by Kai Juniper
I call up my dad.
"Hey, honey, are you home?"
"Yeah, and your girlfriend's here. She was here when I got home. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I did. I told you yesterday."
"You did?"
"I asked you if it was okay and you said it was. Don't you remember?"
I don't, but I remember him talking to me when we went to fill up the equipment with gas. I wasn't listening to whatever he was saying. He must've been talking about Susan.
"I didn't think she'd be here this early," I say.
"The roast needs time to cook. She wanted it to be done when I got home. She'll have dinner with us and then she has to go back to work. If you have a few minutes, maybe you could talk to her, get to know her a little better."
"Maybe. I have a lot of homework to do before the game tonight." I pause, wondering if I should ask about the photos now or wait to bring it up.
"Ella? You still there?"
"Yeah, so um, what happened to the pictures?"
"I put them away. They're in a box in your room."
I look around and see a box next to my closet. "Why'd you take them down? Did Susan tell you to?"
"No. She's never even mentioned them. I did it because it didn't seem right for her to have to see me with another woman every time she came over. But I can put back the ones with you and your mother. I don't want you to ever feel like I've forgotten her."
"Would you only be doing it because of me?"
"Ella, why don't we talk about this later? I need to get back to work."
"Just tell me. Do you not want Mom's pictures up anymore?"
"I love seeing pictures of your mother, but it's also difficult. It reminds me what I've lost, and what you lost by not having your mother all these years. It's been hard to move on when I see her there every day. I think that's why I haven't been able to date until just recently."
"Dad, why didn't you tell me this?"
"Because I didn't want to upset you. I'll put the pictures back when I get home."
"No. It's okay. I'll keep them in my room."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
"I should've talked to you before I did it. I'm sorry, honey."
"I'll let you get back to work. Bye, Dad."
I end the call before I start crying. I shouldn't cry over this. It's just photos, and I totally get where he's coming from. It's been over twelve years since she died. It's time to move on, for both of us. But for some reason, seeing her pictures disappear from the bookshelf feels like I'm losing her all over again.
I go to the bathroom and splash cold water on my face. It's something my mom used to make me do when I got upset and I've been doing it ever since. As I'm blotting my face dry, I hear pots clanking in the kitchen.
I should go talk to Susan and see if she'll tell me about the case.
"So how was work?" I ask, walking over to the kitchen table and taking a seat.
"Busy," she says as she cuts up potatoes. "They've assigned me to three new cases. I can't seem to catch up. I have to go back there tonight."
"Are you still working on the hit-and-run case?"
"Yes, and I think we're getting closer to finding out who did it."
"Really?" I feel my pulse speed up. "Who do you think it is?"
"We haven't identified them yet." She slides the potatoes from the cutting board to the pot. "We're still working on the security camera from the gas station. So far, we're only able to identify the vehicle, although we can't see the license plate.”
"What kind of vehicle?"
"A white Range Rover," she says, rinsing the cutting board in the sink.
"There's a lot of those around. How do you figure out who it belongs to?"
"If we could get the video repaired so it's not so blurry, we might be able to see who was in it. Right now they just look like dark figures."
"What about the people using the pay phone?"
"We still can't identify them. The video is too blurry." She takes the dishtowel off the stove handle to dry her hands, then flings it over her shoulder and opens the fridge. "Do you know if you have an onion?"
"I doubt it. We don't buy onions."
"I should've got one when I was at the store," she says, closing the fridge.
"Did that guy tell you anything?" I ask. "Before he died?"
"The victim? No, nothing specific about who hit him. He said he heard the voices of several young men, but he didn't see their faces."
"So it was all guys in the car?"
"We think there was a young woman too. The one who was at the pay phone." Susan pauses, her eyes going to me. "Isn't there a young man at your school who drives a white Range Rover?"
I shrug. "I don't know. Maybe. I don't really pay attention to that stuff."
She walks up to me. "Your father mentioned you were friends with him."
"ME? Friends with a guy at school? No." I shake my head. "I'm not friends with anyone at that school, except for my friend, Charlotte."
Susan tilts her head, eyeing me like she's in investigation mode. "Your father said you're friends with the Chadwick boy."
"We're not friends. We're lab partners."
"Your father said he's seen a white Range Rover parked in front of the Chadwick house."
"Maybe. I don't really know. Briggs has a lot of friends. I guess it's possible one of them has a white Range Rover."
This is getting out of control. I was just going to ask her a few questions about the case and now I feel like I'm the one being interrogated.
She sits down across from me. "What do you know about Briggs Chadwick?"
"He's rich. Popular. Drives a fancy car. Oh, and he's captain of the rugby team so everyone at school treats him like a god."
She's staring at me in a way that's making me very uncomfortable. Does she know something she's not telling me?
"What about his friends?"
"I don't know them. I don't hang out with those people. I don't know if my dad told you, but I'm kind of a nerd, or that's what people think of me at school."
"Why?"
"Because I keep to myself and get good grades."
"Your father said you've been spending a lot of time with Briggs."
"Only because we're partners for this lab assignment we have to do outside of class."
"That's all it is? You two are nothing more than lab partners?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Your father said Briggs has shown up at the house several times, wanting to see you. He said it seemed like you two were more than just lab partners."
"He always thinks that." I roll my eyes. "He thinks if I'm friends with a guy it means I'm dating him."
"But you said you're not friends with Briggs."
"I'm not. I was talking in general." I look over at the counter. "You need some help with dinner?"
"Thank you for offering, but I think I'm good. I just need to put the roast in the oven.“
I get up from the table. "I wish we could talk more, but I really need to do my homework. Dad gave me the afternoon off so I could catch up."
"Go ahead." She watches as I leave. "It was good talking to you."
"You too," I say, before going in my room.
I need to tell Briggs about this. He'll tell me not to worry, like he always does, but I think I have reason to worry. Susan's looking for a white Range Rover and was asking me about Finn's, like she's considering him a suspect. If she tracks down the body shop records and is able to see who's on the video from the gas station, it'll all be over. She'll find out the guys were there that night, and that I was too.
Chapter Fourteen
Briggs
Ella called me before the game and told me her dad's girlfriend was asking her questions about Finn's Range Rover. I told Ella not to worry about it, but shit—this could be it—the thing that leads to us being found out. If this woman starts digging around for body shop records, she'll find out Finn's Range Rover was taken in
right after the accident. If she fixes the video from the gas station and sees us on it, it's over. The cops will be at our doors and we'll all be hauled off to jail. My dad will bail me out, then beat the living shit out of me for harming his precious image.
I can't think about that. I have a game to win. It's half over and we're way ahead, but there's a chance the other team could come back and win if I don't stay focused. I took about a half dozen painkillers to get through this. My stomach and lower back still hurt like hell from my father's fit of rage the other night. He hasn't talked to me since. He's been going to work early in the morning and not getting home until late at night. There must be something going on at the office. He's always worked a lot, but not this much.
"Time out for injury!" the ref yells.
I look down the field and see a guy from the other team on the ground, clutching his ribcage.
We all walk to the sidelines. I look up at the bleachers and see Ella in the top row. I can't believe she showed up. She hates sports, especially rugby, but she really wanted to see me play. I didn't want to disappoint her, which is why I downed all the painkillers. I wouldn't have played well without them. I was in too much fucking pain.
When I met Ella at the park last night, I wanted her so damn bad. I wanted her the second I saw her. Then I kissed her and slid my hand under her skirt and realized she wasn't wearing panties, and shit—I don't think I've ever been that turned on. My cock was begging to be inside her but I couldn’t do it. I was in too much pain. The metal lining of the truck bed was digging into the bruises on my back when she was on top of me. I thought of flipping her over, but there was no way I could thrust into her with the shooting pain in my gut. Just turning on my side was killing me. I could've fought through the pain, but she would've noticed. When she touched my back, it was like she lit a match on it, scorching the top layer of freshly bruised skin. If it hurt that bad just having her touch me, there's no way I could've had sex with her.
I'm better now, but not to the point I could have sex with Ella without her noticing how much pain I'm in. She notices everything, which makes it nearly impossible to hide stuff from her.
"Everyone back in the game!" Coach yells.
We finish it up and win. I managed to make it one of my best games ever, despite the pain coming back in the last few minutes.
"See you at the party?" Parker asks, slinging his gym bag over his shoulder.
"I need to go home first. I'll be there later."
"Why do you need to go home?"
"I'm starving. I need to eat."
"You can eat at my house. Finn's meeting me there. He's bringing pizza. After we eat, we'll go to the party."
"I don't want to get there that early."
"It'll be like nine before we're there."
"Yeah, that's too early."
"But you'll be there, right?"
"Yeah, I'll see you later."
When he's gone, I text Ella. What'd you think of the game?
You were amazing! she texts back. You're the reason we won!
For some reason, hearing her tell me I'm amazing holds a lot more weight than if anyone else said it. I feel myself smiling as I text her back. What are you doing tonight?
Haven't decided. Just got home.
You should come over. I grab my gym bag and head out of the locker room.
Aren't you going to a party?
I'm going later. I'm on my way home.
Is your dad there?
He's at a banquet for one of his clients. We got the house to ourselves.
I'll meet you there.
On the drive home, I'm thinking about Ella's body and the way it felt to slide my hands up her skirt and find out she wasn't wearing panties. By the time I pull up to my house, my cock is pushing against my gym shorts, desperate to be inside her. I might just have to fight through the pain and do it.
I go in the house and check that my dad's not there, then run upstairs to my room and shut all the blinds to cut off any light from the street. If we do this, the room has to be dark. I can't let Ella see me. If she sees the bruises, she'll know they're not from rugby, or she'll at least question it. I don't want her questioning it. I don't want her mind coming up with ways those bruises might've got there, or who put them there.
The doorbell rings and I hurry down the stairs to answer it, each step causing pain to shoot through my abs and along my back.
I open the door and Ella jumps in my arms. "You were so awesome tonight! Why didn't you tell me you were that good?"
Her arms are around my back, right over the bruise, causing a sharp pain that doesn't let up.
"How do you know I was good?" I gently pull away. "You don't know anything about rugby."
"I know enough to know what was going on. And I heard the people around me saying this was the best game you've ever played."
"I might've been trying to impress you." I take her hand and head to the stairs.
"Briggs Chadwick was trying to impress ME? That's a first."
I keep hold of her hand as we go up the stairs.
"Where are you taking me?" she asks.
"To my room."
"What are we going to do there?"
"I'm going to tear your clothes off and kiss all the spots that make you moan."
She breaks from my hand and runs to my room.
I find her on my bed, sitting up on her elbows.
"In a hurry?" I say, smiling at her.
"No. You were just walking too slow."
I shut off the light switch on the wall.
"It's too dark," I hear her say. "I can't see you."
"I like it dark." I feel for her on the bed, finding her waist and sliding her shirt up. I kiss her stomach, then up to her tits. I shove her bra down and flick my tongue over her nipple. I hear her breath catch and feel her hips rising off the bed. She's wearing a skirt like the one she had on last night. Thinking about what's under it has me so damn turned on there's no way I can stop this. I was going to take care of her and then say I had to go, but I can't do it. I need to be inside her. I don't care how much it hurts. I'll fight through the pain.
When I've got her shirt and bra off and have played with her tits until she's panting and begging for more, I move down her legs and shove up her skirt. Just like I was hoping, she's not wearing panties. Before I got to know Ella, I never in a million years would've guessed she'd walk around without panties. And I definitely wouldn't have guessed I'd be going down on her in my bed on a Friday night.
Seriously, how the hell did this happen? All I know is, I'm not sorry it did. I love this damn girl. I love that she's smart and competitive and doesn't back down. I love that she challenges me and questions me and makes me want to keep going when I feel like I want to end it. And I love her body. Goddamn, I love her body. I love the sounds she makes when I touch her, and the way her breath changes, and how she grabs hold of the bed when she comes, like right now.
"Oh God," she says, breathing hard. "That was...wow."
I lay beside her. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"You might be better at that than rugby." She turns to me, her hand rubbing over my cock. "I'm ready for more."
I'm dying for more, but the pain in my gut is getting worse. I'm just going to have to deal with it.
"Why don't we try something new?"
"Like what?"
I get off the bed, thinking I'll have less pressure on my bruises if we do this standing up.
"Where'd you go?" she asks, feeling for me in the dark.
"Get on your hands and knees and put that beautiful ass in front of me."
I feel the bed move as she positions herself. "Wait, I need to take off my skirt."
"Leave it. I like it on." I feel her in front of me and shove her skirt up. I grab her hips and pull her toward me. I'm about to slide my cock in her, then stop, reaching over to the nightstand.
"Briggs?"
"Condom," I say, hurrying to put it on.
I take hol
d of my cock and run it up and down her slit, teasing her before sliding it in.
"Briggs," she moans as I sink inside her.
Damn, she feels good, and doing it this way I'm in a lot less pain than if we were laying down. And I love having her tight little ass where I can grab it and run my hands over it. As I thrust into her, I feel her sliding forward. I take hold of her hips and pull her into me, going even deeper. She makes that sexy moan I love so much, and her breaths are getting faster. I slowly pull out of her and hear her softly whimper. I smile at that, then slide back inside her. I'm loving this so much I want to keep it going, but my cock doesn't want to wait.
I pump into her, hard and fast, keeping a tight grip on her hips. I feel it coming. Damn, I've missed this. She fits me perfectly. I try to slow down, but it's full speed ahead.
"Fuck," I mutter, keeping hold of her as I ride it through to the end, coming so hard I struggle to remain standing. I take a moment to breathe, then slide out of her. "Be right back."
I go to the bathroom to toss the condom, and when I come back out, I see the light by the bed is on. I hurry back in the bathroom, standing by the door. "Did you turn a light on?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Turn it off."
"Then you won't be able to see."
"I don't need to see. Turn it off."
I wait until it's off before going back in the room. I find Ella in the bed, under the covers, and slide in beside her.
"Do you need to go?" she asks.
"Not yet."
She turns and lays her head on my chest, her hand resting on my abs, just above the bruise. I wrap my arm around her, loving the feel of her warm body next to mine.
"I'd rather stay here," I tell her.
"But you can't, right? You have to show up at the party?"
"I don't have to, but I should. It's a rugby party. The team captain's supposed to show up."
"Can I see you tomorrow night?"
"I don't know. Depends on if my dad will be around."
"He hates me, doesn't he?"
"He hates everyone, even me."
"He doesn't hate you. He's your father."
"Trust me. He hates me."