Read Save Me: a Stepbrother Romance Online
Authors: Bella Scully
“Because he wants to hurt me. And because he doesn’t want me to talk to you. You know too much about us.”
“I hate him.”
“I hate him too, sweetheart.” He sighed and embraced me. I bit my bottom lip and glanced over his shoulder toward the crowd. No one was looking, but I wasn’t sure how much private time we had left. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy to get him away from you. You’re too good for him. For us.”
“Don’t you dare say that.”
He shrugged. “It’s true.”
“I will never be good enough for you, Cal Gatlin.”
I hated the sight of the house slowly being emptied. It meant that it was getting closer to the time when they’d take Cal from me. And that thought was unbearable.
When it was almost noon and most of the vans had been loaded, Cal took me by the hand. While everyone else was distracted with finishing the last few vans, Cal pulled me into the kitchen. I glanced out the window as he wrapped his arms around me. Outside in the rain, Mom and James snapped at each other as they repacked a box that had fallen from the van. I had never seen her so angry as I had these last few weeks. Maybe there was a bad influence in the house.
But it wasn’t Cal.
“Sweetheart,” he whispered, pressing his lips against my ear. “Stop worrying. You look half dead.”
“They’re taking you away from me, Cal.” I cupped his cheek with my palm, loving the way his stubble bit into it. He closed his eyes and rested his face in my hand. God, he was beautiful when he did that. “How will I know if you’re safe?”
“I can take care of myself, Nat. I’ve done it my whole life.”
“But how will I know that?” I felt the sobs rise up my chest again, but I crushed them down. I couldn’t let my emotions get the better of me. Not today. Not with Cal in danger. “You know he won’t let me talk to you. He wants nothing to do with us anymore, not now that we’ve wrecked his happy little family fantasy. Not now that I know what he is.”
“Jesus, Nat,” he breathed.
“What? Did I say something wrong? I’m ruining this whole day, I know. I’m sorry.”
“No, sweetheart. It’s just … I forgot what it was like to have somebody care about me.”
Oh God, Cal. Keep digging that knife into my heart.
“I’ll be fine,” he said, opening his eyes again. He leaned forward to kiss me long and soft. “I always have been.”
“I won’t be. Not without you.”
“You were fine your whole life without me.”
“But I’ll miss you. They’re stealing you from me, Cal. We haven’t even got the chance to really be together.” I buried my face in his chest. “We haven’t been able to date openly, or go to prom together, or….” I could feel the heat reach my cheeks.
“Make love?” he asked.
“Ugh. It sounds so … soppy.”
“Too bad,” he chuckled. “I couldn’t just
fuck
you, Nat. Not you, sweetheart.” His fingers combed through my hair.
“Not like it matters now,” I mumbled into his chest.
Calls came from outside. The last van had been packed up. James had started corralling and paying the hired hands. They would leave at any moment, regardless of the storm. Or how much it hurt Cal and I to lose each other.
“Listen, Natalie,” he said, embracing me harder. “We don’t have much time. You need to listen to me, alright sweetheart? Nate is fucking dangerous. And he wants you.”
“Fuck him, I don’t care.”
“But he does. Please, Nat, you have to promise me you’ll be careful. If anything ever happened to you….”
His voice broke.
“I promise,” I mumbled into his chest. I couldn’t deny him anything. Not Cal. And especially not now.
“Good girl.”
He kissed my forehead.
“Now look at me,” he ordered.
I lifted my head and looked into his eyes. He brushed the hair from my face. “Fuck, you’re beautiful, Nat.”
James yelled from outside for Cal to get in the truck.
“Kiss me,” he said. “Make it count.”
I opened my mouth. His lips pressed against mine, hard and insistent. I knotted my fingers in his hair, pulling him against me. God, I needed him. I always needed him. His tongue slipped into my mouth, and his fingers dug into my back. Another yell from James sounded from the window.
Cal’s lips pulled away from me. He cupped my chin and looked into my eyes, serious and intense.
“I will be back,” he murmured. His lips pressed against my forehead again, their warmth protecting me from the biting cold of the air around us. His strong arms wrapped around me, the fingers digging into my soft flesh as if he wanted to anchor himself to me and never let go. “I will protect you, Nat. They can take out of the same house, but they can’t take me away from you.”
“I don’t want you to go,” I whispered.
“Fuck, Nat. You know I don’t want to either.” He kissed me hard again, ignoring another of James’ yells. “But look.” He touched my earring. “As long as you have this, I’m with you. Alright, sweetheart.”
“I’ll never take it off.”
“I know you won’t, baby.”
His voice broke on the last word. It killed something inside of me, something secret and precious. Something that had died once before with Dad but he had revived in me for just a fleeting moment. Cal had given me something to live for. Now that he was gone, I couldn’t see the point of it all. Not now.
He pulled away from me, forcing my arms off of him. I knew he had to go, even if I hated it. “Just listen. Okay?”
I nodded.
“I will promise you this, Natalie Harlow.”
His lips pressed against my knuckles, the rough grain of his five o’clock shadow scratching them. I prayed fiercely that it would leave a mark, that I would have something of him left to take to bed with me when I fell asleep crying that night.
“I will come back for you,” he said, looking into my eyes. “No matter what. No matter how long it takes. No matter how hard it is. I will fucking come back for you, Natalie Harlow. Because you are worth it.”
He kissed my forehead one more time.
“I love you,” he whispered.
And then he turned around and walked out of the house, into the car, leaving me shaking and sobbing in the kitchen.
Just as suddenly as he forced his way into my life, Callum Gatlin left.
Once again, I was alone.
“Natalie. Natalie, open the door.”
I pulled the pillow tighter over my head, hoping the feather stuffing would drown my mother’s voice out. The rain hammered against my bedroom window, but I could still hear her visiting every few minutes. She pounded on the door again.
“Natalie, please talk to me.”
I heard the rattle of the doorknob, but it had been locked ever since Cal left. I knew I shouldn’t be this horrible to my own mother. I knew I was being selfish. But God, it hurt.
Mom’s frustrated sigh groaned against the door. Her footsteps padded away. Even she was giving up on me.
My face was still hot and wet from the tears that were soaking my sheets. I wasn’t sure if it was night yet or not. I hadn’t peeked my head out of the covers since I dove under them hours ago, as soon as Cal left and I could think straight enough to climb upstairs. The only thing I could think about, the only thing I could feel, was the crippling pain in my chest. I took a deep breath and touched the diamond stud still clipped in my ear. It was the only thing keeping me sane.
My phone vibrated against my thigh.
Wiping a tear away from my eye, I pulled it out of my pocket and sat up in bed. I glanced at the window, where the moon shined bright and white in the black sky. Cal was long gone by now. I wondered where to.
I glanced at the phone.
NEW MESSAGE FROM
NATHANIEL POOLE
Fuck him.
I deleted it without reading it.
I collapsed back on the bed.
Four hours ago, I had texted Cal. Asking him where he was, if he knew where he was going. No answer.
Three hours ago, I had texted Cal. Asking him if he had gotten my last text. Asking if he had anything to say. No answer.
Two hours ago, I had texted Cal. Asking him to please answer me, to say anything. No answer.
One hour ago, I had gotten a text from Cal’s number:
CAL:
DO NOT CONTACT MY SON AGAIN
God, I hated that man.
My phone vibrated. Another text from Nate. I deleted it. In the kitchen beneath my room, the Mom’s spoon tinkled against her mug as she fixed herself a cup of strong, black coffee. I was happy that he was away from her, at least.
I had a weekend to wallow. Then school on Monday, where my psycho ex would be waiting for me. Then prom on Saturday, where I would be painfully reminded by the diamond stud in my ear that the only one I loved wouldn’t be taking me.
I fell back in bed and pulled the covers over me as I groaned into the pillow. I could keep pretending that this wasn’t happening, or I could fix it. I knew I would have to face reality on Monday.
But for now, I just needed to cry.
I choked a new sob into my pillow.
I love you, Cal.
And I miss you so fucking much.