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Broken Bond 27
MILES“Knock, knock,” I call, gently rapping my fist against the wood of Nessa’s bedroom door as I push it open.She’s curled up on her bed in the fetal position, her knees tucked tightly into her chest and a pillow clutched in her arms, hiding her face. She picks up her head when she hears me come in, frowning when our eyes meet and burying her face back in the pillow. “Go away, Miles,” she grumbles, her words muffled.I blow out a breath, taking a tentative step into the room despite her protest. She’s been holed up in here for hours following that ugly scene in the kitchen this morning. Chase kicked Cal out right away, but I stuck around, figuring Nessa would come out eventually and need a shoulder to cry on. I iced my face and explained to Chase what went down between Cal and me, but then Vee woke up and called him back upstairs. So I sat in the living room by myself for what felt like forever, bored as shit, waiting and waiting until I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to come
Broken Bond 28
VANESSAI’m a summer girl. While I appreciate that we get the full range of seasons here in Colorado, summer is my absolute favorite; long days filled with soaking up the heat of the sun, deepening my tan, and spending as much time outdoors as possible.Not even my favorite season can lift me out of this funk, though. Summer is at its peak, and I haven’t set foot outside of the packhouse in days. I’ve been avoiding the outside world, drowning myself in my own sorrow and Vienna’s experimental cocktails, always delivered with a kind word and a smile.You’d think she’d be a decent mixologist since she worked at the lodge bar for months. She’s not. She dumps grenadine into everything she makes for me since she knows I like cherries, but completely fails to consider how the flavor will blend with the other ingredients. Gin and grenadine? Absolutely foul. Tequila and grenadine? Even worse. I don’t have the heart to tell her, though, so I’ve either choked them down or secretly dumped them ou
Broken Bond 29
CALLUM My pulse races as I walk into the Norbury packhouse, my gaze greedily sweeping over the interior. There’s nobody in sight. The sound of approaching footsteps yanks my attention to the hallway off the kitchen, but the dark eyes that meet mine aren’t the ones I’m seeking. Chase emerges, his hulking form swallowing up the view of the hall behind him. I lift my chin in greeting, my eyes gravitating toward the opposite hallway that houses the guest rooms. “She’s not here,” Chase provides, knowing exactly who I’m looking for, and my shoulders sag as a pang of disappointment stabs in my gut. Days have passed since our run-in at the cabin, and again, so much was left unsaid. That seems to be the theme every time Nessa and I see one another lately. I’m always left reeling because all I want to do is hold her and kiss the pain away and make everything better again, but I know I can’t do that. I won’t risk her safety for my own selfish impulses. I also can’t just stand by and watch her
Broken Bond 30
VANESSA Smoke. Leather. Juniper. Spice. Callum’s signature scent barely lingers on this t-shirt anymore, but if I pull the collar up over my nose and breathe in deep, I can still smell it. And yeah, I’m that pathetic girl right now lying in bed wearing my ex-boyfriend’s shirt. I wish I could say this is the first time, but that’d be a lie. I threw this t-shirt on to leave his place once, and when I rediscovered it lying in a crumpled heap under my bed a week after he left, I clung to this damn shirt like a lifeline. I’d put it on to drown myself in the illusion that he was with me; that he never left. Flipping through Callum’s sketchbook has become like a compulsion over the past few days since he gave it to me, and as I paged through it again today, I put on his shirt to feel closer to him. My emotions have been all over the place since that day at the cabin. Seeing him was hard enough, but these drawings… they’re all done with such detail, such care. In handing over the sketch
Broken Bond 31
CALLUM The tip of my pencil moves against the page in quick, sure, strokes as a Nine Inch Nails song blasts through my earbuds, a heavy guitar rift drilling into my skull. The eyes I’m currently drawing are etched into my memory; surrounded in a fan of long, dark lashes and brimming with sadness. I wish I’d never seen that sorrowful look in her eyes. I wish even more that I wasn’t the one who put it there. And I wish I wasn’t stuck in a masochistic loop of drawing her eyes like this over and over again, forcing myself to confront the cruel consequences of my actions. Sketching used to be my escape. Now, it’s my penance. I’m so in the zone that I’ve tuned out everything around me- I don’t even realize someone is knocking on my apartment door until the pounding grows more insistent, rattling the door on its hinges and causing ripples to form in my water glass beside me. I yank out one of my earbuds, jerking my head up to stare warily in the direction of the door. Whoever’s banging th
Broken Bond 32
VANESSA “You’re really not going to tell me where we’re going?” I laugh as Vienna pulls me by the hand down a well-worn forest trail. Half an hour ago, she busted into my room and told me to put on a bikini, all cloak and dagger about giving me any details as to where she was taking me. All she said was that it’d been too long since I’d had any real fun, and since I couldn’t disagree with that, I humored her. I put on my favorite white crochet bikini and my second favorite pair of cutoff jean shorts- since my favorites were a casualty of my hasty shift to run away from Callum last week- and hopped into Vee’s Jeep with her. I thought it was safe to assume we were going swimming, so imagine my surprise when she pulled into the parking lot of the squad complex in Goldenleaf. Then my confusion only multiplied after we got out of the car and she bypassed the entry gate for the complex to head for this trail instead. “You’ll see,” Vee answers conspiratorially, shooting me a devious smirk
Broken Bond 33
VANESSAWhen Vienna brought me out here today, I underestimated her commitment to making sure I let loose and have fun. She pulled me into a game of beer pong against Fallon and Serena, talked me into partnering up with Alec for chicken fights in the water against her and Chase, and has replenished my beer every time it started to get low. I’m not a big drinker but I’m rolling on a solid buzz at this point, and I can tell that my girl Vee is past her threshold by the way she’s glassy-eyed and hanging off Chase.Having endured more than enough of their PDA, I announce that I’m going swimming, kicking off my flip-flops and shorts and heading for the water’s edge. This place is a complete contrast to the hot springs by the lodge- while that water is always piping hot, this water seems to be perpetually cold. It stings my skin like tiny needle points as I wade into the pool, my breath catching from the shock in temperature change. I flop backwards once I’m waist-deep, spreading my arms an
Broken Bond 34
CALLUM A gust of warm air whooshes into my face as I push through the door to exit the squad complex, the summer sun beating down relentlessly overhead. We’re in the middle of what feels like an endless heat wave. The grass of the practice field is crunchy underfoot as I step out onto it, dying of thirst and begging for rain, and despite the fact that I just showered off the sweat I worked up while training, my t-shirt is already clinging to my body like a second skin by the time I reach the outer gate to head for the parking lot. “Yo Cal, wait up!” a voice calls from behind me, and I swivel to see Logan jogging my way, his clunky motorcycle boots thudding against the ground. I pause to wait for him, idly twirling the keys to my Corvette around a finger. He flashes me a smile as he approaches, two rows of straight white teeth gleaming and a pair of dimples sinking into his cheeks. Handsome fucker. “Think you can find some time this week to finish my chest piece?” he asks, fingers t
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