Flirt: Bad Boy Romance

by Ashley Hall

  “It was only by the grace of God that Caroline knew a nurse at the hospital who told her I was there.” Mom nodded toward her sister.

  “Yeah. Her name’s Jillian. Great gal. Love her to pieces,” Aunt Caro said from up front, her eyes on the road. She was driving really fast, so I was glad she didn’t glance back at us. “As soon as I got there, I began planning a way out for you all. Now you’ll never have to see any of the Morrisons ever again, and there’s nothing they can do about it. You’re eighteen, and Penelope is Roslyn’s by blood. And if your bastard of a father were to call the police, he’ll be exposed for his polygamy and his abuse.”

  Overjoyed, I was almost ready to cry again, but there was more that I had to know. Wes wasn’t with us. Maybe they knew where he was.

  “Mom…Aunt Caro…do either of you…have either of you seen Wes?” I held my breath, waiting for their response. “And, Mom, are you all right?” Once the questions started, I just couldn’t stop asking them. “Should you have left the hospital? Dad said you were supposed to be there for—”

  Mom laughed and held up her hand. “I’m fine. Sore, but I’ll manage. I wasn’t about to stay in there any longer. All right, yes, I did leave against doctor’s advice, but the doctor was a friend of your father’s, and I didn’t know if he was keeping me longer than was necessary to begin with. And I also figured he might call your father if he had the chance, so we had to move like lightning to get you both before your father could be alerted.”

  “As for Wes…” Aunt Caro glanced at me before looking back at the highway. “He’s the one who took me to Mickey’s. He needed to do something afterward, not sure what, but we exchanged numbers.”

  A rush of relief flooded me. Wes knew, and he had helped. Maybe he could forgive me for the hateful words I’d said. Maybe we could figure things out. Maybe everything would work out for us after all.

  A part of me was glad that I hadn’t run away with him when he had asked me to because then who knew what would’ve happened to Mom and Penelope. Now we were all out and safe and happy.

  “Can I have his number?” I asked, in case it was a different one from his normal number.

  My mom reached forward and grabbed Aunt Caro’s cell out of her purse. It was a different number. I dialed it and then I dialed his old cell number.

  Both did the same thing—they both rang once and then immediately cut to, “The number you have called has been disconnected.”

  I hung up, and my tears returned. Wes was gone. I regretted everything I said. He was gone, and I was never going to see him again.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Some time had passed, and we had all moved on with our lives. We were currently in California, living in a little cottage on a lake owned by Rickson, a guy who was head over heels for Aunt Caro. The two of them were so cute together. I never saw Aunt Caro so in love before. It made her even happier and more mischievous than ever.

  I was out on the front porch swing, curled up and reading Sense and Sensibility, or at least I was trying to read. From inside, I could hear my mom playing with Penelope. My baby sister has been growing up so fast.

  It had been a few months since we escaped. Aunt Caro didn’t care at all that she had left her life behind too. She said she had always planned on coming with us, “to make sure we still had fun in our new lives.” And she did that and more.

  So much had happened. At first, we had all been afraid, waiting at any moment for a knock on the door, for the police to show up or for my dad—Walter, as I started to think of him as—to appear. But nobody ever did, and we stopped looking out for them and started living again.

  I finished up my high school degree online and then began applying for scholarships and colleges, and I made it into Oregon State. Later on today, we were going to go shopping for dorm stuff.

  But I couldn’t make myself be excited. Every moment of the day, I thought about Wes. I would wonder what he was doing, if he was safe, if he had food and a place to stay. If he was even alive. It plagued me like nothing else, and I prayed every day that he was okay.

  Aunt Caro opened the front door and smiled at me. Then she glanced down the long dirt road. She had been on the phone all morning talking about directions, so I asked, “Did you get your business taken care of?”

  Aunt Caro walked over to kiss my forehead. “I sure hope so, kiddo,” she said before heading back in.

  Okay…that was weird, but I just shrugged and chalked it up to Aunt Caro being strange at times.

  Not a moment later, I heard an engine coming down the road. It must be Rickson coming back early from his appointment, but as it got closer, I realized it sounded different. I looked up to see a huge dust cloud and a motorcycle instead of a car.

  Like something out of my dreams, Wes pulled up in a newer, shiny bike and parked. His hair was a little longer, and he was wearing the iconic leather jacket all patched back together. My book tumbled out of my lap as I rushed to him. Wes grabbed me and pulled me up into his arms, and he leaned back only for a second so he could run his hands through my hair as if he’d missed doing that for so long. Looking at me dead in the eye, he cupped my face and said, “April, I should have told you this a thousand times already, so I’m gonna get started now. I love you. I am abso-fucking-lutely in love with you.”

  Tears pouring down my cheeks, I found my voice and whispered, “I’ve loved you for so long I’m not even sure when it began.”

  THE END

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