Safe with You (13 page)

What’s worse is if my parent’s get wind of the fight they would pack us up so fast and we’ll be leaving faster than I can blink. People in small towns talk and word travels fast around here. I actually like it here, a place I found laughable when I arrived.

I come to a T in the road at the same time a truck pulls up to the stop sign. But it’s not just any truck, it’s Bo’s. My heart sinks a little when I realize it’s not J, yet I’m kind of happy it’s Bo instead.
Man, I’m so confusing.

Bo jumps down from his lifted truck and jogs around the front of it over to where I am standing.

“I’ve been looking all over for you, darlin’! J, Jess, and I have been going out of our minds!” Bo exclaims, acting like I have been gone for several hours.

“I’m sure J was more concerned about Ellen than me,” I quip, still feeling on edge.

Bo sighs and scrubs his face. “Cassie, listen to me. J could care less about Ellen. He cares about you, a lot. What he said came out wrong and he understands that.”

Are you kidding me?! “He sure didn’t understand it earlier.”

“Humor me, darlin’, please. Let me take you home.”

Knowing Bo, he’d probably take me to J, but at this point I’m too tired to care. “Fine.”

I slump in the passenger seat and lean it back as far as it will go. Running as long and as hard as I did wore me plum out.

“Are you okay, darlin’?”

“Yes and no. Also, I don’t feel like punching you or I so totally would right now.”

Bo chuckles. “Good to know you still are so snarky.”

“You’re taking me home right?”

He smiles sadly. “If that’s what you really want.”

“I just…I just don’t know if I am ready to see him yet.”

“Understandable.”

It turns out I wasn’t but two miles or so from my house. Thank goodness because I need a shower and go to bed.

“Thanks for driving me home,” I say to Bo when he turns into my driveway.

“Anytime darlin’.”

The first thing I do when I walk in is head straight for my closet to grab some clean clothes to put on after my shower. The shower feels refreshing and the water cascading over my skin feels like Heaven.

Mom and Dad are nowhere to be found which is fine because I need the silence.

After rummaging through the cabinets trying to find something to eat, I curl up in my bed and eat until I can no longer stay awake.

Chapter Sixteen

J

Cassie took everything all wrong. In no way was I on Ellen’s side. I explained everything badly and now I’m driving around trying to find her. Bo told me to let her go and let her cool off, but after twenty minutes I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to find her and explain things.

My phone rings in the cup holder, Bo’s name flashing on my screen.

“Did you find her?”

“Yeah, she was over by Gurley’s farm.”

“Is she still with you?” I need to talk to her. I want to apologize and set things straight.

“No, I just dropped her off. I asked her where she wanted to go and she said home. Just give her some time, bro. You can grovel tomorrow.”

No, I can’t wait that long. She needs to know how sorry I am now. “I’ll be home in a bit.”

“J, I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I guess we’ll see.”

I hang up with Bo and drive like a mad man to Cassie’s house.

I knock on the front door hoping Cassie will answer so I can explain.

No answer. So, I jog around the side of the house to her bedroom window. I peek inside and find she is curled up under her comforter asleep. I don’t want to leave her knowing she is upset with me so I raise her window as quietly as I can, not wanting to wake her up and freak her out.

I crawl up the bed and lie next to her. She is laying on her right side with one hand tucked under her chin and the other hand in front of her face. I prop my head up on my elbow and place my other hand on top of hers. She flinches, but luckily doesn’t open her eyes.

I don’t know how long we lay there like that until she finally stirs, her eyes fluttering open. The hand that has been propping up my head is asleep from being in the same position for so long.

Her breath hitches when she wakes up enough to notice me lying next to her.

“J, what are you doing?”

“I came to apologize, Cass. What I said was taken completely out of proportion. I swear I wasn’t defending her, I just…I just didn’t want you to be the one to get in trouble. Ellen will always come out looking innocent because no one wants to deal with her father.”

“You really pissed me off.”

“I know and I’m sorry. Forgive me?” I hold my breath waiting for her answer.

“Yeah. I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. I was still angry with her and you got the brunt of it.”

“No worries, Cass. I’m just glad you aren’t mad at me anymore. And please, don’t run off like that again.”

“Okay,” she murmurs.

Cassie tenses when we hear gravel crunching, signaling someone pulling in the driveway.

Cassie’s eyes grow wide. “My parents are home. J, you have to go!”

Cassie frantically throws back the covers and jumps out of the bed.

“Cass, my truck is parked out front. They have already seen it.”

“Oh no,” she mumbles, covering her face.

I stand and pull her into my arms, trying to calm her. I don’t understand why she is getting so upset. “Cassie, I don’t see the big deal. I get to meet your parents, so what? They know we hang out a lot. Hell, I even pick you up for school every morning.”

“It’s not that I don’t want you to meet them, it’s just they—”

“Cassie Ann Matlock!” Her father’s voice booms through the house, cutting her off mid-sentence.

“In here!” she yells, stepping out of my arms to go open her bedroom door.

Her Dad’s footsteps pound against the tile as he walks down the hall. “What have I told you about having people over when we aren’t here?!”

“I’m sorry, we were just talking.”

“It’s my fault, sir,” I interject. I’m not going to let her take the fall for my mistake.

He changes his stance so his feet are shoulder width apart with his arms folded across his chest. He is obviously trying to intimidate me.

“Explain, now.”

“You see, sir, Cassie and I got into an argument and I came to apologize.”

“I see. Cassie, go in there with your mother.”

Cassie gives me an apologetic look and leaves her room.

Her father appraises me for a moment. I don’t know if he is trying to figure me out or what he is doing, but it is kind of unnerving standing here while he stares me down. I won’t let him see he intimidates me though or otherwise he’ll win. He won’t think I’m good enough for his daughter.

“I don’t want to catch you here with my daughter alone, again. Understand?”

I nod, pretending I do.

“Good, now that we have that out of the way, tell me, do you actually care about my daughter?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Another good answer. I don’t approve of Cassie dating, but I can’t really do anything about it. So, with that being said, Cassie is only allowed to see you on Saturday’s only, starting now.”

What? No freaking way. “I respect that, sir, but my games are on Friday nights and I really would like her there. And what about the holidays?” Christmas break is two freakin’ weeks long. No way would I be able to go without seeing Cassie once a week.

“Don’t expect to see her there this Friday, but I’ll take the other games as well as holidays into consideration.”

Dang it. He is really torturing me. “Yes, sir.”

“Say goodbye to Cassie,” he instructs as he opens the door, wanting me to walk out first.

When I walk into the living room, Cassie is in a heated argument with her mother.

“You broke the rules, Cassie!”

“Screw the rules, Mom! You and dad never think about what I want!”

“Cassie,” her Dad yells in warning. “We will discuss this in a minute. Say goodbye.”

Cassie runs into my arms. “I’m sorry,” she whispers so low I barely heard it.

“Don’t be, babe. It was all my fault. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

I kiss her cheek and release her. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Cassie nods sadly. “Okay.” I kiss her cheek and back away from her. I give a hard nod to her father then I am out the door.

Cassie

My heart cracks watching J walk out the front door. I don’t know what Dad said to him and it’s killing me.

“Cassie, what are the rules?” Dad asks the moment the door clicks shut.

Sighing, I recite them. “Never give out personal information, lie if necessary, and keep a low profile.”

“Exactly, so why do you keep breaking them?” Dad asks harshly as he walks into the kitchen. He stops at the fridge and turns to me, waiting for me to answer him.

What do I say to that? I mean at first I tried to get rid of them, but now I actually like hanging around them. “Answer me! You were specifically told to lay low, but you blew that all to hell on the second day at school,” he snaps. If he is that upset about it then why is he just now saying something?

Dad grabs a bowl of leftover spaghetti from last night and forks out of the drawer before sitting down at the table to eat.

“It’s kind of hard to keep a low profile when you are in a town where everybody knows everybody,” I answer smoothly. “Besides, it’s hard to lay low when we obviously stand out here.”

Dad leans forward, propping his arms on the table. “That’s not the point, Cassie. Regardless of where we live you know the damn rules. Do you want them to find us? Do you want us to get killed or do you want us to get arrested? Because that’s what will happen if you keep hanging around those boys. They are nothing but trouble.”

Of course, it’s my fault. It always is.

“How can you say that when you don’t even know them?” I demand.

“Their dad is a cop so if you keep hanging around them all the time they will dig into our lives, we will get arrested, and you will be put in a foster home until you turn eighteen. Do you want that?” he asks in an irritated voice.

I knew it. The real reason Dad cares so much is because Dan is Chief of Police. Shocker.

“No,” I answer forcefully.

“As I explained to him, you are only allowed to see him on Saturday’s until I say otherwise.” His voice is firm, demanding, and kind of scary. “The only reason we are even doing this is because if you all of a sudden stop seeing them it will raise suspicions. I expect you to follow the rules, Cassie. Don’t ruin this for us. If you fuck up, there will be hell to pay,” he threatens severely.

“I don’t think she should even get Saturday’s,” Mom interjects, walking in the kitchen.

“Marcie, I have to or they will start asking questions. It’s the only way for now,” Dad tells her. I don’t know why Dad is being so harsh. We weren’t doing anything except talking.

“Can I go to my room now?”

“Sure, but Cassie…the rules, remember them.”

“Yep,” I reply, forcing myself to bite my tongue so I don’t say what I really want to. No doubt I wouldn’t get to see J at all other than school or even worse, we’d move again.

I fight the urge to slam my bedroom door as I breeze in my room. Throwing that temper tantrum would be no help either. Gah! I have the need to throw something, anything I can get my hands on, yet I refrain. I can’t not see, J, and my one measly day a week to get to spend time with him and his family is a ten times better than not seeing them at all and a hundred times better than moving again.

I throw myself on my bed and roll onto my side, the side I was lying on when I opened my eyes and thought I was seeing things. I stare in the direction he was lying, picturing him there smiling back at me.

Oh, how I wish he was here now.

Chapter Seventeen

Cassie

All this week, J and I have been spending every moment we can together, knowing once school is over, I won’t be able to see him until the next morning since he has football practice. What was once being able to spend any of my free time with him, turned into hardly getting to see him at all. We steal as many kisses as we can before he has to report to practice. I try not to sulk every afternoon as Jess drives me home, but I can’t help it. Once I decided to just let my life be and give in to my feelings for J, I have done a complete one-eighty. I am happier than I have ever been, and it’s all thanks to J.

J and I are relaxing on the porch in the wooden swing. I am lying against him, and he has his arm wrapped around me.

We are talking about things we haven’t done before that we’d like to do.

“Okay, my turn,” I say as I try to think of something else I’d like to do. A moment later, I know what I am going to say. “I’d like to learn how to drive,” I blurt out.