Fight, Jamiee - Ellie R. Hunter Page 0,5
for a while?”
“If you don’t mind. It’ll only be for a few days, until I figure out what I’m doing with my life.” It’s about time I figure my shit out. There’s so much more to life than partying, or so my parents are forever telling me.
“And you don’t want Damon to know?”
“No. There’s already tension between the band and Deacon, and this will make it a thousand times worse. It’s over, and that’s all that needs to be said.”
“I swear to God, Jamiee, if you go back to him after this, I won’t keep my mouth shut. Not only will I tell Damon, I’ll tell Dad,” she warns, but she’s wasting her breath. I don’t need to be threatened. “I understand it’s your choice to make, and you’ve always done what you wanted, but I won’t make it easy for you.”
I guess I can’t blame her, I’d do the same in her shoes. Nodding, I close my eyes and vow to prove everyone wrong.
It’s not long before she has to leave to pick the girls up from school. I decide to tag along, because it beats sitting around in an empty house that isn’t mine. Once back, the house turns chaotic with the girls’ excitement at seeing me while Lacey urges them to get their homework done. David returns around six, and as soon as he sees my lip, he comes close to losing his shit.
“He hit you?” he roars.
“She already told you so. Don’t ask stupid questions,” Lacey admonishes him.
“I’d like to see his face when Damon’s finished with him.”
The urgency for him to promise to keep this to himself overwhelms me, but before I can jump in, Lacey places her hand on his arm.
“He doesn’t know, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.”
He jerks back and looks between us in disbelief. “You’re not serious? I can’t keep something like this from him. He would want to know. Hell, he deserves to know.”
“It’s not his business. I’ll deal with this. I’ll do it in my own way and in my own time. Please, just let me figure this out,” I plead, and it works.
His shoulders sag and he slides his ass onto a breakfast stool while loosening his tie. “I think a lot of you, Jamiee, and I know Lacey worries about you. Just know we’re here for you.”
Taking up the seat next to him, I smile, and offer to help set up the table for dinner.
I was right to come here.
Lacey has always been the sensible, mature one, and how she keeps her home is more proof of that—it’s immaculate. I’ve lost count over the years of how many times I wanted to pull the stick from her ass, it annoyed me so much. But tonight, I’m grateful for the crisp, clean sheets and fluffy, cosy comforter. It feels like home.
It feels safe.
Grabbing my phone off the nightstand, I roll over and turn it on. I’ve been dreading this. I should’ve said goodbye to Freddie, especially after he rushed to my aid last night. I can only imagine how pissed he was when he woke up and realised I was gone.
Voicemails and messages flood through, mostly from Deacon. One is from Freddie, and his is the first one I open.
I’m worried about you. Where are you?
With a sigh, I reply, Thank you for being there for me last night. I’m sorry I left without saying goodbye. I had to get away.
God, I sound like an ungrateful dick.
Instead of replying, he calls, and I’m answering before I know what I’m doing.
“That’s all you’re going to say?” he snaps.
“What else should I say?”
“How about you’re coming back to me where I can look out for you.”
“I know why you’re doing this,” I counter, wishing he could’ve told me that so long ago.
“Doing what?”
“Wanting to be with me. It’s because Damon’s with Alice now, and you’re not the first one to settle down in a relationship—”
“That has nothing to do with it.” Sighing heavily, he implores more softly, “Come back, please, and we can talk properly, face-to-face.”
“I’m not coming back yet.”
“Have you spoken to him?”
Touching my bottom lip, the stinging reminder of his hands on me spikes my anger.
“No, and I’m not going to.”
“Listen, Jamiee, we were never over. You know that, don’t you?” he implores.
“We were.”
And we still are. You don’t get to come back from where we ended up. It’s not possible.
“I know you still love me, so come home to me. We can finally be together.”
“How