WANTED (The Runaways Series Book #2)

Chapter 8

Caleb

She had the prettiest lips a liar could ask for, ‘cause God knows I wanted to kiss her ‘til she told the truth. I wanted to look into her wild, brown eyes and let every word she said sink into my skin like I believed them.

But I didn’t, and for the first time since I’d promised to love her, I let her go a little bit. I let her tears mean a little less ‘cause I didn’t know the difference between the ones I could trust and the ones I couldn’t anymore.

           “You alright, Hailey?”

Sawyer’s voice cut through the hiss of the summer cicadas like a snake in the shadows. Hailey slid her hands away from me—all too quick and I swallowed down the sucker punch sting of her skin leaving mine for the third time.

           “I’m fine, Sawyer, I was just telling him to leave.“

He snaked a hand around her pretty little waist and pulled her tight enough to him to set my blood on fire. I grated my hands against my blue jeans to ease the ache pulling at my fists to shatter his smooth-talking jaw to pieces.

            “Well, that was one hell of a send off, Hailey,” he said.

He dug the tips of his fingers deep into her t-shirt, ‘til she cracked a smile to hide the pain. The kid had a goddamn death wish.

            “Touch her like that again, and I’ll gladly take a life sentence for what I’m gonna do to you.”

For a split second he cracked a sideways smile like I was bluffing, like he thought if he stood there grinning long enough that I’d back down from what I’d said. If he’d had any sense he would’ve realized he wasn’t standing toe to toe with a liar, but an Evans. Evans men died living out the last of their promises. I’d kill to keep mine.

            “Caleb, please, go home, okay? Just go home.”

I never should’ve looked at her, I should’ve held my ground and kept my eyes on Sawyer so he’d only see the man I wanted him to, a man who stood by his words instead of a man who crumbled at the sound of hers.

Hailey didn’t understand how much I hated seeing the worry scribbled across the lines in her face. How many times I’d pulled over sick on the drive down to get her, just thinking about the kind of things Sawyer had done to her and the things he could do. The worst of it was, the ugliest parts of me kept whispering bits and pieces of my trust in her away. What if she wants to stay?

            “Come home,” I said, and as quick as those words left my lips all the strength keeping me standing slipped out of my body and buried itself deeper than the dirt.

The weight of that woman brought me straight to my knees when all I wanted was to look stronger than I felt. I wanted her to follow me, to never ask questions, to hold onto me like she had last night ‘til I believed in her again. But every minute she kept the distance between her and Sawyer less than the distance between her and me, my faith in her bruised until it bled.

        “Hailey, sweetheart, can you go back inside and tell Maria everything’s alright. I just wanna talk to your friend here for a minute, man to man. I’ll catch up in a second,” Sawyer said.

My blood pumped hard enough through my heart to break through my veins just hearing how he talked to her. He barked orders at her like she was some goddamn dog, and the worst part was watching her listen. She listened ‘cause she had to, not ‘cause she wanted to, at least that’s what I wanted to believe.

Hailey slipped out of his grip, turned on her heels, and walked away from me, her soft skin shining so brightly in the sun she looked golden. Maybe that’s the way all people look when they leave before you’re ready to let them go—like angels.