Safe with You (20 page)

“I want to be able to spend time with your daughter.”

“Tell me, why should I even let you?”

Why? Because I love her and I’m dying not being able to see her when I want to. “Because, I miss her and I really love spending time with her. My parents and my brother miss her too. I love it when she gets to come watch my games and when I get to spend all day with her on Saturdays.”

He’s silent for a moment, studying me. “You’ve got guts, kid. I’m going to think about it. You will know by the middle of the week.”

I nod, thinking this is going better than I thought it would. I kind of thought he would automatically say no. I hope like hell he lets me see Cassie regularly.

“Thank you, sir. I really hope you reconsider letting me see, Cassie.”

After a hard nod, he turns and walks back into the house.
Well, I guess that’s the end of this conversation.

I walk back to the truck, feeling anxious. Four days. Four long freakin’ days until I know if I just shot myself in the foot or if I will be celebrating with Cassie.

Is it Wednesday yet?

Chapter Twenty-Five

Cassie

When I heard the rumble of Bo’s truck in the driveway a few days ago, I almost had a heart attack. With what J had told me earlier that day, I had been worried about him already. But the worry intensified when I heard Bo’s truck. I was thinking something was seriously wrong with J.

Then I about fell out when I heard J talking to Dad about getting to see me again. I had raised my window so I could hear what was going on.

Now, J and I are not so patiently waiting on Dad’s answer. Dad wanted me to invite J over, which I’m not fully certain is a smart idea.

J squeezes my hand comfortingly. I know the anxiety is written all over my face.

Craning my neck to look at him, I give him a weak smile.

“Love you,” he mouths and my heart flutters in my chest.

“Love you, too,” I mouth back to him.

We whip our heads over to the hallway when we hear my Dad’s footsteps coming down the hall. He rounds the corner with his face impassive, with my scowling mother in tow. Dad’s gaze is impassive, not giving us the slightest hint as to where he is choice will be good or bad.

Dad looks at J first, then focuses on me. “Cassie, your mother and I have been discussing whether or not you should see him, and I think we have reached a decision.”

I hold my breath as I await his answer. This is it. I’ll either be jumping up and down in excitement or arguing with them about why I should get to.

“We are granting you permission to see Mr. Michaels here. You know the rules, Cassie. I suggest you do a better job at following them from now on.”

I relinquish the breath I had been holding. I seriously didn’t think he would let me see, J.

“Thank you, Dad.” Part of me didn’t want to be nice since he is the reason we are in this situation.

“Yes, thank you, sir.” J stands and holds out his hand to Dad, who surprisingly shakes it.

J and I share an ecstatic smile.

“I don’t want to push my luck, but do you mind if Cassie comes to dinner tonight? My parents would love to see her.”

“Where is this dinner?”

“At my house.”

Dad nods. Man, I’m beginning to think Hell is freezing over. I excitedly run to my room to change and freshen up.

I quickly return to save J from my parents, even though he seems to be handling it quite well.

“Have her back by nine-thirty,” Dad says as J and I are walking toward the front door.

“I will, sir,” J promises, and then we are out the door.

J holds the door open for me and waits until I’m completely in before jogging around the truck and climbing in.

Both of us burst into a fit of laughter. “Holy crap that was intense. I swear I didn’t breathe for the longest,” J says in between laughs.

“I know! I’m just glad he agreed!”

Dinner is amazing as always. Jane really knows how to cook. Just like every Saturday, I help her in the kitchen while the guys do whatever with Dan. It really sucks that I only get to see Dan and Jane once a week, if that. They are more like my parents than my own.

Jane and Bo tackled me as soon as J and I step foot in the house. Dan is the only one who didn’t freak out. All the emotions are starting to become overwhelming. I’ve missed these people so much. They have normal lives while mine is nothing but chaos.

“I heard y’all will have a new student on Monday. I think they said his name was Zack Daniels,” Dan says from the head of the table.

The food I am in the process of swallowing gets lodged in my throat. My fork clatters to the plate then falls to the floor. J starts pounding on my back until I can finally breathe again. Surely it’s just a coincidence? There is no way my ex-boyfriend Zack could be in Alabama, not a small town in Alabama anyway.

“Cass, are you alright?” J asks from beside me. I nod, saying that I am, but I’m far from it. Tentatively, I take a sip of my tea.

“Where is he from dad?” Bo asks.

“He’s a yankee, like you, Cassie. Indiana, I think.”

My heart slams against my chest. Just another coincidence, right? After all there could be two Zack Daniel’s from Indiana.

“Cassie.”

But what if it is him? My parents would flip and then we’d have to move and they’d blame me for it.

“Cassie.”

Zack would tell everyone back home and the drug dealers would get wind of where we are and come kill us.

“Cassie!” J’s concerned voice pulls me from the panic state I was in.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” I mutter quickly before running to the nearest bathroom and violently emptying the contents of my stomach into the toilet.

This can’t be happening.

“Here, Cass.” J held out a damp cloth for me to wipe my face with. “Feel better?”

“A little,” I say to appease him. J leads me out of the bathroom to the living room and instructed me to lie down on the couch. Should I tell him about my parents? If I did we’d move and I didn’t there is a chance we could be killed. I don’t want to leave, but I don’t want to die either. Would telling J and his family help? Sooner or later, J would find out that Zack is my ex-boyfriend. What if Zack doesn’t recognize me, though? It’s been two years and people can change a lot in that amount of time.

“Cassie.” J snaps his fingers in front of my face. “You’re scarin’ the livin’ daylights out of me.” He reaches up and caresses my cheek.

“I’m fine, I just don’t feel good.”

“Are you sure that’s it?” Crap…did he put two and two together?

“Yes, it just hit me all of a sudden.” I hate lying to J, but if I tell him about Zack it will lead to other questions I can’t answer. J and his family can’t be involved in my situation.

“Okay.” He plants a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll be right back. Do you need anything?” I shake my head no and he walks back towards the kitchen.

A few minutes’ later J returns with a blanket, a bottle of water, and a movie. After he pops the movie in he lies down on the couch with me and drapes the blanket over us.

The movie is playing though I’m not paying attention. On the outside, I look fine, but on the inside, I’m freaking out. I should’ve stayed away like I decided to do in the first place. Maybe then, I wouldn’t be freaking out so bad. Sure my heart would be hurting, but eventually I’d be okay. Now if things go like I think they will my heart will be shattered into a gazillion pieces. J and his family will hate me and heart will never be the same again.

****

I didn’t go to school on Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday or even Thursday. J showed up every morning at seven-thirty as usual. Mom was more than happy to turn him away. I told her to tell him that I had the stomach virus. I wasn’t totally lying. I was nauseated by the fact that my world is about to start crumbling down. Mom and dad never question my excuse to my relief.

Even after missing four days of school, I want to stay home and mope about how my life sucks. I still wasn’t any better today, but I had to force myself out of bed this morning. I couldn’t miss any more days. Besides, you can only have the stomach virus for so long.

At precisely seven-thirty, J pulls in the driveway. I’m already waiting on the porch for him. I missed not seeing him the last four days, but I knew he would see right through me and know that I was not being truthful about being sick. I put on a brave face as I make my way to his truck. His mouth curls into a grin when he sees me, and I can’t help but smile in return.

He meets me halfway, engulfing me in his arms. “I missed you, Cass. I’m so glad you’re feeling better.” He places his hand on the small of my back, ushering me to the passenger side of his truck. He helps me in before jogging around and jumping in the driver’s seat. J grasps my hand and brings it up to his mouth, kissing it.

“Are you sure you’re feelin’ all right? You look a little pale,” J asks once we were on the road to school.

“Yeah, I’m not a hundred percent, but I feel fine.” At least that’s the truth.

“You know we can just go to my house and skip school,” he offers.

“As tempting as that sounds, I’ve missed too many days already.” Sooner or later, I’d have to face Zack so I might as well get it over with.

“Okay, but if at any time you want to leave, we’ll go,” J replies as he parks in his normal parking spot.

As we walk through the parking lot, I can feel someone’s eyes on me. I keep my head down and my hand clasped in J’s as he leads me toward the entrance. Bo and Jess meet us at the side entrance to the school.

The guys slap hands while Jess and I hug Jess. I didn’t dare look around the parking lot for fear of who I might see. I step closer to J and he slinks his arm around me protectively.

Hey darlin’, feeling better?” Bo asks me.

“Yeah.”

“J here has been all out of sorts with you being at home the last few days.”

“Well, we’ll just have to make up for it this weekend won’t we?” I smirk, winking at J.

Bo groans. “Some things you can’t un-hear Cassie.”

J and I laugh and walk past them to our lockers. We stop to gather our books before heading to my first-period class. J gives me a long hug and kisses my cheek before walking away to his class.

I walk in quickly and sit down in my seat. The ball drops as soon as class starts because Zack is introduced to the class. Zack has changed a lot since I saw him last. He is no longer the preppy fifteen-year-old boy who made sure he always looked perfect. He is now more rugged looking like he didn’t care what he looked like anymore. His hair, which used to be combed perfectly in place, is now a messy mop on his head. His polo shirts and khakis have been replaced by old t-shirts and baggy jeans.

I slump down in my seat when his eyes scan the room. When his haunted eyes landed on mine, they widen in recognition.

Luckily, the only available seat is on the opposite side of the room, although that doesn’t stop him from staring at me.

I keep my focus strained to the front of the room, trying to concentrate on what the teacher is saying, but all I could think about is how my life is about to crash and burn.

As soon as the bell rings, I bolt out the door.

“Cassie, wait up!” I curse under my breath for not being quick enough. “Cassie.” Zack grabs my elbow pulling me to a stop. He walks around to stand in front of me. “It’s you, it’s really you,” he says in astonishment.

I swallow hard, trying to find my voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question,” he counters.

Yeah, well I can’t tell you that reason.
“I need to go,” I say as I try to walk past him, but he steps in front of me blocking my path.

“Can we talk, please?”

“There is nothing to talk about.”

“Yes, there is, Cassie, and you know it,” he challenges.

I opened my mouth to speak, but J has walked up behind me and wrapped his arm around my waist, resting his hand on my hip. “Is there a problem here?”

Zack’s eyes followed J’s arm around my waist before looking at me with sad eyes. “It was just a misunderstanding. She isn’t who I thought she was.” His eyes never wavered from me as he spoke, his gaze burning into my skin. I, on the other hand, am trying hard not to look at him.