She's Bad News

Chapter 28

I know it's been forever since I uploaded. Go easy on me. Just a little fyi, this isn't the last chapter but it's mighty close.

Enjoy!

Chapter 28

Corinna’s POV

He stepped out of his truck and walked towards me, his expression dark, cloudy, so mixed up that it was impossible to figure out what he was thinking.

I blinked, trying to make sense of what I was seeing because this couldn’t be right.

Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe I’d drank so much that I was hallucinating.

Or maybe he was really there and if he was...

I don’t want him to see me like this.

That thought foremost in my mind, I gave Flynn a wide smile that went nowhere near my eyes. “What are you doing here?” I asked on the off chance that he was real.

“Cory,” he said hoarsely, his steps slowing as his eyes drifted over my face, the streetlight illuminating the fading bruises on my skin, no doubt. I gritted my teeth and tilted my chin further up, forcing myself to look him in the eye when all I wanted to do was crawl into a hole somewhere. “Cory, what―”

“I wasn’t expecting you,” I said easily, skirting to the side and dodging the hand he’d stretched out towards my face. “You probably should’ve called,” I tilted my head back and gave a light laugh, my feet getting caught up in each other as I walked sideways over the law, nearly tripping before I managed to catch my balance. “I was just heading out.”

I turned to walk away, feeling like something heavy was sitting on my chest. Was this a test? How many times was I going to have to walk away from him?

His hand wrapped around my elbow, his long fingers cradling my skin so gently that my eyes stung. Once he was gone, no one was going to touch me like that again. No one else would care if they bruised me. Hurt me.

“You’re drunk,” he said, not asking.

“Yup,” I answered anyway, wrenching my arm out of his grasp and spinning to face him fully. “What? Not what you expected?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow at him as I planted my hands on my hips. My lips twisted into a wry grin that was almost painful. “Were you hoping I’d be excited to see you? Did you think I was waiting for you?”

His forehead wrinkled and he shook his head, his hand that had been holding me falling slowly to his side and curling into a fist. “What happened to your face?” His voice was lower, raspy and somehow dangerous.

I shrugged and gave him a lopsided smirk. “The details are fuzzy.” I gave another fake laugh that felt hard and heavy as it ripped its way out of my throat. “I guess I should cut back on the drinking.”

Flynn’s lips tightened and thinned as he took another step towards me and planted his hands on my shoulders, dragging me closer to him, so close that we were nearly touching, so close that my heart was racing and my mind was spinning. I needed to stay in control here. I needed to get him away from me so I could go back to the life I had resigned myself to living.

So he could get back to the life he deserved.

Without me.

“What are you doing here, Cory?” he asked hoarsely.

“Well, we were having a party and now I’m going for a walk. I’m sorry I can’t stick around and chat but―”

“Stop it,” he snapped, his hold on me tightening briefly before loosening once more. “You’re not like this.”