Chapter 6

ChapterSix

SAWYER

“Let me go!” I try to pull away from the police officers, but they’re telling me to calm down and cooperate.

“I’m pressing charges,” Paul says while someone hands him a bag of ice to put on his face.

In my mind, I know that logically if I keep arguing it’s only going to keep me from getting to Chloe. It’s too bad that my heart doesn’t give a shit and I need to go after her. “Let me talk to her and then I’ll go with you.”

“Pull it together,” Luke says, and I look over to see him pleading with me. “You’ve got to calm down. I’ll make some calls. Everything is going to be okay.”

“She left.” My voice cracks on the last word, and my heart squeezes in pain.

“She needs to cool down. You both do.”

“What the hell is going on here?” Bruce walks in, and his eyes widen. I can only imagine the sight of his son bloody and me in handcuffs is a bit of a shock. This was supposed to be a celebration.

“I’m sending your golden boy to jail.” Paul somehow manages to sneer even with a broken nose.

Luke steps closer to Bruce, and I don’t hear what he says as the police begin to take statements. I’m forced to sit in cuffs while Paul tells them his account of what happened. Once Bruce is finished talking to Luke, he makes an announcement to the employees that the party is over and it’s time for everyone to leave.

After that, Bruce speaks with Paul privately, but they’re too far away for me to hear what they’re saying. Whatever he says to him infuriates Paul, and he ends up knocking over another table before storming out.

Bruce seems to ignore his son and goes to talk to the owner of the restaurant. That’s when I see Bruce slide him a sizable amount of cash, and then they shake hands.

The next thing I know, the police are uncuffing me and telling me that the charges have been dropped. Bruce thanks them, but I don’t get a chance to say anything before he takes me by the upper arm and practically shoves me out of the restaurant.

It’s been at least two hours since Chloe left, and I have no fucking clue where she’s gone.

“Do you have anything you want to say to me?” Bruce says once we’re alone on the sidewalk.

Everyone else, including Luke, has gone, so it’s only the two of us. “No. I’ve got to find Chloe.”

Pulling my cell out of my pocket, I see the battery is almost dead. Fuck. I meant to charge it earlier, but I forgot about the party and didn’t have time.

“What the hell were you thinking? That was half the board in there.” Bruce again tries to reason with me, but I don’t have time.

“Did you drive? I need a car.”

“Sawyer!” I look up to see Bruce’s face is red with fury and most likely embarrassment.

“Not now!” I snap back as aggressively as him. “The love of my life just ran out on me. I don’t give a fuck about the board or anything else except getting her back. Right now I need you to be my father-in-law instead of my boss and give me your fucking car keys.”

“Luke said you made a bet.” His voice is calmer now but there’s an edge to it.

“That’s why I need to talk to her.”

“So it’s true then?”

I grit my teeth so hard my jaw cracks. “The only person I’m discussing this with is my wife. If you won’t give me your keys you need to get the fuck out of my way because I don’t have time for this shit.”

Bruce reaches into his pocket and pulls out his keys. He hands them to me, but before letting go, he looks me straight in my eyes. “If you hurt her, I’ll make sure you regret it.”

“I’ve already hurt her.” The weight of it is heavy, and I can’t believe she found out like this. “Now I have to convince her that I’m worth forgiving.”

He nods and then lets go of his keys. I take off in a sprint to where he’s parked a few spaces down. It doesn’t hit me until I’m behind the wheel that he never once reprimanded me for punching Paul. Maybe Luke told him the whole story and he thought Paul deserved it. I’m not sorry I hit him, but I regret that I let him have that power.

My phone buzzes, and I see that I’ve only got one percent power remaining and Bruce doesn’t have anything to charge it with. The first thing I do is sent a text to Chloe to call me and then check her location.

“Fuck!” I roar when I see she’s turned it off right before my battery dies. Pulling away from the curb, I take off for our house, thinking that she’s got to be there. She wouldn’t just leave me. Right?

We’ve been through so much that I deserve a chance to plead my case. It was a stupid fucking bet, and I’ve regretted so many times that I didn’t tell her right away. The longer I waited, the harder it got to bring up, and then it felt like it didn’t matter.

I should have known that Paul was holding that in his back pocket. He feeds off information, and I knew he was a loose cannon waiting to explode. It’s my fault it got to this point, and I don’t know what I’m going to do if Chloe doesn’t forgive me.

The distance home isn’t far, but traffic is shit and I spend most of the drive honking the horn and yelling out the window. I’m aware that I’m probably asking for another incident with the police tonight, but if I can get to Chloe, everything will be okay. It has to be.

When I pull up outside our house, I park the car and race inside. But as soon as I step over the threshold I know she’s not here. Walking into the kitchen, I turn on the light and see she made us dessert. She probably did that before she left for the party and planned on us enjoying it when we got home. Home.

The reason I love coming home is because of how it feels with her in it. The reason I can’t stand being away from her is because I can feel her warmth when she’s near. Right now, these walls are cold without her light, and I know she’s gone.

My knees buckle, and I sink to the floor. What the fuck am I going to do?