Damaged Love - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,8
away on the beach. And I’m so sorry about that. What you told me though…”
I felt my chest tightening.
I felt trapped.
In my own bedroom.
I took a breath and slowly sat down on the edge of the bed.
“I feel sick,” I said.
Gia hurried toward me and dropped to her knees. “Is it your head again? The pain?”
I blinked and stared into Gia’s eyes. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“Doing what, Winter?”
“You ignored me. For days now. And then you ran right by me on the beach and didn’t even-”
“When?” Gia asked.
“Are you kidding me?”
Gia’s jaw dropped. “Oh… fuck…”
“What?”
Gia lowered her head. She shook her head. “This is my fault. Winter, I’m so sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?” I asked.
Gia lifted her head and her eyes were full of tears.
“Gia?” I asked.
She wiped her cheeks. “What I told you…” She shook her head. “It made me spiral. I lost track of time. I…”
She inched back and sat down on my bedroom floor. She hugged her knees.
I scooted myself off the bed and down to the floor too.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I didn’t even see you,” she said. “I didn’t realize it was you. I was just running. I was so focused. So anxious and sad. I’ve been… lost. When you walked away, I yelled to you that I was going away for two days. There’s this retreat type thing. It’s kind of stupid but kind of fun. We go into the woods and make a pact to leave our phones behind. Just to unplug. I needed it after what I told you.”
“What?” I asked. “Are you serious?”
Gia nodded. “Yeah.”
“Gia, I thought… that’s why your mother was here.”
“My mother was here?”
“She came by to tell me not to give up on you. I had no idea what she was talking about.”
“Ohmygod,” Gia said. She touched her forehead. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Why?”
“This is what I do. I get into these moods and just lose myself. I break plans. I mess up friendships. And I don’t care about anything. I hurt everyone around me. I hurt you, Winter.”
“No you didn’t,” I said. “I was… scared.”
“Of what?”
“You told me Xavier is your brother,” I said. “Oh, fuck, I just said Xavier was here. Are you okay?”
“No,” Gia said. “Not at all.”
“Look, I know this is all crazy,” I said. “I’m so sorry I lied to you, Gia. I just wanted to figure something out. It all happened so fast. You know? I swear when I woke up from the accident I knew nothing. I called my father Mr. Seacrum.”
“But now you remember?” Gia asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Everyone started showing up to visit me. Evie and Darcy were there making idiots of themselves. And then in the back of the gathering I spotted… Noah, Easton, and Xavier. And it all came rushing back to me. I heard them talking in Xavier’s shop about me. Wanting to do something to me. And then the accident… I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I couldn’t turn the wheel. I couldn’t hit the brakes. So I jumped into the back as it crashed. I guess that saved my life.”
Gia stared in disbelief.
I waited a few seconds.
She didn’t talk.
So I kept going.
“So I decided to, uh, to do something about it,” I said. “I pretended not to have my memory while I was in the hospital. Just so I could think. It was a lot to take in at once. Then I got home… to the castle… that’s what I call Dad’s house. My mother was there. I haven’t seen her in forever. She took off on us when I was young. I ended up here because she called me out on not remembering being fake.”
“She knew right away,” Gia said.
“Yeah,” I said. “That was wild. She wanted to help me. Dad had to leave for business. So it made sense. I came here to rest and figure things out. I was going to get revenge and Talon caught me so-”
“Talon… right…”
“Gia, I’m not fooling around with him,” I said. “A Troc? No. It’s not like that at all. He said he could help. And I kind of need him to keep this a secret. So I pay him.”
“You give Talon money?” Gia asked.
“Yeah.”
“Ohmygod, Winter,” she said. “This is madness. I feel like I’m dreaming.”
“Join the club,” I said. “Talon shows up whenever he wants and does what he wants. He’s the one who set up framing Noah. He took me to watch Easton’s car get blown up. And he took