“Was anyone else out here with her or was she alone?” he probes.
“She was alone.”
Dan pulls out a small notepad and starts scribbling. “What were you doing out here, Cassie?”
“I was using Zack’s phone to call my Dad. I had walked away from the party so I could hear him better,” I explain, hoping I am not in any sort of trouble.
“Thank you, Cassie. I will let you know if I have any more questions. Also, if you hear anything else, let me know.”
“We will, dad,” J replies for me.
Dan pats J’s shoulder and smiles at me before moving on to our other classmates.
J turns to me, and for the first time, I wonder how he is taking this. How does it bother him?
“Are you okay, J?”
He smiles faintly. “Yeah, it sucks to lose a classmate, no matter how awful she was, but otherwise, I’m good.”
“Just making sure.”
J drops his arms from around me and grabs my hand, bringing it up to his mouth. “Let’s get you home, Cassie.”
“Okay,” I say, my voice sounding small.
As we walk out of the woods to J’s truck, Zack comes stalking toward us. “For the last time, Cassie, we have to go.”
J jerks us to a stop, then steps in front of me, protecting me from Zack. “And I told you I am taking her home.”
Zack scoffs. “Oh yeah, why don’t you let her decide who she wants to take her home instead of controlling her.”
Having enough of Zack disrespecting J, I step out from behind him, getting right up in Zack’s face. “I’ve seriously had it with you, Zack. Just because you’re close to my father does mean you have the right to tell me what to do. Want to point fingers at my boyfriend and say he’s controlling? Well, you need to take a good long look in the mirror, Zack because you have no room to talk. I am riding home with J, and if Dad has a problem with it, he can take it up with me.”
Zack’s face grows murderous. You can tell he doesn’t like to be told off, especially not by a girl.
Blindly grabbing J’s hand, I walk around Zack, leaving him to stew. This Zack, pisses me off more than a bull seeing a red flag being waved in front of him.
“I wish he’d leave you alone,” J growls.
“Me too, J.”
The moment I arrive home, I could tell there would be a heated argument taking place because Dad is standing on the front porch, seething. His gun is propped up against the railing.
I lean over and kiss J goodnight. “I’ll see you tomorrow, baby.”
“I can’t wait, Cass,” he murmurs, his lips brushing mine as he speaks.
“Goodnight,” I say as I climb out of his truck.
“Sweet dreams, Cass.”
Walking up to the house I’m living in temporarily, I leave the safety net that is J and head into the unknown.
“Where the hell have you been? I expected you over an hour ago!” Dad roars.
I stop my trek to my bedroom and narrow my eyes at him. “In case you forgot, you told me my curfew was one in the morning and right now it is just after midnight.”
“When I tell you to get home, I expect you right then, no questions asked!”
How dare he? “Someone died tonight, Dad! I found her in the woods right after I got off the phone with you so I had to wait for the police to arrive! That is why I’m ‘late’, as you call it.”
“You talked to the police?”
That’s all he got out of that? “I had to. I told Dan about me walking up on her.”
He’s quiet for a moment. Dad runs his hand over his face, then looks pointedly at me. “You better hope we aren’t found because of this mess and that they don’t come digging around.”
Seriously? Someone died tonight and all he is worried about is being found? Oh, I get it, he don’t want to cops to come here and find his stash.
Well, guess what, I hope they do. I hope they raid this house and lock them up. My parents need a wake up call.
“No worries, dad, I think your secret is safe,” I sneer and walk into the house, slamming the door behind me.
I wait until I hear J drive away before falling into bed and drifting off to sleep.
Chapter Thirty- Seven
Cassie
Ellen’s funeral is today. J and I, along with Bo and Jess, went to her visitation last night to pay our respects. J and I decided we didn’t want to go to the funeral today. Instead, he is picking me up around lunch time so we can spend a few hours together.
I’m in my bedroom, going through my clothes, picking out what I’m wearing today when there is a hard knock on my door.
It opens and Zack sticks his head in before walking all the way inside, shutting the door behind him.
I guess now is when we will have our little chat. I’ve stopped asking him what he is doing here because I know why. He wants me back and isn’t taking no for an answer. He always comes up with the ways to get me to fall for him again. Well, it’s not going to work.
“How long have you been here?” I ask, just to see his answer.
He gives me a questioning look, but answers anyway. “Not long ago, like maybe, a month. Why?”
“Liar,” I reply, calling him out.
“Lied about what?” he asks, pretending to be confused.
I’m so pissed off that I explode on him. “I’m not stupid, Zack! You’ve been here just about as long as I have, except you have been hiding out, watching me from a distance! Is that part of Dad’s instructions too or were you just creeping? The football game, the parties, it was you!”
Zack just stands there motionless, not denying the truth. “I wanted to approach you, Cassie, but I didn’t know how.”
“You didn’t seem to have a problem with it your first day at school,” I point out, reminding him how he ran to catch me after class.
“I was watching over you, protecting you,” he says softly, trying to justify his actions.
“From what? I am safer with J and his family than I am anywhere.”
He sighs heavily, scrubbing his face with both his hands. “Look, your Dad called me and said he needed me down here to help look after you, claiming you were in danger. You were spending all this time with these guys and he needed someone down here to look after you.”
I throw my head back and laugh humorlessly. “You both are delusional. I’m safer with J and his family.”
Zack grunts in disappointment. He steps forward, reaching out with his hand to touch me, but I step back out of his reach.
“You need to go, Zack. Stay out of my relationship and quit trying to break us up. Just back off. I don’t care what Dad told you, just keep your distance.”
Zack shakes his head. “No, I will not stand back and let you continue to pretend to be happy. I will watch over you to make sure he doesn’t hurt you.”
Tired of trying to reason with him, I tell him, “Just go, Zack.”
“Fine,” he replies, his tone clipped. Zack turns and heads for my bedroom door.
The door rattles as he slams it closed behind him.
Noticing the time, I quickly grab my clothes and head for the shower. Great, now I’m going to have to rush to be ready on time.
I am slipping my shoes on just as I hear J pull in the drive. I rush out the door, not saying goodbye or anything to my parents or Zack, who is still here.
J engulfs me in his arms like he always does when comes to pick me up.
“You want to drive again today?” J asks me with a smile.
Do I want to drive, uh, heck yeah! “Yes!” I scream, jumping up and down in his arms.
His arms fall away from around me, his hand dropping to link with mine. “It’s cute to see you so excited about driving,” he smirks.
“Well, I do have a hot Driver’s Ed teacher.”
He kisses me. “And the student is really, really gorgeous,” he murmurs low.
With one last kiss, he opens the driver’s door open for me to let me climb in.
&n
bsp; This time, I am more confident in my driving skills. J is really a good teacher. He explains it so you can understand it, and doesn’t get frustrated if you keep doing something wrong.
“So, what are we doing today?” I ask, though, keeping my eyes on the road.
“We are grillin’ out today and then we will be making s’mores later so make sure you bring your appetite.”
On cue, my stomach growls. “That sounds fun.”
J chuckles. “Knowing mom, there will be a lot of food so it’s a good thing you’re hungry.”
He wasn’t kidding. No lie, Dan and Jane cooked enough food to feed not one, but two armies. Holy crap at the feast before me.
J leans in to whisper in my ear. “Told you so.”
He must have seen my wide eyes as I was taking in the scene before me.
Jane walks out the back door of the house, carrying plates and utensils. She smiles when she sees me. “Hey dear, just whenever you’re ready, you can dig in.” Jane comes over and hugs me before walking back in the house.
Bo suddenly comes barreling out of the house, heading straight for the tables of food. He piles his plate full of food then grabs another plate and does the same.
Geez, hungry much?
The moment I hear J’s laughter next to me and see Bo snap his head up in my direction with a smirk on his face, I knew I had said those words out loud. Whoops, oh well.
“As a matter of fact, darlin’, I’m so hungry I could eat a whole cow. Besides, Mom’s cooking is too good not to just eat one plate.”
He had a point there, Jane is like a master at cooking. I think she could take on Gordon Ramsey any day and win.
J hands me a plate and I start filling it up. I take a seat at the patio table and dig in.
“What do you want to drink, Cass?” J asks.
“Sweet tea is fine, thanks.” I’ve come to discover that the tea down here tastes a whole lot better than our tea back in Indy.
“I’ll have sweet tea, too, thanks, bro,” Bo adds.
J is not amused. “Get your own darn tea, Bo.”
Bo shakes his head gets up to get his own drink.
Dan and Jane walk out onto the patio to start fixing their own plates.
“Hey, Cassie, you doin’ alright today?” Dan asks when he notices me.
Swallowing a mouthful of food, I reply “I’m good.”
“You keepin’ my son in line?”
I smile and look over a J who is silently laughing. “Kind of, I still have a bunch of work to do, though.”
“That a girl, keep him straight, ya hear.”
I nod and take a sip of tea when J hands it to me. “I will certainly, Dan.”
I ended up eating two plates full of food. Bo was right, although I will never admit it to him, you can’t eat just one plate of Jane’s cooking.
I helped them clean up from lunch. Jane told me not to worry about it, but I wanted to help. Once the tables were cleared, I started washing the dishes while Jane put away the leftovers.
I am drying my hands when J comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my middle. “You know, as many times as you’ve been here, I haven’t shown you our horses.”
I turn my head and smile back at him. “Well, let’s go.”
We walk to the barn hand in hand. J opens the door to the barn, letting me walk in first.
He tells me about each horse and their names. Lady is a beautiful horse. They all are really, but Lady attracts me more.
Reaching up, I pet her gently. She must like it because she leans her head into my hand.
“You want to ride Lady?” J asks, watching our exchange.
“I’ve never been on a horse before.” The thought of riding one is a little scary.
“That’s not what I asked.”
Rolling my eyes at him, I reply “Yes, I want to ride her.”
J chuckles. “That’s all you had to say.”
J saddles up Lady and I stand back, watching him. Really, it’s more like ogling him. It’s really hard not to stare at J with how handsome he is.
“You ready?” J asks glancing over his shoulder at me with a knowing smile.
He caught me staring at him.
J starts instructing me on how to mount a horse. “Really, all you have to do is place your foot in the loop then hoist yourself up and swing your leg over. Piece of cake.”
Piece of cake…right.
It takes me a couple tries, but I am finally seated on Lady’s back. Holy crap…I’m on a horse.
“Ready?” J asks, as he grabs the reins.
“Yeah. Just go slow,” I tell him, sounding a little scared.
“I got this, Cass.”
I freak out a little when Lady starts moving, but the longer I ride her, the calmer I get.
J walks the horse around the field for several minutes before he stops then surprises me by climbing up and sitting behind me. “Want to go a little faster, Cass?”
“Not too fast,” I remind him. I still fear I’m going to fall off the horse and break a bone.
J kicks the horse into gear and she starts trotting. J has one arm around me while the other hangs on to the reins. My hands grip his thighs, trying to keep myself from falling.
“You okay, Cass?”
“Yep,” I squeak, causing J to chuckle.
We ride around for a while until the sun starts to set. We head back to the barn with the orange glow of the sun behind us.
I lean back against J, resting my head against his cheek.
“So, how was your first horseback ride?” J asks as he steers Lady into the barn.
“A little scary, but fun.”
He kisses my cheek. “You can ride her anytime you want since Mom doesn’t ride her as much as she used to.”
“Okay.”
J hops off of Lady. “Now, it’s time for s’mores.”
I swing my leg over, just like I did when I hoisted myself up. J has his arms out, ready to catch me if I fall.
“Let me put her up real quick then we can head back to the patio.”
When we arrive back to the patio, a small fire is already ablaze in the fire pit. J’s parents and Bo are already seated around it, talking amiably.
J and I take a seat in the two remaining chairs around the fire pit. J hands me a utensil to place my marshmallow on so I can roast it. When it’s heated like I want it, I pull it out of the fire and blow out the flames. J hands me two graham crackers and a couple pieces of the Hershey’s chocolate. I put it all together then take a bite. I haven’t eaten a s’more since I was a kid. Yet, another thing I haven’t done in a long time. Shaking my head of the depressing thoughts, I fall into conversation with Jane.
Today has been amazing. I had so much fun that I literally pouted when it was time to go. I hug everyone goodbye, hating that I have to leave this wonderful family.
Maybe things will work out in my favor. I can only hope.
Chapter Thirty- Eight
Cassie
It is dark by the time J drive’s me home. My body is exhausted after the fun adventures I went on today. I am nestled against J with my head lying on his shoulder. My eyes are heavy so I close them for a moment. I know we’d be home any second so it wouldn’t make sense for me to fall asleep. As soon as I hear the tires crunching the familiar gravel, I sit up and freeze. All the air leaves my lungs when I notice who is standing on my front porch. Zack is leaning against the post watching us. What is he doing here?
J tenses next to me. “What is he doing here, Cassie?”
“I-I don’t know.” All I know is it can’t be good. I notice my parents’ car is gone. Where did they run off to? Something about this just seems all wrong.
“I’m going to walk you to the door.”
“No, it’s fine. Let me see what he wants so he can leave.” I give J a quick kiss and jump out. My stomach is twisting in knots as I walk up to him.
“What are you doing here, Zack?” Haven’t you caused enough problems already?
> He stuffs his shaky hands in his pockets. Is he scared? Nervous? His dark, hollow eyes regard me passively.
He shrugs. “I’m here for you. I came to get you.”
“Come to get me for what?”
“I’m taking you back home, Cassie.”
My heart slams in my chest. “I’m not going back with you.” I start to back away, but he grabs my arm, stopping me.
“Cassie, I miss you so much. I want you back in my life.”
The hairs on my neck stand. My eyes glance at his hand clamped around my arm before focusing back on his dark, hollow eyes. Zack’s appearance has gone downhill bad.
“Go pack your stuff so we can go,” he demands.
“I’m not going with you! Brilliant is my home now.” Why does he not understand this?
I try jerking my arm free, but he just digs his fingers deeper into my arm.
“I suggest you get your hands off my girl before I break your arm.” I sag in relief when I hear J’s voice. He walks up and stands in front of me protectively.
When Zack doesn’t let go, J pries his hand off my arm.
J looks to me. “Cass, go get in the truck.”
I sprint back to the truck and jump in. I watch as all they argue back and forth for a few minutes until finally, Zack marches towards his car, gets in, and then tears out of my driveway like a madman.
When J gets back in, I wrap my arms around him, clinging to him. Tears well in my eyes, but I force them down.
J sighs and kisses my hair. “You’re alright, Cass. I won’t let him hurt you, I promise.”
Unable to form words, I nod.
When we arrive back at J’s, he keeps a protective arm around me as he guides me in the house.
Jane sees me and starts to speak, but J cuts her off. “Not now, mom.”
A look of concern flashes over her face as she closes her mouth. J leads me to his room and shuts the door behind us. He pulls the covers back for me to climb in. I do, but he doesn’t get in beside me like I want. He covers me up then crouches down so he is eye level with me. He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear before speaking. “I need to know what all he said to you, Cass.”
I relay every word of my surprise conversation with Zack. J blanches when I mention the part where Zack had come to take me home.
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