Wanting More (Mitchell Family #5)(13)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I ran into the bathroom to clean up my face and when I came out, I found my purse dumped out over the table. He was going through every single receipt and my wallet. He took my phone and started looking through it. Since I did nothing wrong, I knew he wouldn’t find anything. I slowly approached the table and grabbed my car keys, but nothing else, before darting out the door and not looking back.

I drove around crying for a while, knowing damn well I wasn’t going to go back for my purse. While driving through town one thing caught my eye and without even reconsidering, I pulled my car into the parking lot at the bar next to Conner’s truck and sat there waiting.

I knew he had pool league and it had just started. People in town knew me and I couldn’t take the chance of walking inside to get his attention. The longer I sat there, the more I knew that being there was a bad idea. I turned the key and started to back up my car when I heard someone knocking on the window. Conner stood there with a hand in his pocket waiting for me to roll down the window.

I closed my eyes and took a few breaths, feeling ridiculous for thinking this could have been a good idea. He didn’t want to deal with my bullshit. As the window rolled down I threw him a fake smile. “I was just leaving.”

He leaned in the car, and looked me in the eye. “I just got here a few minutes ago and came back out for my pool stick. I know you just got here. Now why don’t you tell me what’s goin’ on?”

He grabbed my chin with his hand and pulled my face to look at him. As I moved it, he stroked my temple and pulled his hand away, revealing blood on his fingers. I don’t know which one of us was more shocked. He opened my car door before I could argue and pulled my legs out of the car, so he could get a better look at my head. “Tell me what happened, Blaze.”

I immediately lost it. “I don’t even know. I came home and he started going off on me.”

Conner grabbed me by the hands and pulled me out of my car. “You need to leave him. What he’s doin’ is illegal. He should be in jail.”

I covered my face in my hands. “You don’t understand Conner. I can’t leave. I don’t have a way to leave or a place to go. I’m trying to save my money, but times are rough and it’s taking me longer than I thought. I just have to stick it out for a little while longer.”

He grabbed me by the forearm and pulled me into his chest. I felt him looking at the cut on my head. “The cut isn’t that bad. Amy, you can’t afford to wait this out. He’s going to end up seriously hurting you.”

Some man must have come out of the bar looking for Conner. I heard him speaking but I never looked his way. “Hey man, you’re up.”

Conner’s voice vibrated against my head. “Be there in a minute.”

He didn’t let go of me at first. When I started to pull away, he wiped away my tears. “We are short some players and I have to go shoot my match. Pull your car around the side and get your things. Here’s my truck keys. Wait for me in it.”

I started to argue with him. “Conner, I can’t go…”

“Do what I said, Blaze. Please.”

He kissed me on the head and walked into the bar.

After moving my car, I climbed inside of Conner’s truck. People were standing outside of the bar smoking cigarettes, and I knew they could see me crying, but none of them approached me. After around thirty minutes, Conner climbed into the driver’s seat and I handed him his keys. “This is a bad idea.”

“Goin’ home is a bad idea. This ain’t about me and you, it’s about keepin’ you safe.”

I rolled my eyes. “Conner, being with you is a different kind of danger.”

He said nothing as he pulled out of the parking lot and I was honestly too afraid to look over to see his reaction. I couldn’t understand how Conner was always around when things went bad with Rick.

We pulled up at the motel and all of the memories of our last visit came back to my mind. “You should just leave me here. I can get a ride into town in the morning.”

Conner shook his head and ignored me as he walked into the motel’s office. When he came out he pointed to the room and I climbed out of the truck. He grabbed my hand and placed the key in it. “I will pick you up in the mornin’ when the sun comes up. Don’t open the door for anyone but me. If you need anything you call me.”

I was shocked that he was taking my advice and leaving me to stay alone. Part of me felt empowered, but the rest of me felt abandoned by the one person that I could be completely honest with. The problem was, asking Conner to stay was asking for much more than a shoulder to cry on.

He waited for me to get inside before he turned and walked away. I leaned against the other side of the door while listening to his truck door shut. Since I had nothing to change into, I simply stepped out of my jeans and walked into the bathroom to check on my head.

I turned the sink on and washed off my face. The skin under my eyes was so swollen from crying. After washing off the dried blood, the little cut seemed to be nothing but a flesh wound. My head was pounding, but it was also from crying so much.

I took off my jacket and slowly undressed to get a hot shower. I just wanted the water to beat down on me and wash away the emotional pain I was feeling. I wanted to disappear, if even for a moment, to pretend that my life was anything but what it was.

When the water started to get cold, I turned it off and picked my clothes up off the floor. Since I was alone and locked in my room, I figured I could just sleep under the covers while wrapped up in a towel. I’d no sooner climbed into bed, when I heard a vehicle pulling up.

Out of fear, I hopped up to the window and looked out. Conner climbed out of his truck with bags in his hand and approached the door. I never hesitated when I opened the door and let him walk in, but once I realized that all I had around my body was a towel, I freaked.

Chapter 7

Conner

I’d thought about leaving her there and letting her be alone like she’d asked, but it just didn’t set right with me. Amy didn’t need to be alone, she needed a friend. Hell, I was pretty darn sure that I was the only one that knew what was going on with the girl. I couldn’t understand how her own family had turned their backs on her. My family would have never done that to me, even if they threatened to.

I got about a mile down the road before I realized that Amy probably hadn’t eaten anything, so I stopped at a drive-thru and got us both something for dinner. Since it was only around eight in the evening, everything was open. Of course, I had no idea what the woman liked. Hell, she could have been a vegetarian for all I knew.