“Shit,” I squeal, I jump into action and start dashing around the store.
How can this be happening?
The fire is quickly spreading as it catches onto all the clothes I have lined by the side wall. I run towards the clothes on the racks and do my best to pull them away from the fire to hopefully minimize the damage, but who am I kidding? The place is going up in flames quicker than I could ever have imagined.
The noise from the flames is ridiculous and within moments, the fire has spread the whole way up the wall and is through half the store already. The smoke thickens around me and it doesn’t take long for it to start burning my lungs.
Panic races through me and I have no choice but to get out of here and save myself. There’s nothing more I can do for my store. If I run back to get my bag, I’ll most likely be trapped in here, I have to leave now.
I run to the door and grab the handle before remembering that I’d locked it and I’d need my keys to get it undone. I turn around to race for my bag but it’s too late, if I run, I’ll never make it out.
I frantically shake on the door handle, desperate to get it open when I look up and see people outside who have crowded around the fast food place to get a look. I bang my fists on the glass door to get their attention and scream out.
With the noise from the fire, it’s a miracle that a teenage boy and a big burly man, who I’m assuming is his father, manage to hear me. Their faces drop as they notice me in here and it’s clear that the people around had assumed that my store was empty.
They race towards me and call for help from the people around. “Help me,” I scream out.
They get to the door and they frantically search around for a way to get it open. I hear the sound of the fire trucks in the distance, but I need to be out of here now. The smoke is starting to fill up the store and I can feel it heavy in my lungs.
The people outside bang on the door and I feel myself becoming weaker when the teenage boy dives into the tray of the truck parked by the road. He pulls out one of those big tire iron things and pushes the people out of the way. “Get down,” he yells to me before rearing back and slamming the metal into the glass door.
Come on. Come on. I can’t die like this. I need to see him just one last time. Please, God. Don’t let this be the end.
The glass breaks but not enough to make a hole for me to get out, so he tries again and again. His father takes over and with incredible strength, manages to break the thick glass. It shatters and he quickly reaches in. “Come on,” he yells as he hauls me out of my store.
The two of them practically drag me out into the middle of the road while someone thrusts a bottle of water at me and another dabs at my arm. I look down and realize that I’ve somehow cut myself, yet I have absolutely no idea how it happened. All I can focus on is the way the flames completely engulf my store.
I can’t tear my eyes away from it. All the hard work I’ve put in over the last four years is gone. In the blink of an eye, it’s all taken away from me. Just like that.
The tears silently roll down my cheeks as the fire trucks finally arrive.
The teenage boy and his father remain next to me while a paramedic looks over my arm. He asks me a few things but all I can focus on is the devastation before me.
How the hell did this happen? One minute, I’m working on building a career in the fashion industry. The next…. nothing.
I sit in this very spot, watching as the firemen put out the flames. People come and check on me to make sure I’m alright while others ask if there’s anyone they can call. I don’t respond, just keep looking at everything I’ve lost.
The paramedics get to me and kneel down in front of me before checking me over and bandaging my cut. They suggest I go down to the hospital for observation and when I say no, they suggest it again. I know it’s irrational of me but here is where I need to be.
The paramedics leave as after refusing treatment, there’s not a lot they can do for me. The father and son eventually leave. The police come and go. The onlookers walk away. Until it’s just me, sitting here in the middle of the road, staring at the future that’s just been taken away.
Everything I love has been taken away from me.
I’ve lost Jace.
I’ve lost Rylee.
I’ve lost my store.
What in this world is left for me?
Chapter 7
Jace
The sound of my phone screeching to life in the middle of the night has me jolting out of bed. I reach across to my bedside table and rip the phone off the charger as I look down at the screen.
Mack? What the hell?
I used to serve in the military with Big Mack years ago. He now works as a fireman in Denver, but I have no fucking idea what he could possibly be calling me about. I haven’t spoken to the guy in ages. “Big Mack,” I say. “Are you on another bender? Do you have any idea what fucking time it is?”
“Hey, man,” he says with a strange tone in his voice. “I wish I was on a fucking bender, but this is a business call.”
“Business call?” I grunt. What the fuck is he on about? His business has nothing to do with me unless it has something to do with our time in Iraq, but I highly doubt it.
“Yeah, man. I’m on call tonight,” he explains. “We just responded to a fire in the old fast food joint, the shop next door went down with it. I could have sworn you said that was your girl’s.”
“What? Style me Crazy?” I question, sitting up a little straighter. “Are you sure? Is there much damage?”
“Yeah,” he says. “Listen. There was a girl inside the store. She’s not talking to anybody, just sitting there refusing to be touched. If this is your girl, then you better get down here.”
“Fuck,” I curse as I fly out of bed. “Is she alright?”
“From what I can see, yeah,” he tells me.
“Alright, man, I’ll be there in ten.”
I hang up the call and I fly out the door as my panic instantly takes over. The image of Cami being inside a burning store rushes through my head and refuses to leave. The image has my foot flat on the gas as I fly towards Style me Crazy.
Fuck. I hope it wasn’t her.
Anybody but her.
I couldn’t live with myself if she was hurt.
I get there in four minutes flat and come to a screeching halt as I almost run over her sitting in the middle of the fucking road. I launch myself out of my truck and run to her.
She doesn’t even notice me coming.
I scoop her up into my arms which is when she tears her eyes away from the burnt mess and looks at me. “Jace?” she questions with tears pooled in her eyes.
“Yeah, baby. I’m here. You’re ok.”
She instantly nuzzles her face into my chest as a sob rips from her throat. I hold her as close as humanly possible before walking back over to my truck and sitting down with her.
She cries on my shirt and I run my hand over her hair and down her back before repeating the process over and over again. As she cries, I take a moment to look around. The fast food place and Style me Crazy are nothing but ashes.
The area is sectioned off by police tape and standing across the road is Big Mack, watching over Cami, waiting for someone to come and claim her.
As he notices my eyes on him, he nods before disappearing into the darkness, leaving us completely alone in this traumatized street. I’ll have to remind myself to thank him for looking out for her. He didn’t have to do that, but he did. I owe the fucker with my life.
Completely alone, I pay all my attention to my girl. “Cami?” I question as she continues crying into my chest. “Are you hurt?”
She shakes her head.
“Ok,” I murmur as I lift my hand to run it down her hair again.
“We’re you inside?”
With that, she nods and it tears me to shreds. I can only image what she must have been feeling in that moment. She would have been terrified.
“The doors wer
e locked,” she mumbles into my chest before sniffling. “I couldn’t get out.”
Fuck. I could have lost her. Here I am being a petty asshole making her suffer with the thought of me having a child and moving on, instead of working it out and letting her know that it’s alright. Yes, she hurt me by leaving, but she’s still the woman I love. No matter what.
“You’re safe now,” I remind her as my arms instinctively tighten around her, needing to feel her as close as possible.
The need to quiz her on exactly what happened flies through me, but I don’t dare ask. I don’t want her to have to relive a single moment of it. I’m sure it was awful and I can’t imagine how hard it would have been. The smoke would have been thick and it would have been hard to see. Hell, from the state of her shop now, it’s a miracle she made it out alive.
Her sobs begin to slow but the tears still remain strong. She pulls her head up and does her best to wipe the tears away. “I need to see it,” she tells me.
My head is shaking before the words even register in my head. “No. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you go in there.”
“I have to,” she begs.
“Babe. No,” I beg with my heart on my sleeve, hating being the reason she doesn’t get what she needs. “It’s dangerous in there. Come back tomorrow and look through with the daylight.”
Her eyes search mine, desperate for me to change my mind, but I don’t budge which only makes the tears pool in her eyes again. Seeing her like this, knowing that her heart is breaking for a reason other than me, is absolutely killing me. I want nothing more than to take her pain away. Hell, I’d go back and fight that damn fire myself if it meant saving her store.
Even after seven months, I’d still move heaven and hell to give her the world.
She has worked her ass off for everything she had inside those four walls and to see it all gone pisses me off. “Come on,” I tell her, lifting her off my lap and over to the passenger’s side. “I’ll take you home.”
She slowly nods her head and I reach out to close the door before taking off down the street. Her eyes remain locked on her store for as long as physically possible before turning to face out the front of my truck.
I can’t help but reach across the center console and take her hand in mine. In any other moment, she’d look down and wonder what the hell it means. She’d be asking all sorts of questions and thinking I’d finally come around. But not this time. She doesn’t even look down at our hands, just simply stares out the windscreen.
A teardrop slides down her cheek, falls off her jaw, and splashes against my hand on her lap. I look down at the tear and want nothing more than to take her pain away.
I pull up at her building and have to drag her out of my truck. I wrap her in my arms and get us up to her apartment. I hate doing it, but with her keys burnt to a crisp, I have to break down her door again.
I get her inside and the first thing I notice is what a great job she’s done putting this place back together. Usually, I’d say something but now is not the time. I walk with her down the hallway and past the bathroom. We’re just about at her bedroom when she starts to backtrack. “I think I might shower first. I smell like smoke.”
“Alright,” I say as I follow her into the bathroom.
She goes to stand before the mirror and takes in her ash covered body. She looks devastated as she takes herself in and I’m sure all it’s doing is making her remember the state of her store. “Come on,” I say, leaning into the shower and turning the tap for her. “Get yourself cleaned up and I’ll put you to bed.
Our eyes meet in the mirror and she instantly looks away. It stings to know she can’t look at me, but I’m not about to bring it up. She lets out a sigh and starts pulling at her clothes. I take that as my cue to leave and walk out the door. I close it behind me and make myself comfortable on her new couch while listening to the sound of the water running through the wall.
It’s oddly silent and all the moment does for me is have my mind running through all the possible scenarios that could have taken place tonight. I mean, what if she hadn’t gotten out?
Knowing her well enough to know that she’s crying in that shower has me desperate to go to her, but I don’t want to push my luck. It’s a miracle she hasn’t thrown me out yet
I listen as she turns off the taps and rummages around in the bathroom, before watching from my perch on the couch as the door opens and she trudges up the hallway, wrapped in her towel.
I give her a few minutes to get dressed before making my way up there. I push into the dimly lit room to find her pulling her tank down into place. The tears are still on her face and this time, I need to go to her.
I pull her into my arms and she folds into me as though she belongs there. “You know I love you, right?” I murmur into her hair. “I don’t know what I would have done if you had gotten hurt.”
She stiffens in my arms but I don’t let her go. “You can’t say those things to me,” she tells me, though I don’t miss the pure relief in her voice.
“I don’t care, babe. I just did.” She doesn’t respond but I feel her shaking her head against my chest. “Cam?” I question. She pulls back and looks up into my eyes as she patiently waits for what I need to tell her. “The baby,” I start. “She’s not mine. She’s my niece.”
“What?” she whispers as her watery eyes search mine. “She’s not yours? There’s no baby Mumma?”
“No, Cam. There’s no baby Mumma. She’s Jessie’s little girl, Isabella,” I explain as a wave of relief comes over me. There’s nothing I hate more than deceiving her. She deserves better than that. “I’m sorry. I knew what you were thinking and I just let you. I should have told you when I realized you thought she was mine, but I was just so damn angry with you. I still am, Cami.”
Her hands fist into fabric of my shirt before she pulls me back in and she nuzzles her face back into my chest. “You don’t know how happy that makes me.”
I let out a sigh as my hands run up and down the length of her back. “Do you want me to stay with you?” I question.
Again, she shakes her head. “No,” she tells me. “You’ll ruin my bed.”
“Huh?” I grunt as my hand wraps around and squeezes her waist. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“This is a new bed. You ruined my last one with bad memories. This bed is all mine. I won’t let you touch it, not if I ever plan on sleeping in it again.”
Shit. Even with one of the worst days of her life, she still has enough fire to call me out. A smile begins to spread across my face knowing that she’s going to be alright, though if her head wasn’t shoved into my chest, she’d probably be cursing me out by now.
“Alright,” I tell her. “I won’t ruin your bed, but I’m not leaving, especially with your door busted in.”
She lets out a little huff. “Fine,” she says with a bit of her usual stubbornness. “But if you even think about coming in here after the lights go out, I’m going to rip off your balls and feed them to Luke’s snake.”
In other words, if I even think about getting my dick wet, I’ll be a dead man, but she should know I’m not about to take advantage of her like that. “Got it loud and clear, babe,” I murmur. “I’ll stay on the couch.”
“Great,” she groans. “You’re going to ruin that for me too.”
I roll my eyes and lead her over to her bed before peeling back the sheets. “Get in,” I tell her.
She does as she’s told and looks up at me with her head squished into her pillow. “You’ll be alright?” I question as I kneel down to her. She looks away and presses her lips into a tight line. She nods ever so gently and it’s screaming at me that she’s lying, but she wants to be alright.
I lean in and press a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be out there if you need me,” I tell her before reaching over and flicking off her lamp.
As I walk out of her room, I can’t help but hear her quiet voice. “I always need you.”
Her wor
ds cut me like I’ve never known. I don’t even know if she had intended for me to hear them, but either way, they tear right down to my soul and make me feel like an absolute bastard.
I’d give anything to be able to be the man she needs me to be, but I’m not. I’ll never be. I’m damaged and unpredictable. I couldn’t put her through a life like that.
So instead, I walk out to her living room, grab the throw blanket off the other couch and get comfortable.
I find it impossible to get myself to sleep, especially with the way her quiet sobs flow up the hallway. Each one of them tears me down and has me feeling like I could crumble.
I ignore all her rules and throw caution to the wind. I get up off the couch and before I know it, I'm scooping her up into my arms. She curls into me and the way she fits is as though we were created for one another. She dries her tears on my shirt but there instantly replaced with new ones.
I walk us out into her living room and lay down on the couch, not wanting to ruin her bed for her. I pull the blanket over us as she gets herself comfortable on my chest. My fingers run up and down her back as she listens to the steady rhythm of my heartbeat.
Her tears eventually dry up and her breathing returns to normal as she finally falls into a deep sleep. With my girl safely in my arms, I follow right behind, knowing that come morning, I’m going to have to walk away and hurt her all over again.
Chapter 8
Cami
My body becomes stiff and I open my eyes to realize I’m still on the couch, wrapped in Jace’s strong arms.
I bring my hand up to rub at my sore eyes before resting my hand back down against his chest. I can’t help but breathe him in, knowing that the second he wakes, he’s going to bolt out of here like his ass is on fire.
He was incredible last night. He held me through one of the hardest moments of my life and put his issues aside to be there. I know that deep down, he was probably thinking about getting out of here and coming up with his excuses as to why he should leave. But what counts is that he didn’t.
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