Damaged Love - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,12

the second floor turned on.

“Shit,” I said.

I got the lid off the can and froze up.

Easton was home. He was going to find me.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I whispered.

I backed away and then froze again.

The accident, Winter. What did they do to you? And then he had the balls to try and convince you that you two slept together…

I wanted to scream but couldn’t.

Finally, I jumped forward and grabbed the paint can.

I tipped it over and threw paint in every direction I could.

My heart raced so fast I was dizzy.

But as the thick, pink paint clung to the deck… to the siding… to the windows… I started to smile.

It was fun. Freeing.

It was going to be a mess for Easton.

I ran to the steps and threw the paint can somewhere on the beach.

I ran to Gia and locked arms with her as we ran off into the night together.

A part of me waited to hear Easton yell. Or see us and chase us down.

But the beach was super quiet.

There was no sound other than the sound of myself trying keep my breathing steady as I ran with Gia. Of course, for Gia this was merely a jog. Or walking fast.

At the deck steps to my mother’s beach house, we stopped.

I took a deep breath and shook my head.

Gia was breathing just fine. Like nothing happened.

“That was fun,” Gia said.

“For you.”

“Come on… that was fun for you too,” she said.

“Yeah. I guess.”

“Not quite as dangerous as blowing up a car, right?”

I let out a quick laugh and then looked to my left.

I swallowed hard.

Was that guilt trying to go through me?

“Hey, Gia,” I said.

“Yeah?”

“You think they’re happy?”

“Who?”

“Noah. Easton. Xavier. Do you think they’re happy?”

“Why does that matter?”

I shrugged my shoulders and looked at her. “I’m starting to see things… I mean, they can’t be happy. Their lives are shit.”

“So?”

I opened my mouth but knew what I was going to say was going to make me look bad.

Fuck.

“You should crash here,” I said to Gia.

“As long as I can have more to drink,” she said.

“Duh,” I said.

We ran up the steps together and went into the beach house. After a quick stop at the kitchen, we hurried up to my bedroom.

I crashed to my bed and was wide awake, yet still tired.

Gia sat up in the bed next to me, staring forward, drinking.

I kept a close eye on her, and when the time came, I swiped the bottle from her hand.

She looked down at me and frowned.

I shook my head. “We’re good, Gia. No need to get sick.”

“I am sick, Winter,” she said. “Right?”

“No. Not sick. And even if you are, you’re taking care of yourself. Tonight wasn’t a good night for you. What you had to talk about. I feel the same things you feel. Hate. Anger. Being let down. I don’t think there’s anything you can do to really stop those feelings. I think we need to just live through them. At least that’s what I’m feeling right now.”

Gia slumped down and put her head to a pillow.

“Does it make you feel good when you get back at them?” she whispered.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I guess a part of me does, but I don’t know. It’s dangerous. When I was in the hospital… then when I got out and I was just… it made sense to do.”

“You can stop,” Gia said. She turned her head. My eyes met hers. “You can stop. You can talk to someone. There’s ways…”

“Talon already said he’d rat me out,” I said. “Fucking Trocs.”

Gia frowned.

Her eyes slowly began to shut.

She was out a few seconds later.

I was still awake.

I knew I would be for a while.

That was okay.

I was on my back, staring at the ceiling.

I had only one thought.

What’s going to happen next?

Chapter 5

writing your name

Gia was like a rock star.

She popped up the next morning like nothing had happened the night before.

I was the one who was groggy.

I felt like I had a hangover, but it was just from the strange sleep schedule.

She ran downstairs for coffee.

I had to drag my ass down the steps.

My mother was in the kitchen. The sound of her voice made me cringe.

I wanted to blame her for everything happening, but I knew that was wrong.

Me wanting revenge and acting like a bitch was the only time she’d ever shown me love.

“There she is,” Gia said as I entered the kitchen.

“You look like hell,” my mother said.

“Good morning to you too,” I said.

“She was up late,” Gia said.