Tainted by K.A. Robinson Page B

of my car. I smoothed out the paper, and I wrote down the directions as she gave them to me.
    I started to get into my car, but then I stopped. “Rachel?”
    She looked up. “Yeah?”
    “Is she…I mean…is Chloe with anyone?”
    She gave me a small smile. “Not that I know of.”
    I wanted to jump up and down, scream, and fist-pump, but I contained myself. Chloe wasn’t with anyone. She hadn’t forgotten about me.
    “Thank you.”
     
    I pulled myself back to the present as I threw open my door and walked across the street to her house. If I didn’t do this now, I never would. Before I chickened out, I pounded on the door. I waited a minute or two before knocking again. There were lights on inside, so I knew someone had to be home. If no one would answer, I planned on sitting in my car until someone opened the door.
    Just as I was turning to walk away, the door flew open.
    “Yes?” Chloe asked grumpily.
    I turned to face her and froze for a second. She was as beautiful as I remembered. She had her hair tied back in a messy bun and was in old sweatpants and a simple shirt, but she still took my breath away. It had been like this from the beginning. There was just something about this woman.
    “Hi, Chloe.” I gave her a small smile.
    Her eyes widened in shock just before she slammed the door in my face. Well, that went as I’d expected, but I wasn’t about to give up that easily. The girl was going to talk to me whether she wanted to or not. I stepped forward and pushed the doorbell that I hadn’t noticed before.
    I could hear someone shouting inside, and then it was absolutely quiet. Now, what the hell was I supposed to do? Should I stand on her porch all night and hope that she came out eventually?
    My head snapped up as the front door opened again. Instead of seeing Chloe, Amber stepped outside and closed the door quietly.
    “Well, if it isn’t Mr. Rock Star himself,” she growled.
    It was safe to say that Amber wasn’t a fan of mine.
    “Hi, Amber. How have you been?”
    “Don’t even. Chloe hasn’t heard from you in months, and then you just show up on our doorstep with no warning! You are the biggest asshole on the planet, Drake Allen!”
    “I know I am, okay? You have every right to be mad at me, but I need to talk to Chloe.”
    “Why? What could you possibly have to say to her that will fix the past six months of her life? You destroyed her, Drake! Just when I thought she was doing better, you come back and fuck it up all over again. She’s trying to move on!”
    “I don’t want her to move on, Amber. I love her, and I can’t stand the thought of her being with someone else.”
    “Then, why didn’t you come back before now? You broke her, and Logan and I were left to pick up the pieces!”
    “I couldn’t.” I ignored the jealousy I felt about Logan taking care of Chloe.
    “Couldn’t? Or didn’t want to?” She glared at me.
    “I couldn’t. I wanted to come after her, but I knew she’d never give me the time of day until I got my shit together.”
    “And have you? Or are you still using?”
    “I’m clean. I went into rehab and sobered up. I spent the last month making sure I could do it, and now, I’m back for what’s mine. I love her, Amber, and I can’t give up on us until I see her one last time. If she doesn’t want me anymore, then so be it, but I have to try.”
    Amber looked at me. I knew she was trying to figure out if I was telling the truth. “You two were perfect together. I’ve never seen her as happy as she was with you.”
    “Until I fucked it all up,” I said, ashamed to admit the truth.
    “Until you fucked everything up. I’ve always liked you, Drake. Really, I have. But I don’t want to see her go through what she’s went through these last few months again.”
    “I’ll never hurt her again. Please let me talk to her. I just want to explain everything. I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “You do realize that