Until Alex - J. Nathan Page 0,66

me cold. A concrete wall surrounded the alley.

“You alright, bro?” Remy climbed to his feet and spit out a wad of blood.

With as much effort as I could manage, I pushed myself to my knees. Sharp pains ripped through my sides like I’d been stabbed repeatedly. With every motion the stabbing increased and everything spun.

I keeled over, warding off the inclination to heave.

My legs were pure jelly, so I began crawling toward the wall. I didn’t get far, before dropping my head in exhaustion.

“You just gotta make it to the gate,” Remy said.

My head shot up.

A gate?

Remy wrapped his beaten arm around me and lifted me to my feet. As my heavy body hung on his, we struggled through the gate and toward my truck, barely making it there without collapsing.

I half expected it to be surrounded by men with bottles or weapons. But the lot was empty.

Remy slid behind the wheel. I collapsed in the passenger seat. I tried to sit upright, but the pain made it impossible. I leaned against the window and prayed for the pain to be taken away.

Moments passed, but they could have been hours. Noise alternated with silence. Darkness with light.

“I know who’ll make you feel better,” Remy said.

ALEX

I stood from the sofa, needing to change out of my dress. I had no idea why I still wore it. I guess it took some time to realize I’d been stood up. I know. Stupid, right?

I tried Hayden’s cell once eight o’clock came and went, but my calls were sent to voicemail. I wondered if a family member needed him, because why else wouldn’t he have called?

But when hours passed and he still made no attempt to contact me, I grew angry. Angry I’d given in to him so easily after the stunt he pulled the previous night. Angry he’d do something so terrible after all I’d been through. Angry I believed in him in the first place. I didn’t force him to take me to the dance. It had been his idea. How could he leave me sitting home alone without so much as a call?

Then realization hit. A punch to the gut type of realization felt only after being made to look like a complete fool.

He’d apologized for not being what I needed him to be. He’d said no one could know. He’d brought two girls home.

Did I really need it spelled out for me?

Ughhhh.

Why was I so naïve? So stupid? So hooked on the fairytale that wasn’t?

Shuffling in the hallway snapped my attention to the door.

Call me a glutton for punishment, but I hurried to it, aligning my eye with the hole. Hayden passed by slowly, being held up by a short brunette.

With every bit of strength and every remaining ounce of pride I possessed, I blinked back the tears that sat ready to fall. He wouldn’t see me cry. I was too angry for that.

I threw open the door.

Hayden leaned against his door frame while the girl unlocked his door. He glanced over his shoulder, wincing when he found me standing there. I didn’t look away. I wouldn’t. He needed to see what he did. Who he hurt. Who he’d never hurt again.

Whatever we had, this thing he needed, it was over.

HAYDEN

“Just give me a minute,” I growled at Marisol as I rushed into my bathroom.

Rushed might’ve been pushing it. I found it difficult to even walk. My ribs were definitely broken, and I suspected one of them had punctured my lung, hence my difficulty breathing.

I grasped the sides of the sink and examined my reflection in the mirror under the bright overhead bulbs. Except for some minor scrapes and cuts on my cheeks and chin, my face survived mostly unscathed. My body, which took the brunt of the attack and stung with broken glass, didn’t fare as well.

It was strange. I could endure the physical pain. The broken ribs. The punctured lung. The cuts and bruises. But the emotional pain—what I felt seeing Alex in her doorway—not so much.

The devastated look on her face when she saw me with Marisol was one of the most heartbreaking things I’d ever seen. And I’d seen my fair share. She still wore her dress. She held out hope I wouldn’t disappoint her. But of course, I had.

I closed my eyes tightly. I’d blown my chance at a normal life. With a girl who saw something in me others didn’t. And for what? To have the hell beaten out of me by guys who