The Redemption of Callie and Kayden (17 page)

his head at me. “With this beautiful girl over here?”

Kayden looks torn as he glances from me to Seth and then

out the front window and into the night. “I have something on

Monday that I have to be here for.”

“We can be back on Monday,” Luke chimes in, rotating the

defroster up as the windows fog. “That’ll give us four days of

freedom and that’s four days we don’t have to spend here.”

I stare into Kayden’s eyes and see something I don’t

like—overpowering fear. “We don’t have to go,” I say to him

because he’s the only one who matters at the moment and I can

tell something’s wrong.

He rubs the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip, flipping

it down a little. “Do you want to go?”

“Only if you want to go,” I reply, and to add emphasis, I lean

in and whisper, “And you can go.”

He stares at me with the strangest expression, like I’m this

amazing, unique creature that no one knows about, and then his

mouth tilts up into a small but breathtaking smile. “I can go until

Monday.”

Seth squeals, claps his hands, and kicks his feet against the

floor as he screams, “Road trip, here we come!”

“Thank fucking God.” Luke sighs with relief. He cranks the

heat up and then flips the lever next to the steering wheel, turning

the wipers on. They move back and forth and back and forth,

wiping away the snow from the glass and making it dewy. “Now

we just have to go get everyone’s shit.”

“I’m good,” Kayden says as I sit up and put my feet on the

floor. He combs his fingers through my hair, gazing out the

window with his eyebrows knit. “I’ll just get some clothes and stuff

when we get there.”

None of us press him because it’s obvious he doesn’t want

to go home. “What about your bike?” Luke turns around and puts

his arm on the back of the seat, looking in the bed of the truck at

Kayden’s motorcycle obscured by a sheet of fluffy snowflakes. “You

want to take it?”

Kayden shrugs. “All I want is to not have to go home yet.” His

fingers fall from my hair and settle on my hip where he delves into

my skin just beneath the hem of my shirt. “So we can take it or

ditch it somewhere.”

Luke rotates back around in the seat and shoves the shifter

forward, the gears grinding a little before slipping in. “We’ll just

take it.” He presses on the gas, inching the truck forward. “What

about you?” He looks at me and then at Seth. “Do you guys need

to go get your stuff?”

I start to open my mouth to say no, but Seth interrupts. “I

don’t go anywhere without my kit.”

Luke doesn’t even bother asking. He just rolls his eyes and

aims the truck in the direction of my house. I watch the homes zip

by as I sit on Kayden’s lap, hoping I’m not doing anything wrong,

hoping I’m not doing more damage than good. Really, I don’t

know what I’m doing and all I can hope for is the best. It’s the

worst feeling in the world because hope has never been that kind

to me.

* * *

I rapidly get thrown into a state of anxiety when Seth and I

climb out of the car. There are four figures that I can see through

the kitchen window of my house and I recognize that the

dark-haired fourth member isn’t part of my family. My mom, my

dad, Jackson, and Caleb are sitting at the kitchen table as I walk up the driveway to the garage and Kayden is in the truck with Luke at

the end of the driveway.

I smell a storm coming in, like the aroma of rain that laces

the air before a thunderstorm. But the scent I smell is foul, like

dirty water that stains the grass after the rainstorm.

“What are you looking at?” Seth says, tracking my gaze to

the window of the kitchen. The lights are on and the inside can be

seen clearly. My mother is serving everyone, my dad is talking

heatedly, and Caleb and Jackson are laughing at him.

I shake my head, wrap my hand around his upper arm, and

haul him up the driveway. Seth is looking at me like I’ve lost my

mind, but I keep walking, step by step until we’re inside the room

above the garage. I flip on the light and shut the door, panting as I lean against it.

“This is so bad,” I whisper and then hurry for my bag. “We

have to get out of here now.”

Seth follows me at a slow pace and veers to the side for his

kit that’s in the bathroom. “What’s wrong with you, baby girl?”

There’s clanking as he gathers his cologne and razor from near the

sink. “You’re acting like a weirdo.”

I toss my shirts and a few pairs of jeans into my bag and then

zip it up. “There’s… there’s…” I can’t get it out and he steps out of the doorway zipping up the mini bag he carries his toiletries in.

“Callie, whatever it is, just tell me.” He drops the smaller bag

into the larger one on the bed. “It’s okay.”

“There’s someone in the house,” I sputter, dragging my bag

to the door.

“Obviously.” He raises his eyebrows at me and then

scrutinizes my bag. “Did you put any shorts or sandals in there? It’s going to be a hell of a lot warmer there then it is here. Plus, you

don’t want to walk around in the sand wearing sneakers.”

“I don’t own anything else,” I say and then swiftly shake my

head as I jerk open the door. “Seth, we have to go. Now.”

Everything’s about to fall apart, just like it did last time.

Seth rolls his eyes and slings his bag over his shoulder. “Fine,

but you’re going to eventually tell me what the panic is all about.”

He turns sideways and squeezes through the doorway.

I flip off the lights, close the door, and trot down the stairs

after him, wrestling my overly large bag down the steps behind

me. I should have left some of my stuff here, but I’m too afraid that Caleb or my brother or my mom will walk out.

I dash passed the side door, my legs nearly trotting in the

rush, but Seth snags my elbow as he slams to a halt. “Don’t you

want to tell you mother where you’re going?”

I glance at the side door, the light spilling through the

window in the center, and I shake my head. “I don’t think I should.”

His brow creases as he examines my face with concern. “Are

you sure? I know she’s been bugging the crap out of both of us,

but she seems like she’s going to panic if we just bail and not tell

her.”

My body ripples with a tremble when I see Caleb rise from

the table and head across the kitchen. “It’ll be okay.” My voice is

insignificant like the snowflakes drifting down from the starless

sky, touching the ground, and instantly melting.

“Callie, I… why are you shaking?” He glances back at the

house as the side door flings open. Pale yellow light floods the

darkness but then suffocates out like a flame as a tall figure

emerges in the doorway.

It’s Caleb carrying a trash bag in his hand. He’s probably

trying to win my mother over and she’s probably letting him,

because she always wants to see what she wants to see. Why is she

so blind?

Caleb’s demeanor doesn’t change as he steps out onto the

porch and into the snow, making sure to close the door behind

him to smother out whatever he’s going to say from my family’s

ears. “What are you doing out here? Standing out in the snow?”

His gaze cuts to Seth as he steps down a stair. “You got another

one, huh? Decided to dump that crazy football player after he

kicked my ass.”

“Fuck,” Seth breathes, suddenly understanding who it is. His

fingers plunge into my arm as he begins to tow me back, one foot

after another, the snow crunching beneath our shoes.

Caleb moves down a stair, reducing the distance between us

with a smirk on his face. His eyes are black like coals and his face is masked by the shadow created by the hood over his head.

Sometimes I wonder why he doesn’t seem to care or show any

remorse for what he did. What is wrong with him? Is he so warped

and split that he likes torturing me?

“Come on over here and introduce him,” he calls out as he

arrives at the bottom step.

“Fuck you!” Seth shouts, taking longer strides, practically

dragging me backward down the driveway as my tiny legs work to

keep up with him.

My legs feel like rubber and won’t work right and I keep

tripping over my feet. I wish I could find some kind of strength that has to be suppressed inside me and shout at him, take him down,

scream, throw things. Do anything to wipe the pleased smirk off

his face.

But in his presence I’m still the child he pinned down on the

bed. He has his hand forced over my mouth while he shatters me

into fragments. I allow Seth to haul me down the driveway toward

Luke’s truck, watching Caleb through the curtain of snowfall. His

eyes are fixed on mine and I feel tears beginning to leak out of my

own. I’m crying and weak and I want to crumble into the ground

and melt with the snowflakes.

“Callie.” The sound of Kayden’s voice snaps me back to real

life and the bigger picture.

I have more problems at the moment than how I feel, like

getting Kayden away from Caleb before a reenactment of that

night happens. I spin around and Seth’s hand falls from me.

Kayden is standing in front of the bumper of the truck with his

arms folded. His eyes are not on me but locked on Caleb. His face

looks like a shadow as he stands with the rays of the headlights

aimed at his back.

I shift my bag higher onto my shoulder and my shoes lose

traction against the snow as I run to him. His eyes don’t leave

Caleb even as I approach him and then he steps forward, dodging

to the side, out of my path. I drop my bag and before he can get

any closer to the house jump up, fling my arms around his neck,

and latch onto him.

Every muscle in his body hardens as I hook my legs around

his waist, clutching onto him like I’m a leech because that’s what I

need to be at the moment—something he can’t get rid of without

a lot of work.

“Callie,” he says in a low tone, not holding onto to me. “Let

me go.”

I rapidly shake my head. “No, please just get back into the

truck.”

His hair brushes against my cheeks as he shakes his head.

“Callie… I can’t.” He sounds strangled and I really believe that he

thinks he can’t walk away.

“But you can.” I breathe against his ear as I bury my face into

his neck. “For me.”

It’s like I’ve discovered the magic words and unexpectedly

he’s backing up toward the truck, slowly, but he’s going.

Then I hear Caleb say, “Oh, so she didn’t ditch you. I guess

she’s turning into a little slut then.”

“Please, please, please,” I chant as he starts to walk forward.

“Please don’t do this. I need you. I need you. I need you.” I close

my eyes as I hear a door creak open and then another one

opening. Suddenly everyone is shouting.

I hear Luke’s voice first. “Why don’t you shut your fucking

mouth and go back inside before you get yourself hurt again.”

“Oh, I’m so going to press charges now,” Caleb replies. “The

epic, favorite—and apparently suicidal—football player is going

down.”

And then I hear my mother’s. “Callie Lawrence, you get in

here this instant. I told you to stay away from him.”

I feel Kayden’s chest stirring with mine as he seeks oxygen

with me, treading forward and then backward, like he can’t decide

where to go or what he wants to do.

“Callie Lawrence!” my mom shouts and her voice echoes

through the streets and dogs start to bark. “It’s Christmas break.

You should be in here with your family.”

But I am with my family. I summon every last ounce of

courage I still have thriving inside me, push back from Kayden’s

shoulders, and forcefully meet his gaze. “Please take me out of

here,” I plead in an uneven voice. The anger fleetingly diminishes

in his pupils as he blinks at me. “I can’t do this without you.”

Just like that we connect again and our hearts beat together,

erratic and untamed but still together. And that’s all that matters.

It’s just him and me, shielded from the shouting and yelling going

on around us. He backs up to the truck, holding onto me, and

opens the door. Without taking his eyes off me, he climbs in and

slams the door shut. The warm air engulfs us as we hold onto each

other. Seconds later the driver’s-side door opens and Seth hops in

and Luke follows. The shouting enters the cab, but the cranking of

the heater and stereo stifle it. As we’re backing away, I realize that I’m not alone in the world. I have a truck full of people who care

about me enough to not ask what the fuss was about. One day I’ll

give them all hugs for it.

Kayden starts smoothing his hand down the back of my head

and his pulse is beating through his fingertips. He keeps kissing

my head and mutters that it’ll be okay. I’m not sure if he’s talking

to me or himself.

When I feel the truck driving down the road, I finally look

back at the house. My mom is standing in the middle of the

driveway in the snowfall without a jacket or shoes on. She has to

be cold, but her face looks red in the dim porch light. My dad’s on

the steps, dressed in jeans and his favorite jersey, scratching his