Page 37 of The Long Way Home
I nod. “Anytime. Thanks for meeting up with me to hear me out and helping me unpack all this stuff.”
She heads for the door. When she reaches it, she pauses and I catch the flicker in her step, thinking she might turn back. Maybe she’ll let me in.
But she doesn’t.
“Night, Rhett.”
She grabs the door and swings it shut. The sound echoes in the quiet room. My shoulders slump. I let out a slow breath, letting the tension drain.
I wasn’t here for her when she needed me. I left her, and she held up her whole world by herself—Margo, her parents, everything—while no one held her.
My one job was to protect her. But I was a coward and walked away. I left room for a man like Ben to step in and take what never should’ve been his in the first place.
I deserve every ounce of the anger burning through me. I should have never left. It wasn’t worth it. The Sunny I knew never let someone speak to her that way. She pushed back, laughed loudly; she took up space. She felt her emotions. Somewhere, somehow, that fire dimmed along the way, and I’m determined to bring it back.
Chapter Nine
RHETT
Twelve Years Ago
College Junior Year
The house is packed. Bodies shoulder to shoulder, bass rattling the floorboards, cheap beer everywhere. Josh and Margo bailed an hour ago, which means the job of keeping Rachel safe has somehow defaulted to me.
And to make things worse, Rachel is on her third shot. Maybe fourth. It’s hard to tell with how fast that girl moves when she is trying to prove a point.
She tosses another back with a lime quickly trailing afterwards. She laughs at something the guy beside her says. Sean. Or Steve. Something starting with an S. I don’t give a shit enough to learn his name. All I know is he is leaning in way too close, breathing the same air as her. That and the fact that his eyes glued to her mouth like he has already claimed it.
My jaw pulls tight enough to crack.
She shouldn’t even be here without Margo. She shouldn’t be drinking this much. And she absolutely shouldn’t be letting this idiot put his hand on the back of her chair like he is “being casual.” I know that move. I’ve used that move.
I cut through the crowd, shoulder-first. Bodies shift. I stop at her side and plant my hand on the table. I want whatever his name is to understand what is happening here. Who Sunny is really leaving this party with. Spoiler alert: it isn’t him.
Rachel blinks up at me, cheeks flushed. The smile on her face is loose.
“Hey, Rhett. Didn’t you know you’ve been relieved from your babysitting shift? I found your replacement.”
I watch her eyes flutter over to him, and it makes my skin crawl.
“You’re cut off, Sunny.”
She snorts. “Oh, please. I’m fine. Just because Josh left you in charge of me doesn’t mean I have to listen to you.”
She reaches for another shot, and her hand trembles. That’s the first thing I see. The second is Mr. S-whatever, damn near drooling as he stares straight down her shirt. Apparently, he has moved on from her mouth.
“Nope,” I say. “You’re done.”
The guy next to her raises a brow. “Man, she said she’s fine. Maybe let her decide for herself?”
I turn my head slowly. He has no idea how close he is to getting dragged outside.
“She’s cut off,” I repeat, voice lower. “I’m not saying it again.”
He tries to square up, make himself look big, like that’s supposed to scare me. He doesn’t understand. This is the wrong place, I’m the wrong guy, and she is the last girl he gets to put his eyes on.
“You her dad or something?”
