Rage by Kaylee Song Read Free Book Online Page A

going to.”
    “Why? Why do you care?” She stared at me, those icy green eyes looking right through me as she spoke.
    Looking into her eyes, I knew why I cared.  Why I’d never stopped loving her.  She had been back less than twenty-four hours and she had already turned my world upside down.  I hadn’t seen her in years, and as soon as I looked at her, everything came flooding back. 
    She had been my first, the only girl I’d ever loved.  Maybe the only one I ever could love.
    But I couldn’t tell her that.  I wasn’t that much of a pussy.  I’d let myself fall for her before and she’d stomped on my heart.  Ripped it out and run it over on her way to Chicago.
    “Because I made a promise to your brother that I would protect you.  I keep my promises.” I ground out the last sentence.  I meant it to hurt.
    I kept my promises.  She didn’t.
    She’d walked away without a thought about what she’d promised me.
    “I see.  Well, fine.  I’ll take the job.  And I’ll be allowed out of the house?” she asked.
    “Of course.”
    “When?”
    “Do you want out right now?” I asked.
    “I think I do.  I spent most of the afternoon sleeping.”
    “Then come with me,” I said, standing.  Hell, I didn’t want to be trapped here, either.  It was like a tomb of all of Sean’s things.  His entire life fit in one 10x12 space.  I’d have given anything to have a little distance.
    “Where?”
    “Does it matter?” I asked.  I knew the answer before she said it.  But I let her, anyways.
    “No.”
    “Good.  Grab a helmet and let’s go.”

Layla
    I reached around Cullen’s body and held myself tight to him, inhaling his scent as it mingled with the night air.  It was a beautiful mixture, and it brought me all the way back to the two of us on his very first bike—a small, foreign model meant to help build his balance while he learned to ride.
    It was like we were back in high school, me riding on his bike, holding him close to me while we both tried not to feel guilty about the feelings we shared.
    Except those days were gone, and now we were just two people brought together by grief.
    I clung tighter to him as he rounded the corner and burst through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, weaving between the two double lanes of traffic, playing with danger.
    If it was anyone else, I would have yelled at them, but I knew Cullen too well.  To yell at him would mean that he would go faster, pass tighter, and put us even more at risk, so I kept my mouth shut and I hoped we would make it out safely.
    Finally he shot out of the other side of the tube into the night and gunned it, and we were going even faster than before.
    When we rounded that one last turn, it was worth it.
    The Steel City burst before us in all its brilliance, the blue and silver lights leaping out at my eyes as I took in the skyline.  It was at night that it stood out the best, the lights of the homes and skyscrapers bouncing off the three rivers’ reflection, making it dance.
    The confluence was so beautiful to behold, the yellow bridges crossing each of them.
    It put Chicago to shame.
    This was my home, I remembered suddenly, all the emotion of the view rising up into my chest.  These rivers.  This view.  These people.
    They belonged to me, and I to them.
    This was why my brother wanted me to come home.  This was why I fought so hard never to look back into my past.
    Because as soon as I realized where I was, who I was, I knew it would be impossible to leave again.
    Staring at the city now, I wondered how I’d ever walked out in the first place.  How I could have ever walked away from all this.
    From Cullen.
    I hugged him tighter and leaned into him.  I still wanted him.  All these years later and he was still the one who had the most sway over me.  The one I gave a shit about.
    I should’ve listened, should’ve come home as soon as college let out, but I was too fucking stupid.  Too stubborn.  Maybe if I had come home Sean