Her Men (book 2)

Teagan Looking up at the Texas night sky, the stars are shining and the moon is full making it brighter than usual, there's not a cloud in sight, it's calm, peaceful, I thought to myself. Same as that night my world changed so many moons ago. Being back in this town reminded me I’ve hit rock bottom. I never wanted to come "home". It's the one place I swore I'd never return. And yet here I am. Woodrock The most boring, annoyingly small town in Texas, where everyone knows everyone, where people remember everything from the dresses you wore to Sunday church as a kid to countless football games. Bigger cities are hours away so you're stuck with what you have. High school was either really good or really bad. And your family is either in farming or oil. Or both. I sit down on the ground and look up at the sky and reminisce about the last time I played on this ground, the grass is now brown and dead, from my aunt never bothering to water now that she's lives here. I take a deep breath and lay back closing my eyes. *Flashback 15 years* "Promise, nothing will change!" I say laying back on the soft, cold green grass, my dad loves his grass, most Texas yards are filled with the most painful sandburrs or stickers as we call them, but not ours, our yard was clear and barefoot worthy, I fall back and look up, noticing how beautiful the moon looked. My best friend Aiden, laying like me, but his body opposite mine and our heads close to each other with our ears almost touching, both looking up. "Come on T, nothing will ever change, we are solid," he tells me. "Promise me!" I say again "I promise nothing will change" he looks at me and grins, his cute boy grin, He's my best friend but also my first crush, I love him but will never tell him. Afraid it will ruin the relationship we already have. Its better this way I tell myself. Plus what do I even know about love? We made a promise that middle school wouldn't change us, we'd always be Bonnie and Clyde like our moms would call us, always starting trouble And Boy, was he wrong, once we started seventh grade everything changed, he played football, And his status changed as he got better and better, getting popular every year. In eighth grade, my dad died in an oil field tanker explosion. Aiden was there but not really, that's when things changed the old Aiden would have been there for me, and maybe I resented him a bit, he chose football and popularity over being with me when I needed him, he had a reputation to hold and that didn't include me. By senior year, the naïve twelve-year-olds seemed like I another life. We both grew up differently than we planned. Aiden, the Quarterback, and Me hanging out with the town's potheads. We grew up in completely different worlds. I missed my best friend but he was gone. *Present* I sit up a single tear falling, where did my life go so wrong, that night? When I lost my dad? When I graduated? I never hated him for playing football I sat there in the stands with my parents and his mom, cheering him on every game that first year in seventh grade. Maybe losing my dad was the changing point for me, the darkness, I let swallow me whole. I became closed off and didn't get out of bed for days, when I did I didn't want to go to games or hang out with friends. I never fully got over his loss. It was so easy to be mad at the world at that age. But when I finally did Aiden changed too. He became someone I didn't recognize. He wasn't as sweet anymore. Getting up, dusting the dirt and dried grass off I walked inside. My aunt nowhere to be found to tell her I was going to sleep. I walk up to my old room and lay on the bed. My mind running too scared to close my eyes. Moving back wasn't my first choice but I know it's the one place that He wouldn't find me, my ex, he knows how much I hated it here. How I said I'd never come back and I'm hoping he remembers and doesn't come looking. He's the reason I came back, another part of my life I'm not sure went wrong, I had the best life a year ago, the most amazing job, friends, and I thought the best Boyfriend. We met at the bar I was working at he was the manager and had hired me as a waitress. He quickly became friends and stayed like that for a while, a year later he promoted me to a manager and he left to take on a new job opportunity, we stayed friends and soon became lovers. It was great until he got mad at me that was the first time he grabbed me so hard he left a Mark. He apologized and made up for it with flowers and sweet romantic dinner promised it would never happen again. And it didn't for about six months. Then we moved in together and things got worse. Slowly he started to get more controlling, little things here and there until one day I lost all control, and soon I had fewer friends since we never went out anymore. That's when I realized the people I thought I could count on weren't there for me. Eight months after he grabbed me hard, he slapped me, I think I made dinner the wrong way or something he didn't like, it was something completely small that started an argument that just grew and grew until the unimaginable happened, he slapped me but this wasn't any slap or tap it was so hard, I dropped to the ground holding my face from the pain that wouldn't go away, I locked myself in the guest bedroom and cried myself to sleep that night. When I woke up and looked at my face with such a huge bruise across my cheek, I barely recognize the girl looking back at me. I opened the door and once again there were my favorite flowers and he made me breakfast for me, as an apology. "Baby, I'm so sorry I'm just stressed at work, I didn't mean it" I couldn't look at him as tears just fell "I can't do this anymore, I'm leaving," I said it quick, like ripping a bandaid off as I turned and walked back, he rushed over. "You're not going anywhere," he's voiced changed and I didn't recognize this person, his eyes dark with rage possibly fear, maybe he thought I'd call or tell someone, whatever it was the person I saw was someone I've never seen before, it scared me and for a second I didn't know what to do, run or stay? I was scared of both. I was scared of him. I tried to leave over the next few months I tried my hardest but every attempt ended badly for me. The last time I ended in the hospital getting stitches. At this point, I'd been missing so much work they had to let me go. Maybe this was a godsend, me ending up At the hospital allowed me the escape I needed, The nurse helped me hide from him, as soon as I was clear I left the city with absolutely nothing! I managed to grab my wallet before I snuck out but I was afraid to use my card knowing he'd track where I used it. I made it home a few days ago if you could call it home anymore my mom moved after I graduated and my aunt now lives here but I'm here and for now, I'm safe can start rebuilding my life. At least I hope I can.