At the Right Time

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Maxwell ~ Present 

I slept on the couch. Actually, I tossed and turned on the couch. Not much sleep was involved.

I wanted to crawl into the bed with Rylie, but I don't quite know where we stand. She drunkenly said she was single... I wonder if it's true.

Forcing my body off the couch, I look out at the sun that's just risen above the skyline. Flipping on my Keurig, I put my coffee in. Today I'm going to tell her.

When my coffee is made, I sit down at the table and hope the caffeine will give me the energy to do what I should've done years ago.

"Hey." Rylie ventures out of the bedroom, still dressed in last night's clothes. Her makeup has been washed off, and her freckled nose and cheeks are showing. "So, um, I'm sorry for last night. I don't know drunk Rylie."

"It's okay." I smile at her. A stupid, boyish smile because she's really damn cute. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please." She groans, already heading over to the machine to help herself. "How embarrassing was I? On a scale of one to ten."

"Hmm." I sit back in the chair, smirking behind my mug. "A solid six."

"No!" Rylie throws her head back, pouting like a child. "I shouldn't have called you. I really don't know why I did that."

"I'm glad you called me. At least you didn't call someone else."

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but out of her two ex-boyfriends, she chose me. That's got to be a good sign.

"Well..." Rylie blows on the steam coming from her cup and saunters to the table to sit across from me. "I was drunk, but I wasn't blackout." Her eyebrow raises, and I know what's coming next. "I believe you said you've got some information to share?"

"I do." I place the cup down and steel myself. I knew that one day Rylie would know the whole story. It should've been sooner, but late is better than never. I think.

I let my mind travel back to that night and it all floods me like it happened yesterday.

I pulled the trigger. The loud bang of the gunshot caused my ears to ring. I was waiting for the pain, because I knew there was a good chance, I'd accidentally shot myself. I didn't know anything about guns, and I was stupid for shooting blindly. But if someone was going to kill me, it wasn't going to be my father. It was either kill him or myself and I'd have rather gambled with the two choices that left me in control.

The pain never came, but in what felt like slow motion, my father fell with all of his weight on top of me. It took a moment for my mind and my body to catch up. In a hurry, I pushed my father off of me and saw the crimson river flowing out from the left side of his chest. Holy shit.

My body began to shake. I'd wanted to kill my father forever, but I didn't think I'd actually do it. But as I felt for a pulse and listened for breathing, I knew I'd killed him.

"That night..." I start, fighting the emotions that come from that memory. "The last one we spent together..."

Rylie nods, remembering and urging me to go on with her intense stare.

"I got out of your bed around midnight and I went to my father's house." I watch Rylie's eyebrows crinkle, and I keep going. "I went there with the intention of roughing him up a little. I mean, I'd always wanted to kill him, but I thought just beating the shit out of him would be enough. He deserved it, right? He'd spent years beating me and it was my turn. Not only had he hurt my sister now, but he'd also hurt you and..." I pause, swallowing the lump in my throat. "I wanted justice. Revenge. Whatever word you want, but I was wrong Rylie. I shouldn't have gone there. That night ruined everything."