Free After the Ex Games by J. S. Cooper, Helen Cooper

the young girls, can he?” Her jaw dropped. “Katie is never going to forgive him for this.”
    “That’s what he’s afraid of,” I sighed, and I heard my voice crack. “That’s what we’re both afraid of.” I looked at Meg’s white face and didn’t know what else to say.
    She still didn’t know my role in this whole charade. She didn’t know that it was all my fault. I didn’t know how to tell her. I was worried that once she knew, that would be it. She’d never be able to forgive me and I’d be all alone again.
    “I’m not staying there tonight.” Meg’s voice cracked. “I need time to think.”
    “We can stay here,” I offered softly, hoping she was still willing to stay with me.
    “Yes, we’ll stay here tonight.” She looked at me then, and I could see the pain in her eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore tonight. I don’t know if I can take any more, Greyson. I just don’t know.”
    I walked over, pulled her into my arms, and held her tight. I closed my eyes and breathed in the flowery smell of her hair. I wanted to stop time right at this moment. I wanted to die with her in my arms. I didn’t want to let go. I was so scared of what was going to happen when I let go.

Chapter 11
    Unknown

    He stared at me in the small room, and I looked at the ground. All I could think about was the gun in his hands. “Are you going to kill me?” I whispered and peeked up at him.
    “I don’t know.” His voice was rough. “I don’t want to.”
    I looked back down at the floor, not knowing what else to say. Then my phone started ringing. “I should answer this. She’ll be anxious if I don’t answer.”
    “Answer. Don’t say anything about my being here or I’ll kill you.”
    “Hello,” I answered softly, hoping she would hear the anxiety in my voice, but as soon as I heard her voice, I knew that she didn’t care about anyone but herself.
    Her voice sounded manic. I wanted to hang up the phone, tell her that I was done, but I didn’t know how. I owed her so much. We had this bond now. A bond that tied us together for life. A bond I wasn’t sure I wanted.
    “They have discarded us like we are nothing. We can’t let them do this to us anymore. Now is the time for us to strike. Now is the time for us to blow everything up.”
    “I don’t know.” I shook my head. “Maybe it’s best for us to just let it be. Let them live their lives. We can live ours.”
    “I have no life left to live.”
    “You have me. You have—” I started, but she cut me off. I saw him looking at me with an intense look in his eyes. I knew that he was angry at our conversation.
    “They took everything from me. I could have had a real life. I could have had a real family. They can’t get away with this. Katie is having a baby.”
    “How do you know?” My voice caught as her words hit me hard. I looked over to the corner, hoping he couldn’t hear the call.
    “What do you care? I was told.” She dismissed me. “I know and that’s all you need to know. Now they all get to live happily ever after. Brandon and Katie. Greyson and Meg. Little baby Harry. Next thing you know, Meg will be pregnant too. Greyson will have a child. They’ll both have kids. They’ll both have families and they won’t give us a second thought. We should have been part of that family.”
    “I don’t know what you want me to do.”
    “All I need you to do is take the bomb to them. Expose it. Let Katie and Meg see who they really are.”
    “Then what?” Tears were running down my face as I realized that there wasn’t going to be any happy endings in this story that I called my life. Patsy had no interest in me other than to help her get revenge. I looked at the gun and part of me wished he would just shoot me.
    “Then you wait for me. I’ll take care of the rest. I’m going to blow this shit up. I’m going to make sure they never forget us. Not ever. I’m going to make sure that they experience the kind of pain