Still the One (Book 2 in the Four of Us Trilogy)

12 | Domino

I think I've already lost you

I think you're already gone

I think I'm finally scared now

---

If you're gone, maybe it's time to come home

There's an awful lot of breathing room

But I can hardly move

-Matchbox Twenty, "If You're Gone"

Brooke

"Brooke, get me a beer!" Jordan called from the couch.

We had each done a full hit of heroin in the last hour, and I was still riding out my high. But I resented Jordan for ordering me around, no matter how high I was. He could get off the couch and get his own damn beer.

"I'm busy," I retorted. I wasn't actually busy; I was just standing in front of the counter staring at the floor. I just really didn't feel like being his bitch.

"Seriously?" he said, and he was on his feet and in front of me before I realized what was happening. "You're busy?"

I looked up at him from under heavily lidded eyes. "Yeah. I'm busy. Get your own fucking beer." The heroin had made me brave.

His hand hit my cheek before I realized what the hell was happening. "What the fuck, Jordan?" I asked, my high slipping through my fingers.

He grabbed me by the neck and pushed me against the wall, holding me there. "I give you everything, you bitch. I supply your addiction for free, and I fuck you whenever you want. When I ask you to do something for me, you fucking do it. Understand?" he hissed, his face inches from mine.

I coughed, breathing getting more and more difficult the longer he held me. "Let me go, Jordan," I pleaded, my eyes boring into his.

"Tell me you understand," he breathed into my ear.

I set my jaw. "I understand," I seethed.

He let me go, and I kicked him in the balls. "I understand that you're a fucking abusive asshole who doesn't deserve any more of my time."

He roared in pain and fell backwards onto the black and white tile floor. "You bitch!"

"Yeah, I am," I said, grabbing my purse and stalking toward the door.

"You walk out that door, you'll never get another gram from me," he yelled.

"Fuck you, Jordan," I answered, slamming the door, climbing into my car, tears streaming down my cheeks.

Not because I gave a shit about Jordan.

But because I didn't know where my next fix was going to come from.

I knew I shouldn't be driving in the state I was in, but I had to get away from him, from that apartment.

What happened next, I never saw coming.

Rachel

I'd been lazy all Saturday, doing nothing except laying around the house and working on a paper for my Abnormal Psych class. I had thought about texting Brooke so many times, but I stopped myself. I knew I had to stick to my word. She had to see that we were serious.