my heel without saying another word to Madden and rush down the front steps.
It’s pouring out now, but it doesn’t stop me from running out into that rain and picking up into a jog so I can get back to the cabin as quickly as possible.
“Lei!”
The sound of Rhett’s voice cuts through the thundering rain. I stop, turning toward him. He’s got a flashlight in his hand and is soaking wet by the time he reaches me.
“What are you doin’?” he asks, stopping, looking so god damned perfect in the rain it makes me hate him even more in this moment.
“I was coming to see you, but I can see you’re otherwise occupied. You know, I think we made the wrong choice staying here, I’m going to leave in the morning.”
“Why are you so fuckin’ angry all of a sudden?”
He honestly can’t see why?
“Because I was in there with a girl?”
That stings.
“It’s not about the girl, it’s about the fucking lies,” I yell. “The entire time I’ve been here, you’ve been after me, doing things to me that I’ve never experienced in my life, saying all this bullshit, but you know what, I just realized you’re exactly the same as every other man out there. You’re a god damned liar.”