Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
I hang up and I’m fuming. I storm back to my room and find Kay sitting up from the spot where she had lain beside me. If looks could kill, she would be finished.
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” I snarl.
“What? What did I do wrong?”
“You sent my brother to the resort with my mama without me? Did you bump your fucking head, Kay? How could you?”
I chew her out while tugging on sweats. I need to get there before my mother causes a disaster. There’s no telling what could happen if she triggers him.
“Cam, slow down. I thought we could spend some time together and your mama suggested Cal ride up with her and your daddy. Caleb seemed excited to go. Why are you overreacting?”
“Overreacting? Overreacting? Why are you acting like you didn’t grow up around my family?
“That time Cal broke his arm after losing his shit? Who set him off?”
“Your mama, but—”
“That time on the boat when he cracked his fucking head, what happened before he freaked out and I tried to get him below deck?”
“Your mama had—”
“I blinked for a fucking second to take pictures with you for prom. Cal ended up having a seizure right there on the front porch. Who stressed him the fuck out and caused it?”
“Your mama was only trying to—”
“My mama, my mama, my mama. Do you see the problem here? That woman is a trigger whether she knows it or not.
“I’m the buffer. I’m the shield. You took my brother’s safety away. Once again, you’ve placed him in a fucked-up situation.”
“Shit, I wasn’t thinking. I figured we’d be right behind them. I just wanted to give us a chance to talk,” she says.
I ignore her and pull up the app to check the weather. We all had planned to leave early this morning because a storm was supposed to come in.
Rage fills me as I look down at my phone. This can’t be happening. I’m fucking sick to my stomach.
“Fuck,” I bellow.
“What? What is it?”
“They’re closing the roads up there. The storm already hit. We’re not going to get through.”
“Oh no, I’m so sorry, Cam.”
“Why?” I demand.
“Why what?”
“Why do you keep allowing her to manipulate you? My mama uses you to get her way. You’re such an easy target for her.”
“How did she manipulate me? I didn’t think anything was wrong with spending a little extra alone time with my boyfriend. We needed some time to talk.”
“Then talk to me. Don’t go doing shit behind my back that fucks with my brother’s well-being.”
“You say that now, but you’ve been … ugh. I can’t explain it. It feels like we’re drifting apart.”
“Kay, for once, we haven’t been fighting. Things have been good. If you had talked to me, you would have known I worked things out with Kota so we could share a cabin alone. She and Cal were going to take the girls’ cabin this year,” I bite out.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. Now I’m not going to be with my family for Christmas and my brother is trapped with my crazy-ass mama with no me to back her down.”
“We can try in the morning. I really am sorry.”
I stand and head for the door. I’m done talking to her. I swear, she’s turning into my mama and it’s getting on my last nerve.
“Where are you going?”
“To take a shower. Don’t be here when I get out. I’ll pick you up in the morning if they open the roads.”
“You’d rather be here alone? I said I’m sorry.”
“I might change my mind later, but right now, I need you to go.”
“Okay, I’m sorry, Cam.”
CHAPTER 16
Need a Friend
Maribel
“Why aren’t you on your flight?” Dez growls into the phone.
“I missed it. I had to stay to work on an assignment my professor gave me an extension on,” I say.
That’s total bullshit. I don’t want to go home to be around my father or Dez. I’d rather be anywhere but there. I missed that flight intentionally, but he doesn’t need to know that.
I would rather spend my Christmas and New Year alone than go back home to be around Dez or my dad. My father isn’t listening to me when I tell him I’m over this and it’s not what I want. It’s like I’m screaming into an empty room with no one to hear me.
“I will book you for a flight in the morning.”
“And I won’t be on that either. I will be here until the first of the year. I can’t leave before then. I promised my mom I’d drop in for a few quick days after the new year.”
He sighs heavily on the other end. I roll my eyes. You would think he would get the point by now.
“Maribel, I’m not asking you to come home. I’m telling you. If you’re not here by the opening of the year, I will come there, and you won’t be finishing the semester.