Mason (Carter Brothers #2) - Lisa Helen Gray Page 0,65
hug. Tears fill my own eyes at the sound of her own desperate silent pleas for the pain to stop.
“Have you spoken to Malik about any of this?’’
“No and you can’t tell him what I told you. I don’t want him to think that I’m weak. I’m just so fucking scared,’’ she tells me, and then pulls away, her bottom lip trembling.
“You need to talk to him before all this consumes you, Hun. You shouldn’t have to deal with this alone. You shouldn’t be dealing with it at all. You’re strong Harlow, remember that. Don’t cling to the anger; focus on your future happiness, because that’s all you’ll get. Davis is the only one going to hell.’’
“Grhh, I’m being so silly,’’ she tells me, stepping away to wipe her tears and rubbing at the smudged mascara under her eyes.
“No you’re not, you’re being human.’’
“I’m just scared,’’ she whispers.
“You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t,’’ I remind her.
“Urgh, look at me. I look a mess and we need to go if we want to get you an outfit.’’
“We can stay here if you prefer. I’ve got loads of clothes, so we can stay in and watch a movie instead,’’ I smile, hoping she confides in Malik later on.
“No. No. It’s fine. I’ll just go sort myself out then we’ll go.’’
“Are you sure because I honestly do not mind,’’ I tell her, truly not wanting her to do something she’s not up for.
“Honestly, it might do me some good to get out and take my mind off of things.’’
“Alright, you go and sort yourself out and I’ll go put those,’’ pointing to the flowers.
“In the bin?’’ Harlow laughs, and it’s nice seeing her laugh after all that.
“Yeah, the bin,’’ I laugh bumping my hips with hers.
Walking into the kitchen, I wait until I hear the bathroom door upstairs close before grabbing my phone and texting Malik.
Me: She isn’t taking the court case as well as we thought. D x
Malik: I’m coming over
Fuck! He can’t come over. She’ll know then that I just tattled on her, even if this is for her own good. She needs help, but she also needs to know she’s strong enough on her own.
Me: No!!!
Me: We’re going on a girl’s day, don’t ruin it. D x
Malik: I’m not going to sit at fucking home while she’s suffering Den. She needs me.
Me: No, what she needs is a distraction. She needs her mind taken off what she went through and going to town will help with that. I didn’t text you to go all caveman, I texted you to tell you that when she’s back to be gentle with her. Get her to open up. Don’t be an ass. Dx
Malik: Nice to have you back Denny.
I grin at the text like a damn fool. It does feel good to be back. I’m actually starting to feel like myself again, and not this self-conscious, insecure, shell of a woman I’ve become. I’m back to my old, outgoing, bossy self. Okay... nearly. I’ve still got a way to go before I’ll ever feel normal again, but for the first time in a long time, I feel like it could happen.
“Who’s got you smiling?’’ Harlow asks making me jump.
“Bossy,’’ I blurt out, before laughing. “Nothing, let’s go shopping, and if you’re a good girl I might buy you a cupcake,’’ I wink and head out.
Walking down Main Street the weather begins to feel chilly. With the end of August approaching I’m not surprised the weather is cooling down. Sun and heat never last in England. But this year, I’m kind of thankful. I was starting to think I’d need to walk around in a bikini.
“Okay, where to now because that woman in the last store really needed to pop her eyes back in her head? Did you see the way she was staring at my bump?’’ I ask in disbelief. We’d just been in one of the popular clothes stores in town and were literally followed around by one of the assistants like we were thieves. Then to top that shit off, she eyed my bump like it was infected, looking disgusted and I wanted to rip her eyes out with my nails.
“Yeah I did. For a second I got worried you were going to go Michael Myers on her ass.’’
“Trust me, if I had a butchers knife I would have used it on the bitch,’’ I laugh.
“Shit you sound scary,’’ she laughs. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.’’