The Golden Couple

Chap. 49

I needed time to cool down, a few minutes to myself. I wasn't the type of person that could get angry and then be consoled back to level-headedness. I needed some time alone.

I left the ocean, heading past the sand dunes and storming into the wooded area off the back of the beach.

I could feel the leaves and branches underneath my bare feet, but I continued to angrily storm back into the brush, my chest rising and falling in an irregular pattern.

I finally stopped after a few minutes, standing in the middle of the woods.

I didn't even realize my cheeks were wet until I reached up to curl a brush my hair out of my face.

I hated crying when I was mad. That just defeated the purpose of being angry, and I felt like my emotions were a roller coaster of a mess.

I took in a few deep breaths, calming myself back down as I stood in the silence of this clearing.

Bryce Harrison infuriated me sometimes.

Yes, Asher was annoying. And I practically hated him. But all he did was innocent flirting, he'd never acted upon anything he'd said. And he'd always respected my wishes, in his own way. But he'd never pushed my boundaries.

There had never been any other guy except Bryce Harrison while I was with him. And I didn't understand why he couldn't see that. Why he had to get so jealous. Those other guys meant nothing to me, the mindless flirting and the boneheaded comments? They were trivial in the grand scheme of things.

I didn't pay much mind to the girls that practically threw themselves at Bryce on a daily basis. I wasn't blind to the fact that he was a fine piece of specimen. And neither was the rest of the female population. But I knew Bryce on a much deeper level than that. And I cherished that. These other girls knew him for what they saw on the skin-level, but I knew they'd never know him like I did. And that's why I was never jealous of them.

But apparently Bryce doesn't feel the same about me.

I ran my fingers through my hair, letting out a frustrated growl.

And then I heard a noise, not too far from me.

My entire body froze, and I could feel my throat closing up as I sensed my impending death.

What lived in the woods of South Carolina?

I could sense the rabid puma about to descend on me, ending life as I knew it.

"I'm sorry!" I heard a girl cry.

I felt my body slowly start to uncoil.

Just another girl. I could take her.

"Why do you pull this shit?" a boy voice demanded.

He sounded awfully familiar, but I couldn't place it.

Two people out in the woods. I could probably take one of them, but two on one wasn't too fair.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry," the girl cried. "P-please."

I felt my stomach start to clench again.

Something was definitely wrong.

And then I heard it, the unmistakable sound of a slap.

Only this wasn't just a slap, it reverberated around the woods, and I felt the urge to puke.

The girl cried out, and I could hear her body hit the floor.

They couldn't be far from me, ten feet if not less.

The girl was crying, and the boy was ranting and raving, and she began to cry harder.