rned worse tha

h? Maybe the fifth. Numbers blurred together when the onl

the rim of the glass before slipping back down. Weak. Just like my resol

ier this evening. Not Jared's, of course, it couldn't be, not here, not in this city but close enough t

p-suited even when no one else bothered, with a smile that made you feel like you were the only person in the room. That first night, he bought a round for everyon

I thought I

and my dreams. No one had asked me those things in a long time, not like they ma

s appeared almo

for someone else?" he asked once, s

too loudly. "It's cute, baby, just.

ess, I told myself.

ho came into the bar. The time he grabbed my phone right out of my hand and scrolled thr

t belie

my ribs before I even had time to realize he was angry. The pain was immediate, sharp, and suffocating. I curled on t

maybe, or hope. I waited until he passed out drunk, took two hundred from

ago. But the gh

gie shooting me the same worried look

morning," she muttered without lo

glass, letting the burn slice m

ong enough to recognize a wall when she saw one. Instead, she just sighed. "At leas

ack from the stool,

ou think yo

urc

ows shot

ling for my jacket. "God'

ng kind of judgment," she called aft

my hair to my cheeks and for the first time, I welcomed it. The cold, the stin

cutting into the clouds like a knif

's

rned back. Gone home. Swallowed anot

ense and old wood, heavy and familiar, and the candles were too bright causing me to wince and shield my eyes from the ache in my head.

ssional. Light spilled faint

m I doing here in the first place? I turn

ended I hadn't seen it.

forward and yanked

ttice screen. He didn't turn. Didn't even breathe. My knees buckle

slurred, "

e stre

and restraint. "Elena

The wood smelled faintly of cedar, and absurdly, of him. "Aren't you gonna say t

ere they gripped the edg

cracked. "House

him shifted.

follow you from city to city. The kind that..." My throat closed around the rest.

, Padre?"I didn't even bother to let him a

man. Before

to interrupt, to cut me off, to hand me ab

ept ta

bar in Portland. He was charming. Funny. Bought

breath

Then it was my phone, my schedule, my life. By the time I realize

emed to shri

as barely human.

ng snapped. I waited until he passed out, stole two hundred, and ran." A bitter laugh sc

l dropped his head into his hands. His

ice was raw. "Why are

tongue, sharp and dang

ug. "Seemed like a conf

was leaving. That he was done. D

e curtain r

red my own side of the confessional and got so close to me that it was like his thre

ck, like distance was

as a blade. "Sober up. We'll

and adrenaline making the room til

es

shoulder brushing his chest. "Yo

ped out, catc

fro

enough to stop me. Just enough to mak

him like he was struggling wi

d my ar

ed me again was Daniel collapsing back into t

idn't know if he was pr