~~~This is a prequel, spin-off from Ties~~~
Briar Hayes has lived her entire life being polite, never daring to express the crazy and wild thoughts running laps in her head. At almost twenty-five, stuck in the throes of monotony, she finally snaps...
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"Where the hell are you going?" Chaz's shouts after I barge out of Briar's apartment building. My legs stretch as far as possible to double my stride.
The second I'd rushed down the outside stairs he bolted from the passenger side of a double-parked SUV.
I need air, or to punch someone—again. Truth be told, I've never once been in a physical altercation, not as an adult. But if I'm being honest, my eyes initially shot to the bar across the street, and I wished the scumbag hadn't already been taken away. The ambulance wailed while I was on the phone, attempting to get this fire drill under control.
I seriously want to kill that guy.
My head is a warring clusterfuck of frustration, anger, and disappointment.
"Trey!" Chaz attempts to match my pace, which is alarmingly fast. I have no clue, or outright intention, of where I'm headed. My vision is clouded. I'm seeing too much red. Red is not a color I'm particularly fond of. "Stop, you asshole." His hand clamps onto my shoulder like a vise. He yanks me to face him, muttering his typical fucks while he catches his breath.
"Get off me, man." I glare at my friend. Why? I don't fucking know why?
After shrugging him off, I continue my trek, needing something to dilute the alcohol coursing through me. Anything to level out the adrenaline urging my limbs to move faster. Run further.
When the shit hit the fan, I'd reacted on my need to step up for Briar. There is no way in hell I'm going to let someone do that to my girl. Act like he did, then go after me? What an absolute bitchbag.
The first stuff was bad enough. And there was heightened ferocity behind my fist, knowing he'd slept with her. Not that I'd ever fault her for it. But this? This isn't some don't air my dirty laundry so I can keep my job andsave face. Though, that's trash too.
Extortion? That's illegal. My sister works for the state of Georgia. She'll have no problem ensuring things are okay, at least on my end. She's a fucking lawyer. Briar knows that!
You better believe if she doesn't go to her parents, and if she won't spill the details of that asshole's twisted schemes. If she can't start trusting that people have her back. That they'll accept her.
I'm done.
Fully.
Not just walking out the door.
Wait.
Fuck! I weave through the dense crowd about a block from her place.
It was the immediate aftermath that did me in at the bar. I'm aware I likely broke his nose—don't feel bad about it—but when he went down, when everything went down, all I could see was her. All I ever see is her.
However, all I could hear was the lie. Or lack of truth if I'm viewing it from her warped perspective. The way Briar had looked directly at me before we'd gone out, promising there was nothing else, when there was... it crushed me.
