Addiction (37 page)

“How did she die?” I ask softly.  He looks at me in question. “You said she
was
his sister. Something had to have happened to her.”

He nods. “But that is not my story to tell.” I open my mouth, but he speaks. “I told you who she was because she is a big part of my life. But the only thing I’m gonna tell you about her is the part she played in my life. Case needs to tell you how her life changed his.”

I look down to my hands in my lap. “He probably won’t tell me.”

“You never know until you ask.” He moves around a little more. “Go find him.”

“How am I going to find him? I’ll just wait for him to come back here.”

“He likes to drink his coffee outside. Go check the entrance of the hospital.”

I smile over at him. “Thanks, Brecken …” I pause. “Is that your real name?”

He smirks but doesn’t answer. I smile at him, but don’t push the subject because it really doesn’t matter. It’s just a name, right?

***

I see Case standing outside the entrance of the hospital before the doors even open to allow me out. He’s standing with his back against a pillar and his head tilted back with his eyes closed as the night covers him in darkness.

“Tired?” I ask coming up in front of him.

His eyes pop open, and he looks at me in surprise. “Taylor. What are you doing here?” he demands after the shock fades.

I take a deep breath. “I want to know you, Case.”

“Not this again,” he huffs. “It doesn’t matter who I am.”

I place my hand on his chest. His eyes narrow on mine, and his heart is beating quickly. Is that because of me? Because mine is beating hard because of him. “It does matter,” I say softly. I take a deep breath and let it out. “Case, I love you.” My bottom lip trembles in fear, and my eyes start to sting from tears. “And that is crazy because I don’t know who you are. I am in love with a man who has done nothing but lie to me.” He swallows. “A man I know nothing about.” A tear slides down my face, and he reaches up to wipe it away.

He lowers his face down to mine, and if it’s even possible, his heart beats harder against my hand. “You love me?” His breath lands on my lips, and I shiver.

“Of course,” I whisper. Reaching up with my free hand, I place it on his cheek. His facial hair rough against my palm. “Why do you think I care so much about who you really are?” I ask softly.

“What if you hate the real me?” he asks, closing his eyes as if it that thought would be unbearable.

“I already love you,” I reply. “Knowing the real you could only make me love you even more.”

He opens his eyes and looks at me. I see the fear in his eyes. The thought of me walking away from him when I find out who he really is. But I’m not worried. Not one bit. So I add, “You don’t have to hide from me, Tyler.” I use his real name because we need to start somewhere and this is as good a place as any is. But he flinches when I say it. And I have a feeling there’s a story behind why he goes by Case. “I already know you are willing to risk your lives for others. I already know you would do anything to make sure that people you don’t even know are safe. And I know that no matter what your past consists of, I wanna stand by your side.”

He stares at me for a long moment, and I hold my breath. Just when I think I may fall to the ground due to dizziness from not breathing, his lips land on mine. Breathing life into me. I wrap my arms around his neck, and he kisses me with desperation. His arms grip me as if I will pull away at any second, his body pushing into mine. I deepen the kiss letting him know just how much I love him. Letting him know that no matter what he has to tell me, I’ll still be here.

He pulls away first, and I take one deep breath after another. “I love you too, Taylor,” he whispers against my lips. I let out a little sob even as I wanna scream out in joy. “Please believe me when I say I’m sorry.”

“I believe you.” We never planned on this. And it must have been hard for him not to tell me. I don’t know what I would have done if I had been the one to lie. If I had been the one afraid he would leave me.

His lips brush mine softly this time just giving me a soft kiss. “How did you get here?” he asks as his brows pull together.

“I drove your truck.”

He lets out a chuckle. “Go back to my house. I’ll be there soon.”

“You’re not coming now?” I frown.

He pulls away from me and shakes his head. “I need to stay here with Brecken. But I promise I will come back.”

I smile. “I’m gonna hold you to that promise.”

He runs his thumb over my bottom lip, and he smiles back. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

CASE

I’m a nervous wreck. My hands are sweaty, and my heart pounds in my chest. How am I gonna tell her about my past? A past I spend every day trying to forget? Telling it is gonna be like placing a knife to my chest and slowly stabbing myself. In order to give her what she wants, I’m gonna have to bleed myself emotionally dry. But she deserves that.
She deserves for you to rip yourself open in order to make her understand why you couldn’t tell her the truth.

I take a deep breath and twist the doorknob to my bedroom. I open it up to find her lying in my bed asleep. I let out a long breath. Of course, she is; it’s three in the morning. I spent most of the night at the hospital with Brecken. Then on my way home, I found myself taking the longest way possible. I even made wrong turns to avoid this conversation for a minute longer. But somehow, I found my way to her. She came after me today to tell me how she felt. It’s my turn to do the same.

I remove my clothes quietly and make my way under the covers with her. I wrap my arms around her and pull her into me, letting out a sigh.

“Your heart is beating really fast.”

I look over at her, and her eyes are wide open staring up at me. “I thought you were asleep.” A man could hope.

“I heard you come in.”

I arch an eyebrow. “You were pretending,” I muse.

“Maybe,” she whispers.

“Why would you do that?”

She removes herself from my arms, and I don’t try to stop her. She pulls back the covers, gets up, and straddles my hips. Both my eyebrows raise to my hairline. “I thought …”

She places her finger over my lips, quieting me. “We have plenty of time to talk.” She leans down, her bare chest laying on mine. “Right now, I want you to touch me.” She reaches out; grabbing my wrists, she places my hands on her hips. I gladly grab a hold of them. She leans up just a bit, and her hair brushes my chest as she hovers over me. She then places her hands flat on my chest and runs her fingers down my chest and stomach. I arch my back and grip her hips as her nails try to tear my skin open. She always makes me burn when she touches me.

“I want you,” I say selfishly. I should stop her. Tell her that even though it’s gonna kill me, I want her to know the real me. But she is giving me a peace offering. She knows she’s gonna get to know the real Tyler Cason Crawford no matter what. Why not wait one more hour? Or two?

She leans down once again, her lips find my neck, and her tongue licks gently. “Then take me,” she whispers.

My cock jerks, and I toss her over onto her back. I spread her legs with mine, and she arches her back letting out a moan. Grabbing my hard cock with one hand, I run the other hand over her pussy. It’s soaking wet. Without foreplay, I push myself into her.

“Oh, God,” she cries out, gripping my shoulders.

I close my eyes and pull out, then push forward. Her hot pussy tightens around my cock and I let out a growl. “You feel so good,” I whisper.

“Please,” she begs as her legs wrap around my hips.

“Please what, baby?” I ask bending down and placing soft kisses from her collarbone to her neck.

She moves her hands to my ass and she digs her nails into my skin as she tries to pull me deeper into her. “Please fuck me,” she begs as she closes her eyes and arches her neck.

I grab her hands, pulling them from my ass and wrap my hands around her small wrists. I pin them above her head as I push my hips forward. “Say it again,” I demand.

“Fuck me, Case.” She takes in a deep breath as I thrust my hips forward again. “Fuck me hard.” Her voice rises as she calls out, and I can’t help but give it to her. The room fills with our heavy breathing, her cries of pleasure, and my grunts as I take her roughly. I needed this. An escape. Something to take my mind off what she wants to know. And I’m thankful she has allowed me another chance to avoid the inevitable.

“Case …” she pants as her pussy tightens around my cock. She arches her back and her lips part as she sucks in a breath.

“Come on, baby.” As I egg her on, I curse myself. “Come for me, baby,” I grind out as I pull back and thrust forward. The quicker she comes, the sooner we’ll be done. I wish I could hold out forever.

She sucks in another breath, and her muscles tense against my body. She fists her hands, and she lets out a cry as her pusssy tightens. She comes on my cock and I bite the inside of my lip as I enjoy the feel of her running down my cock and coat my balls. I could never get enough of her. Her body shakes and I can feel her heart pound in her chest as I allow my body to fall on top of hers. She looks up at me through hooded eyes as I slow my hips. For once, I want to make love. I want to show her that I do have a heart. Because once I tell her about my past, she will think differently.

CASE

I pace back and forth at the end of the bed with my hands in my hair as Taylor sits up, resting her back against the headboard.

“Do you want to sit down?” she asks.

“No.” My reply comes out sharper than I intended.

“Okay,” she whispers.

You would think the fact we just had sex would help my nerves, but it’s made them worse. My entire body is tense, and if she would let me, I would crawl on top of her right now and fuck her to the point she passes out. That way I could hold this off just one more day, but what good will that do us? Hasn’t she waited long enough? “I don’t know where to start,” I mumble more to myself than to her.

“Anywhere you want,” she encourages me softly.

“My name is Tyler Cason Crawford.” That was easy enough. I look over at her, and she smiles at me encouragingly. “I’m twenty-nine and as long as I can remember, I have always been called Case.”

I let out a long breath as I come to a stop and stare at her. She licks her lips nervously before giving me another soft smile. I feel my body physically relax. Just the fact she is still in front of me after everything I have done is a miracle of its own.

I take a deep breath. “I have a twin sister.”

For a few seconds, she just stares up at me. And I didn’t expect her to be all that surprised about that part. “I know you knew that already.”

“How would I know that?” she asks wide-eyed.

“The family photo. I know you looked at it,” I inform her, and she nods once.

“Yes. But I didn’t know that she was your twin.” She’s lying I can tell. I’m not sure how she knows, but she does.

I nod. “Her name was Nicole.”

Her eyes look down at my wrist where Nicole’s name is tattooed. I look down at it too and lift my other hand. Without thought, I rub my thumb over it.

“Was?” she asks softly.

I take a long breath. “Yeah. I haven’t seen her in twelve years.” I swallow the lump in my throat.

“What happened to her?” she whispers.

I look over at her, and I hate that my eyes sting. I hate that bringing up my past is gonna make me look weak in her eyes. So I place that mask on. The onl where I show nothing. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. It’s time … “She was taken from us.”

“Good game, man!” Brecken slaps me on the back as we run off the field.

I laugh. “Yeah, you were actually good tonight,” I say shoving his shoulder as we walk through the parking lot. Tonight was the last game of our senior year, and we kicked ass.

“What happened to Nicole?” he asks looking around the parking lot. “I never did see her with the squad.” He shakes his head with a smile.

“Well, you know her studies come first.” My sister doesn’t let anything get ahead of her schooling. Not even being head cheerleader.

“I don’t know, man. She never misses a game,” he says starting to sound worried.

“I wouldn’t sweat it.” I come up to my beat-up old car. “I’m sure she’s at the house.” He had come over before the game, so we drove together.

We both pile into my car, and I drive us back to my house. As soon as we pull down the road to my house, both of our bodies stiffen. “What the hell?” Brecken asks as he leans forward to look out the windshield. Four cop cars sit in my circle drive.

I bring the car to a stop as I slam on the brakes. We both jump out of the car and run to my front door. I shove it open as I call out for my mom and dad. I find them sitting in the living room.

My heart stops and my stomach drops when I see my father holding my mother in his arms. Her face is buried in his chest as she sobs. “Mom? Dad?” I swallow nervously. “What’s going on?” I ask looking at the cops that stand in front of them. There must be six, maybe seven. I can’t seem to focus on any one of them in particular.

My mother pulls away from my father, and she stands from the couch. With shaky legs and her arms held out, she walks to me. She falls into me, and I wrap my arms around her as my throat tightens. “What is it, Mom?” I ask wrapping my arms around her shaking body. She still doesn’t answer.

My father stands from the couch, and I see the tears running down his face. His dark blue eyes are bloodshot and his face puffy. “It’s Nicole …”

“Where is she?” Brecken demands. I had almost forgotten he was here with me. “Where is she?” he yells. “Nicole?” he calls out as he runs through the living room and up the stairs toward her room.

“Dad?” My voice cracks and my mother’s body shakes in my arms as she lets out a sob. “Where is she?”

He looks at the police and then hangs his head. “They found her car, son … on the side of the road … she’s missing …”

“No!” I say as my throat tightens. I try to suck in a breath as I shake my head. “I just saw her.” I had just seen her earlier this evening before the game. In this very room. I had offered to drive her, but she said she was going to drive herself.

“It happened on her way to the game.” His voice shakes, and he won’t even lift his head up to look at me.

“Where is she?” Brecken comes running down the stairs.

One of the cops clears his throat as he steps forward. “We have every officer in the county looking for her. And we’ve made calls to surrounding counties as well.”

Brecken looks from the cop to me. “There’s no way she would just run away. She has to be here somewhere,” he says sounding confused.

My mother shudders under my arms, and her legs give out. I don’t have the strength to hold her up. We both fall to the floor as we both hold each other crying.

Do you know what it feels like to be helpless? Completely and utterly helpless? It’s hell! Brecken and I put together search teams that searched day and night. We had systems. Different teams searched different hours. We spent every waking moment looking for her. Or maybe to find just a clue of where she could have gone. But nothing came up. One day, we had just returned from another town when the cops were once again at our house.

We ran into the house just like before and prayed that Nicole was sitting on the couch with my parents, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“We have found that there have been seven other abductions with the same MO as this one.”

“Abduction?” I question. “I don’t … I don’t understand,” I stutter. “You never said you thought someone had taken her,” I say in horror.

“There were certain details we kept from the public …”

“Which are?” Brecken demands.

My parents haven’t spoken a single word. They sit on the couch holding each other as they cry. That’s all they do now.

The officer sighs heavily. “Her purse. Her car keys were left in her car on the side of the road. There was cash still in her wallet. So obviously not a robbery.”

“Then what was it?” I snap. I hate that the fuckers feel like they can keep information from us.

“We had made calls to surrounding counties and we got a call back this morning from Craig, about fifty miles from here. A girl matching your sister’s description had pulled over on the side of the road to help a woman out whose car appeared to be broken down. Moments after she stopped to offer her services, another car pulled up behind her. A man jumped out and pretended to help them, but when the girl turned her back on him, he jumped her.” My heart stops. “Another man jumped out and helped place her in the back of their car. The woman who was pulled off the side of the road jumped in her car and drove off.”

I hold up my hand to stop him. I take a deep breath and rub my forehead before I ask. “How do you know all of this?”

“The girl was able to escape. She opened the car door while the two guys were driving down the road. The men stopped to grab her, but another car was approaching so they fled. The girl was taken to the hospital. Due to her jumping from a moving car, she has broken bones but is expected to live.

“I don’t understand what this has to do with my sister,” I grind out. “Why are you here telling me about another girl when my sister is still out there?” I demand.

“The girl has been questioned by the police. I guess they had roughed her up pretty badly, and she pretended to be unconscious while in the backseat. She overheard them discussing the other girls …” He takes in a deep breath. “They were traffickers.”

“What does that mean?” I snap.