Run Bad Boy Run

Chapter 40

The New York skyline growing on the horizon would be beautiful if I wasn't afraid for my life.

There are no goons and baddies holding Hayden and I up at gunpoint. We didn't lose control of our vehicle in the fast-paced traffic clogging the arteries into the city. The view in front of me is absolutely breathtaking. Aside from the fact that we're just a few cables snaps away from plummeting into the ocean.

There is something about being on a complex structure of cable, concrete, and metal high over dangerous water that freaks me out. It's like every bad scenario and action movie disaster comes rushing into my mind.

What if the bridge breaks? Today out of all days, it's going to somehow collapse. I'm going to die. The road is going to break in two and I'll fall through the cracks! The sharks in the harbor will get me!

Thankfully, we arrived in Brooklyn without much of a hassle. Abigail's hideout turns out to be above an art gallery in a rundown building along the water. With its glossy appliances, interesting art pieces, and weird-shaped furniture, I can't help but feel overwhelmed by the expensive apartment she's been calling home. And here I thought she was staying in some low-key bunkhouse.

"I'm sorry I only have one guest room," Abigail apologizes as we sit in her equally large bedroom.

I smile, hoping she doesn't notice how I have to force my lips apart. "It's okay." She eyes me warily and I'm thankful I'm not the only one uncomfortable with this conversation. We haven't properly spoken to each other in years and now, when we have the chance, it's coming from one of the worst circumstances. "We'll figure something out," I continue. "I don't mind sleeping on one of those fuzzy couches you have in the living room. They look amazing."

Continuing to avoid my eyes directly, Abigail gives a nervous laugh. "Yeah." She pauses and finally looks at me, breathing deeply as sadness constricts her pretty face. "I'm sorry about all this with Derek and Hayden. And this apartment and your mom—I'm sorry it had to happen to you."

"It's not your fault." It's the truth. She didn't drop the memory stick into my purse. She didn't drag me into the woods after Hayden.

"I know," she frowns. "It's just—with all of this, I haven't exactly been a good friend. When I saw you on his radar, I tried to steer him away, Ember. That day in the deli, I pretended not to notice you for that one reason. I'd been dying to talk to you as soon as I got back."

"I understand." I would have done the same. I don't tell her that. "But it would have been nice to hear from you after you left."

The guilt that passes over her features feeds satisfaction to a small, childish part of me. I want her to catch a taste of how painful it was to lose a friend so quickly and without answer.

"I was going to say something. I swear I was." She looks as though she wants to say more, but doesn't. Why doesn't she? What else is she hiding?

I'm about to ask her this question when a knock on her bedroom door makes us jump. Seconds later, Hayden pops his head inside, his eyes closed as he shouts, "I'm coming in! So if you're not naked, I suggest you get naked now!"

Hayden Cross, here to save the day from awkward tension. Who would've thought?

"Oh my God, Hayden, you're such a pig!" I laugh and hurl a cushion at him.

Abigail gets up from her couch and begins to shove on the door, Hayden still half in and out of the room. "Out!" she screeches. "There will be no nakedness, Hayden Cross!"

He pushes back in retaliation, but the angle of him being wedged in the threshold works against him, and with a heave, Abigail sends him tumbling back into the living room with a loud crash. But this does not deter the bad boy. Swearing profusely, he successfully opens the door to another cushion being launched in his direction. Hayden laughs, unaffected by the sequin plush that smacks him in the face, and walks in, settling down right across from me on the couch. The space is small to begin with. But instead of finding his way to a new couch with more room, Hayden Cross decides the best way to share the couch with me is to place my legs in his lap.