Текст книги "Unspeakable"

Автор книги: Michelle K. Pickett

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 21 страниц)

Brody laughed. “I guess I’m getting too predictable. I’m going to have to switch it up one of these days. Keep you on your toes.”

Brody’s aunt winked at him before turning to me and asking, “And what would you like, Willow?”

“Um.” I looked at Brody. “Why don’t you order for me?”

“Nope.” He shook his head. “I know how much you hate that.”

I tapped the counter with my finger and read the menu under the glass on the counter. “I think I’ll try the little cheesy, and I’d like an order of onion rings, please, with a Coke.”

“Good choice.” Brody’s aunt wrote everything down on a ticket. “I’ll bring it right out to you, but, Willow?”

“Yes?”

“You really should have a milkshake. They’re the bomb, if I do say so myself,” she said with a giggle.

“Okay. I’ll try a chocolate,” I said, smiling at her giggles. I immediately liked Brody’s aunt.

“Do you want to play pool while we wait for our burgers?” Brody nodded at the pool tables. “Do you know how to play?”

I shook my head and concentrated on schooling my features. “No,” I lied.

“Well, I can teach you. I’m not too bad.”

Score. That’s what I was hoping you’d say.

Brody racked the balls and selected our cues. “You want to break?” He handed me a pool cue.

“Um, sure, I can break.” I took the cue from Brody and stood in front of the pool table, pretending like I had no idea what I was doing.

“Here, let me help you line up your shot.” Brody moved beside me and wrapped his arms around me, holding the pool cue with me. “Here, place your hands like this.” He adjusted my grip.

Oh, yeah. This is exactly what I was hoping for. Not a good idea, but, oh, it feels so good not to be right.

His warmth scorched my skin, and my body soaked up the feel of him to relive later. I was thoroughly enjoying having Brody’s arms around me. Pool was my new favorite game.

I’ve died and went to hell, because now I know what it feels like to have his arms around me. This was a bad idea, a very bad idea.

We pulled the pool cue back to make the shot. I nearly groaned as I felt his muscles flex and contract against me. The ball rolled down the pool table and cracked against the balls at the other end, sending them flying across the felt. Three balls sunk into the pockets. Brody looked at me and smiled.

“Good job. Do you want to be stripes or solids?”

“Well, since I sunk two stripes, I guess I’ll pick stripes.” I gave his shoulder playful nudge with mine. Well, sort of. My shoulder didn’t actually reach his.

“It’s still your shot,” Brody said, studying the table. When he decided on our next shot, he held his arm out to me. “This looks like a fairly easy one.”

I walked into his outstretched arm, my heart racing. Brody immediately wrapped both arms around me to help me take the shot. We bent over the table to line it up. It was an easy play and I normally would’ve made it, but I missed. My hands were shaking. My mind was numb, but my body hummed. I couldn’t concentrate on pool. I could barely remember my name.

Brody took his turn, sinking shot after shot. I wondered if I would get another turn. It was obvious he spent a great deal of time at his aunt’s bar playing pool.

“You’re pretty good, Ace.”

Brody looked at me and grinned. “I’m around here a lot. My mom travels a lot on business, so I spend time with my aunt. She makes sure I get fed when my mom’s gone.”

“What does your mom do?”

“She’s a sales rep. for a pharmaceutical company.” He took another shot, and I barely held in my groan as I watched his muscles in his shoulders and back.

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” I asked.

“Nope. It’s just me.”

It was my turn again. I looked over my shoulder. “Sounds kind of lonely,” I told him. My voice was all breathy and soft, so very embarrassing. It was hard to talk with his arms around me.

“Sometimes. But think of all the wild parties I can have.” Our faces were close. His eyes dipped to my mouth, and then back to my eyes.

I took—and missed—my shot. “Ah, I think I just found out the reason for your bad boy reputation,” I said, as Brody’s arms slid away from me.

“Pssh, too bad all my parties are study sessions. That’s about as wild as I get.”

We finished our game of pool—he won, of course—just as our burgers arrived. We slid into a booth as the waitress placed our burgers in front of us. We didn’t talk much as we ate. Our eyes would meet across the table every so often, and we’d smile at each other before looking away.

“Mm, you’re right. Your aunt’s burgers are the best. And this milkshake is to die for,” I said, scooping out the last of my chocolate shake.

“I told you. Willow…”

I looked up and raised my eyebrows when his voice trailed off.

He let out a breath and threw his napkin on his plate. “I’d never lie to you.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, pushing my plate away and focusing my attention on him.

“I hope you and I are past the love-to-hate-each-other phase of our relationship and have moved into a friendship.” He looked at the dark green table and spun his fork in circles.

“I think it’s safe to say we have,” I answered.

And then some.

“So, I hope you’d never lie to me.” He looked up at me through his lashes.

“I wouldn’t.”

Except about not being able to play pool, but that was for a very good reason.

He let out a frustrated breath. “I saw the bruises.” I stiffened. “When I bent over to help you line up your shot. Your shirt pulled back and to the side, and I saw the bruises on your back.”

“Oh.” I looked down at the table, making circles on it with my finger.

“Look at me. Willow, look at me. Please,” Brody said softly. I slowly raised my eyes to his. “Who’s doing that to you?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but I snapped it shut before I said anything. Shaking my head, I fought the tears pushing at the back of my eyes. I bit my lip and squeezed my eyes closed.

I won’t cry. I’m stronger than that. Tim and Jenna ask me about my bruises. I don’t cry then. I won’t cry now. But the look in his eyes… he really looks like he cares.

“You can tell me. Is it Jaden?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Brody. I promised I wouldn’t lie to you, but if we keep talking about this, I’ll have to break that promise… and I don’t want to. Just… It’s okay. I’m fine. Let’s leave it at that, okay?”

“No. It isn’t okay. Someone is hurting you. That’s not okay.” He reached across the table and took my hand, rubbing his thumb over the top of it. “There are places that can help, people you can talk to.”

“Trust me, it wouldn’t help. I need to get home. Are you ready?” I asked, grabbing my purse.

Brody stared at me for a second before he stood up. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

We said goodbye to Brody’s aunt and walked silently to the parking lot. Brody unlocked and held the passenger door of the Jeep open for me. He slammed it shut, and I flinched. We didn’t speak during the short drive back to the school where I’d left my car. He pulled up beside my car and threw the Jeep in park, jolting us both forward. I reached for the door handle.

“Wait,” Brody said, his tone clipped. I pulled my hand back. He climbed out of the Jeep and walked around to open my door for me. “Give me your keys.” He took them from my hand, unlocked, and opened the driver’s side door of my car. As he held it open for me, he said, “You’re wrong, you know.”

“About what?”

“There’s always something or someone that can help.” He dropped my keys in my hand and closed the car door. Jogging back to his Jeep, he drove away.

No, Brody, you’re wrong. This is one time where there isn’t anyone who can help. The damage is done. Only bad things would come from telling anyone. Some secrets should stay buried, no matter how much it hurts.

Friday. I stood in front of my closet, looking through my clothes. I was supposed to dress normal. Jenna texted me early that morning and told me I’d worn my limit of sarcastic T-shirts for the week. She said I was absolutely dressing in something that didn’t have words on it to make up for wearing the awful shoes I wore all week. I told her I’d see what mood I was in. Her next comment wasn’t very pretty and sounded a lot like she was PMSing, which was a dangerous time of the month for those of us close to Jenna. So I decided to try to find something she would consider normal and stay on her good side.

I finally chose a forest green moleskin shirt and jeans. I wore my brown, distressed leather, calf-high boots that matched my messenger bag. If that wasn’t normal enough for Jenna, she’d have to come over and pick out my clothes for me every morning.

I showered and blew my hair dry, scrunching it so it hung in waves. Put on a little makeup—I never wore too much—and called it good. When I got to school, I swiped some lip gloss on my lips and made my way to my locker.

“Jeez, it’s about freakin’ time,” Jenna said, rolling her eyes. “Finally, you look like a normal person. Nice choice, by the way. Love the boots.”

“Thanks.” I grabbed my books from my locker. “I figured if you didn’t like this, you were going to have to start dressing me yourself.”

“Well, if you insist on wearing those damn T-shirts and ugly ass shoes all the time, I just might,” she snapped.

Yeah, definitely sounds like PMS. Note to self—buy Jenna chocolate at lunch.

“See you in history.” I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing and walked toward biology.

Brody’s chair was empty when I got there. I felt a pang of disappointment. The first bell rang, and he still wasn’t in class. He was always there by the first bell. I wondered if he’d be at school and realized how lonely my day would be without him sitting next to me, trading teasing insults.

I heard him before I saw him. “I mean it, Victor. Things will get ugly,” Jaden shouted.

“Your empty threats really scare me, Jaden. Really. I’m trembling like a little girl,” Brody shouted back before he walked into the classroom and slammed his books on the table.

“I need to talk to you.” Jaden looked at me. When I didn’t get up, he grabbed my arm and yanked me from my chair. “Now.”

Brody was around the table so fast I wasn’t sure what was happening. He shouldered Jaden. “Don’t yank her around like that.”

“Stay out of this, Brody,” Jaden said through clenched teeth. A vein in his forehead bulged and pulsed in time to his heartbeat as he pulled me out of the classroom.

“I want you to stay away from him. Someone saw you two together yesterday. I don’t know what you’re up to, but I won’t have my girl running around with that piece of scum behind my back. Stay away from him… or there’ll be trouble.” Jaden smirked, rubbing his chin with the side of his hand. “You don’t want me to start talking, do you, Wills? Because I’m starting to feel kinda… chatty—like I have a lot to say. And I think there are some people who’d be really interested to hear it.”

Jaden shoved me back into the classroom. I stumbled backward. Two hands caught me before I fell. I looked up to see Brody holding me. His face hard.

“Let go of her,” Jaden ordered.

“If you can’t treat her right, she’ll eventually come to her senses and find someone who will. Your days are numbered, Jaden.” Brody said, his voice measured.

“Willow isn’t going anywhere until I say she is. Period. I have the power in this relationship, and she knows it. She’s mine.” Jaden walked away, slamming his fist against a locker.

Brody rubbed his hands gently up and down my arms. Turning me around, he stared in my eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” My voice cracked, and I closed my eyes for a handful of seconds to calm myself.

“Why do you stay with him?”

I shrugged a shoulder and tried to smile. “It’s easier than trying to leave him.”

Everyone stared as we made our way back to our table in class. My eyes darted to Tim. He looked at me with an expression of concern. I smiled and mouthed that I was okay. He didn’t smile back. He wasn’t a member of the Jaden fan club any more than Brody or Jenna was.

I sat with Jaden and the same bunch of football players and their cheerleader girlfriends at lunch. I tried to start conversations with them, but as usual, it was a no go. I felt more and more like an outsider in Jaden’s world, and he did nothing to change the fact. Either he didn’t notice, or he didn’t care. I leaned to the latter. Jaden was all about himself. He wouldn’t sympathize with my discomfort.

“You’re drinking a diet shake today?” the same cheerleader who had a fit about my salad dressing asked.

“Yes,” I said, holding up the can.

“That’s much better than all that icky dressing you had on your salad,” she said, scrunching up her nose, making her face look like one of those wrinkly dogs.

“I figured this might save me some time on the treadmill,” I mumbled.

Not that I’d ever be on a treadmill.

“Good thinking.” She nodded, her blonde curls bouncing around her perfect face.  Turning to the girl next to her, they started an in depth conversation about the newest cheer they were learning. I sighed.

“Jaden, I’m going to go say hi to Jenna,” I said, laying my hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

“Yeah, whatever.” He waved me away with a flick of his hand. “Oh, Willow?”

“What?” I looked at him over my shoulder.

“Tonight’s an away game. I expect you to be home if you aren’t at the game.”

I sighed. “I know the rules, Jaden.” He narrowed his eyes before turning his back to me.

I plopped down in a chair at the table where Jenna and Tim were sitting and dropped my head down on the tabletop, covering it with my arms.

“That good, huh?” Jenna asked.

“Just peachy,” I said, my words muffled.

“Drop his ass,” Jenna whispered.

“You know it’s not that easy, Jenna. I’ve tried. More than once.”

“Hey.” I jumped when I heard his voice. He hadn’t been at the table when I sat down. Brody eased into a chair next to me, and I groaned. If Jaden saw him, there’d be hell to pay.

“Hey, Ace,” I said, not looking up.

“How ya doin’?”

“That seems to be the question of the day. I’m fine. Just great. Everything’s great. Just great.”

“That’s a lot of greats. Who are you trying to convince—me or yourself?” Brody asked quietly.

I turned my head, moved one arm so I could look at him, and blew a strand of hair out of my eyes. “Who knows?”

He gave me a small smile and ran a finger down the back of my hand, sending goose bumps up my arm and straight to my heart, which starting racing. Damn it to Hades and back. I hated my reaction to Brody. I wasn’t supposed to feel anything for anyone. Jaden was easy. He didn’t ask questions. He didn’t pay attention. As long as I kept him happy, he’d keep his mouth shut. Win/win. Brody… well, he was a different story altogether.

“What are you doing tonight? Are you going to the football game?” Jenna asked, twirling her cup on the table.

“Nope. It’s an away game,” I said.

“Oh, so you’ll be locked away at home, huh, Rapunzel?” Tim bit out.

I shrugged. “That’s the assumption.”

“Meaning?” Brody asked.

“Anything can happen. Maybe something will come up, and I’ll decide to go out.”

Jenna dropped her drink on the table, and ice flew across the top. “You’re kidding, right? If he catches you out…” She didn’t finish her thought.

“What?” Brody asked, looking at Jenna. When she didn’t answer, he looked between Jenna and Tim. “He’ll what?”

“He won’t be happy,” Jenna said quietly.

Tim snorted. “Yeah. That’s putting it mildly. Willow, if you leave the house tonight, make sure you’re in disguise and you aren’t anywhere someone from school will see you. Like, you know, another country.”

It was seven o’clock, and I sat on my bed watching a rerun of a stupid sitcom on television while I texted Jenna. My phone chimed that a text had come through. I clicked to read it, expecting it to be from Jenna. My heart started palpitating when the name across the top was Brody’s.

Brody: Hey.

Me: Hey, Ace. What’s up?

Brody: Whatcha doin’?

Me: Texting Jenna. Hold on.

I sent Jenna a quick text, telling her that Brody was texting me and I’d talk to her later. Her last text was a threat that I’d better cough up all the details of what was said between Brody and me. At my promise that I would, she told me to have fun and added a little winky face next to it. I rolled my eyes but giggled, quickly switching back to my conversation with Brody.

Me: Okay. I’m back.

Brody: What’d you do?

Me: Told Jenna I had to go.

Brody: Why?

Me: Um… so I could talk to you.

Brody: Ah.

Huh. Maybe that was too much information. I shouldn’t have said anything. Crap.

Brody: I’m glad. Now I have you all to myself.

Or maybe not. I just got major chill bumps everywhere.

Me: So, what are you doing?

Brody: Thinkin’ about you.

Oh, wow. My chill bumps just got chill bumps and now I have flutters in my chest.

Brody: Were you serious about getting out of the house?

Me: Maybe. Why?

Brody: I have an idea. No disguise needed.

Me: Ok. I’m game.

Brody: You don’t even know what it is.

Me: I trust you.

Brody: Pick you up in 10.

Me: Don’t come to the door.

Brody: ?

Me: My parents are official members of the Jaden fan club.

Brody: Ah. They wouldn’t like you going out with me.

Me: Right.

Brody: I’ll park in front of your neighbor’s.

Me: I’ll be waiting.

I jumped off the bed and grabbed a pair of yoga pants and a long shirt, trying to pull them on at the same time I pulled off my pajamas. Putting on a loose belt, I let it sit on an angle over my hips, just tight enough to make my shirt look like something other than a paper sack hanging from my shoulders. I looked in the mirror and groaned. My hair was flat on one side and a frizzy mess on the other. Quickly pulling it into a knot at the base of my neck, I tried to fix what little makeup I still had on. As I grabbed my purse and phone, I saw headlights shine through my window. I shot off a text to Jenna.

Me: Cover for me. We’re at the mall. Going out for a while.

Jenna: Brody?

Me: Yeah.

Jenna. K. Be Careful.

Me. Love ya.

Jenna: Love ya back.

I hurried to my mom’s bedroom and knocked before sticking my head inside. “Mom?”

“What?” she answered, her voice hoarse. It sounded as if she’d been crying.

“Um, Jenna asked me to go to the mall with her.”

“Have fun.”

“Are you okay? I don’t have to go if you need me here.”

“I’m fine. Go,” she said. “Just remember curfew.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

I hurried out the front door and down the walk. Brody pulled up when he saw me. For once, he didn’t get out of the Jeep to open the door for me—thank God—and he had the interior lighting turned off. He drove away as soon as I was in the Jeep.

“Hey.” He looked at me and smiled.

“Hey back. So, what are we doing?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Okay.” I settled back into the plush leather seats.

“You aren’t going to try to get it out of me? Beg, plead, whine, until I tell you?” he teased.

“Nope. I told you, I trust you. But I’ll beg, plead, and whine if it makes you feel better,” I offered.

“No. Please don’t start whining.” Brody chuckled. How could just a small rumbling in his chest affect me so much?

“Okay. I’ll stay whine free.” I smiled and watched him drive.

“Let me ask you a question. If I was Jaden, and I didn’t tell you where we were going, would you go with me with no questions asked?” Brody coasted to a stop at a red light. He turned to me, his eyes catching mine and holding them.

I bit my lip, trying to decide how best to answer the question. “Honestly, probably not. But that’s because Jaden would most likely take me to some football game, football museum, football hall of fame, or something else football related, in which case, I’d have to fake an illness and skip out on him.”

Brody laughed hard and loud, making me laugh with him. “Well, now I know if I ever ask you out and you tell me you’re sick, that you’re blowing me off.”

“Somehow, I don’t think that would be a problem,” I said, and then immediately wanted to slap my hand over my mouth. Brody just gave me a crooked grin that melted my heart, but he didn’t say anything.

“We’re here.” He pulled into a small driveway surrounded by trees. After he drove a few hundred yards, the trees fell away. We were in the middle of a field surrounded by trees on all sides. Completely secluded.

“Where’s here?”

“It’s my aunt’s property. She plans to build a house here one day. No one will bother us. Wait there.” Brody got out of the Jeep, walked around to my door, and opened it for me.

“Where are we going?”

“The backseat.”

“Huh?”

Brody grinned. “Not for that. Although, I wouldn’t be opposed to it.” I rolled my eyes. “Okay, okay, you’ll see when you get back there. It’s a surprise, remember?”

I sighed and climbed into the backseat. “It’s nice back here. Roomy. Is this yours or your mom’s?”

“It’s mine. Well, actually, it was my aunt’s until she got a new one. Then she sold me this one at an enormous discount,” Brody said as he grabbed a pillow out of the back and slipped it behind me. “There’s no way I could afford a Jeep Grand Cherokee otherwise. I work at her place washing dishes and stuff like that to pay her.”

“That’s nice of her.”

“Yeah, she’s great.” Brody grabbed a bag from the very back of the Jeep before sliding next to me. He took a blanket out of the bag and settled it over us. Next, he brought out a large bowl sealed with a plastic lid, sliding closer to me, until our thighs touched—oh, holy hotness!—and then he balanced the bowl on our thighs.

“Okay, what’s up, Ace?”

He held up a finger for me to wait. Reaching into the bag once more, he pulled out a case. When Brody opened it, it folded back to reveal a video screen. “I hope you haven’t seen this one.” He handed me a DVD before he pulled the lid off the bowl and the smell of buttered popcorn filled the Jeep’s interior. “I brought you Coke since that’s what you order every time I’ve been with you.” He reached in a cooler and gave me a can. “I know how much you hate for people to order for you, but I didn’t know what else you liked.”

I held the Coke by the tips of my fingers and stared at him. My voice stalled in my throat, and my gaze held his for a few beats. I mapped the striations of blues in his eyes before my gaze skimmed over his face, committing every feature, every curve, every line, to memory. I didn’t want to forget how he looked at that moment. The very moment I knew he’d taken all there was of me.

Oh, shiznit. I’m falling in love with him. No, no, I can’t be. I hardly know him. So it can’t be love. It must be lust, then. He has a body hotter than Hades itself, but that’s not it either. I don’t know what it is. It’s more than lust, but not quite love. What comes in between lust and love? Whatever it is, that’s what I am. I’m in between lust and love with Brody.

“What?” Brody asked, looking at me with his head tilted to the side.

“I just can’t believe you went to so much trouble for me just so I didn’t have to sit alone on a Friday night,” I whispered. I laid the Coke can in my lap and raised my hand to his face, hovering just a millimeter away from his skin, but not touching him. My fingers trembled, whether from nerves or the need to touch him, I wasn’t sure. Maybe both.

“I told you the next time we watched a movie, I wanted you with me. Technically, I said in my bed, but since that isn’t possible, this will have to do.”

“Thank you.” My hand skimmed over his jaw to the back of his neck. I leaned to him and hugged him tightly, laying my head on his shoulder.

Brody wrapped his arms around me, resting his head on top of mine. When I ended the hug and pulled back, Brody cupped my face in his hands. I froze, and we looked in each other’s eyes. I could feel Brody’s breath against my lips. It came in fast puffs, matching mine. I wondered if his heart was beating as hard as mine. If he’d leaned in for a kiss, I wouldn’t have moved. I’d have let him kiss me—I’d have kissed him back.

He pulled me toward him. My tongue darted out to moisten my lips, and Brody groaned. Just before his lips touched mine, he pulled my head down and placed his mouth against my forehead. I sighed, partly from the feel of his lips on my skin and partly from the disappointment that it wasn’t on my lips.

“You’re welcome. It wasn’t a big deal. A few bags of microwave popcorn and a cooler full of Cokes, no biggie.” Brody shrugged a shoulder, pushing a lock of my hair behind my ear. “Have you seen this movie?”

“Nope.” I wanted to forget the movie and pull him to me. Brody made me feel things I’d never felt with Jaden. And it wasn’t just physical, although he was hot as Hell. It was everything. Brody made me feel wanted, cared for, special, respected, all things that a girl could wish for from a boy.

“Good. Let’s pop this sucker in and fill our faces with popcorn dripping in butter.”

“Sounds good.” I leaned back against the pillow and got comfortable.

We sat in Brody’s Jeep in the dark field watching a horror movie. I jumped at every little sound, and Brody laughed at me.

“Come here,” he said, putting his arm around me and pulling me into the crook of his arm. “I’ll keep the monsters away.” An amused grinned pulled on his lips.

“You couldn’t pick a comedy to watch while we’re out in the middle of nowhere in the dark?”

“That’s no fun.” He squeezed me tighter to him and tickled my side.

I giggled and squirmed against him. “Yeah, if you say so.”

I stayed snuggled against Brody’s side. His hand gently grazed up and down my arm, and I wished I could have worn short sleeves so I would’ve felt his skin sliding against mine. Since I’d started noticing the effects Brody was having on me, I’d wondered if I was having the same on him. Yes, he’d tried to kiss me, but he was known for his steady stream of romances. And no matter how hard I tried to put that out of my mind, I couldn’t get past him dating Sarah, Tanya, and then Kara right after school started. But every time I moved against him as the movie played, I heard his heart rate speed up under my ear, or his breathing change… and I knew. Brody Victor was not immune to the effects of our attraction to each other. He was feeling it as strongly as I was. That made me happy, and a little scared.

“That was pretty good,” I said when the movie was over.

“How would you know? You had the blanket over your eyes most of the time.” Brody grinned.

I moved to sit up so he could take care of the video, but his arm tightened around me. I settled back against him.

“I did not.”

“Okay, whatever you say.” Brody pulled the blanket around me. “Are you getting cold?”

Ha! If he only knew how not cold I was. “No.”

“So…” He drummed the thumb of one hand on his knee.

“What?” I pushed the strands of hair that had worked their way out of the knot at the base of my neck behind my ear and looked up at Brody.

“Jaden. He’s quite a piece of work, that one.”

I sighed and pulled away from him. This time, he let me go. “I was hoping we were going to avoid this conversation.”

“What? Just sit, watch the movie, and never bring up the thousand-pound elephant dangling over our heads?”

I glared at him. “I was hoping.”

Brody nodded. “Okay. Sure, if that’s what you want. I just don’t get you. You seem so self-assured in everything you do. So independent… until it comes to him. And then it’s like all your common sense and intelligence flies out the window. You roll over and just let him treat you like dirt. It doesn’t make sense.”

“I know. What time is it?”

“It’s after ten.”

“I need to get home. My curfew is eleven.”

Brody sighed and sat up. We were silent as we folded the blanket and picked up the empty pop cans and popcorn bowl, putting everything back in the bag in the rear of the Jeep.

It wasn’t until we were driving home that Brody spoke. “I overheard you saying to Jenna that you’d tried to break up with Jaden before. What happened?”

“I’ve tried more than once. He made my life a living hell. He’d follow me from class to class when I was at school, and I’d catch him following me even outside of school, at the mall, the movies, and places like that. He threatened any guy who came within ten feet of me. And forget asking me out, no guy would dare do that. They’d barely speak to me. That’s why I sat alone in all my classes before you came along. No one would risk getting on Jaden’s bad side. So they stayed away.”

“So he bullied you into getting back together,” Brody said, his voice hard.

“I guess so.”

“You’re home.” He stopped in front of my neighbor’s house and turned out the lights.

“Thanks so much for tonight. I had a lot of fun.” I looked at Brody and smiled. “It sure beat sitting at home all night.”

Brody grabbed my hand, laced his fingers with mine, and squeezed. “Anytime.”

I slipped out of the Jeep, our fingers sliding slowly away from each other’s. Shutting the door, I walked home. I saw Brody flip on his lights and slowly pull away from the curb as I closed the door behind me.

“You made it home before curfew tonight. There’s a first time for everything, I guess.” I jumped at the sound of Ralph’s voice behind me.

Ralph owned two successful car lots and was on the Cassidy Independent School Board. He was highly respected in the social circles in Middleton. My mother, however, was not. She was white trash from the wrong side of the tracks. Everyone assumed she was nothing more than a gold-digging hussy. If they knew the real Ralph McKenna—not the front he put on when he was around other people—they’d know there were easier ways to dig for gold. They’d also know gold digging went both ways.

Ralph and my mother married just six months after meeting. Six months after my stepdad died in a car accident. She was working as a waitress, trying to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table until the life insurance benefits and the inheritance from my stepdad’s will was finally distributed. She planned to go back to school and finish the degree she started before her surprise pregnancy with me caused her to drop out. But she met Ralph, and it was love at first sight. A whirlwind romance, an elopement in Vegas, and they’ve been happy ever since. Or that was the story they told everyone.

“Yes, sir,” I said, inching my way to the stairs and hoping he’d just let me go up to my bedroom.

“Jaden called looking for you. Didn’t seem too happy that you weren’t home after you told him you would be. He’s on his way over now.”

My heart sank.

Jaden’s coming here? Ralph told him I wasn’t home. Crap.