by Dyble, S R
I looked around the room and my heart began racing as fear crept in. I didn't recognise anything. New surroundings were not good for me, it brought back too many bad memories and feelings. That, coupled with the headache, made my head pound harder.
“You’re in my bedroom, in my house, you’re safe so calm the hell down,” he answered the frantic thought in my head.
I got up from his bed quickly and stared at him.
“How did I get here? Why am I here?”
“Do you always ask these many questions?”
“I don’t tend to make a habit of being alone in a stranger’s bedroom, so I wouldn’t know my usual reaction…”
“Well, that’s good to hear, although I find it hard to believe- ”
“Excuse me?” I cut him off. Was he implying that I was a slapper or something?
“Girls like you...”
“Girls like me ...?” I frowned but he stood up and put his hands up in the air whilst approaching me.
“I’m not doing a very good job of explaining myself, I wasn’t suggesting you’re easy or anything…”
“Really?”
He shook his head and stared at me.
“Then what were you implying?”
“I meant the best, I can assure you,” he grinned now and I carried on frowning, trying to figure out what he had meant.
“Jesus, Eve, I just meant that girls who look like you would find it easy to get caught up in a situation where you’re in a guy’s bed. You must have the attention from them easily enough.”
I honestly was dumbfounded, I couldn’t even process what Kit had said because nothing like that had ever been implied to me before.
“Right…” I looked away to try and get past my awkwardness.
The fact that he stared at me like he was studying me, made me feel even more awkward.
“What?”
“Nothing, I’m just tryna figure out how a girl like you got so exhausted that your body shut down all afternoon.”
“I hit my head…”
“Yeah, you hit your head but it was hardly enough to make you pass out for so long, you’ve been like sleeping beauty.”
Beauty?
I shook my head, not wanting to tell him about my chronic exhaustion due to the nightmares I’d been having almost every night.
“So, that’s it?” he questioned.
“What do you want me to say?” I laughed awkwardly. “I passed out, I’m really sorry you had to take care of me. Thank you, and I’ll be on my way…” I walked around him and found the door to my escape before he could say anything more.
I honestly hated myself. This guy had only started today and me being the idiot I was, ended up being in his care and making a total idiot of myself.
I seriously needed a pep talk from Lilly after this. I usually hated them but I desperately needed to rant to someone who would listen and understand.
Lilly was my best friend, in fact, my only friend.
She was currently away in Australia, she’d been there for weeks on holiday with her parents.
I blinked a few times, feeling more energised than I had in a long time and I found the stairs that led downstairs and into a living room.
“Wait, you don’t have to go!” I heard Kit say as he ran after me and as I turned to face him, someone said, “Dude, look at this. First time for everything, he’s actually having to ask her to stay…”
As I glanced around, I tried to keep my mouth from dropping open as a bare-chested guy stood in the doorway to the kitchen.
He smiled at me, wiping his hands on a small towel.
A second later another half-naked man followed the first guy into the living room where we were and I didn’t know where to look.
“You losing it, kid?” bare-chested guy number one directed at Kit.
“Am I fuck, shut up and put a damn shirt on, will you?” Kit glared at them and it caused them both to grin.
“So, she’s awake?” Another Australian sounded from the kitchen and appeared with a girl who seemed besotted with him.
“I’m Jason,” he smiled and excused himself and his lady friend who he escorted up the stairs.
“Is this an escorts house?” I blurted without even thinking and I wanted to smack myself.
All the guys, laid before me like a delicious banquet, laughed and it caught me off guard because they sounded frikkin’ amazing.
“These are my brothers, that’s Eric, the other idiot is Jax and you met Jason…” Kit said from behind me and I felt uncomfortable with him being so close. Both his brothers eyed me and I looked around awkwardly, trying to find a way to take my leave.
“Well, nice to meet you,” I smiled and gave a brief wave. “I’ll be going now, see ya later,” I said quickly before making a dash for the door.
I inwardly punched myself and rolled my eyes, I hated how I said, “see you later” to people I’d never see again…
“Eve,” Kit said after me again and just as I reached the front door, Nick opened it and glided a girl through who was holding his hand.
“Hey, Eve,” he smiled at me before passing and I blinked a few times.
“Definitely an escorts house…” I said before finding my shoes on the floor.
“You took off my shoes?” I said to Kit and I realised how stupid I’d sounded.
“Err, yes?”
I shook my head again and tied the laces on my converse before reaching for the door. Just as I did, I felt him right behind me and I froze.
He had reached for the door handle and stood so close behind me, I couldn’t leave. I shouldn’t have turned around to face him because he wasn’t going to make room for me, but I did and he, of course, stood his ground.
“Let me take you home,” he said calmly, looking me in the eyes.
I, on the other hand, was currently melting down the wall.
“I can walk,” I said before thinking it through.
He smiled and it made my insides buzz. “Do you know where we are?”
I shook my head and just stared at him.
“We’re in Beverley."
Shit.
Beverley was a town about twenty minutes from where I lived in Hull.
“You mean, I slept all the way from the centre of Hull to Beverley?”
He nodded, “And then some…”
I rose my eyebrows in shock and looked away from his eyes that were digging into mine, eyes that I assumed he could find out anything with, from anyone, but not me.
“Thanks again for looking after me, I’ll be fine getting home."
“I’m not gonna let you go home alone after you hit your head and slept all afternoon."
“How do you know I just slept? I could have been in a coma for all you knew…”
He chuckled and I hated myself for loving the sound.
“My brother, Jax, he’s a doctor.”
I glanced to my right to see if I could still see Kit’s brothers in the living room but the hallway gave us privacy and I was glad to know that they couldn’t see me withering under Kit’s stare. I felt pinned to the wall and he wasn’t even touching me.
“So, your brother had a look at me?”
The thought embarrassed the hell out of me. Were they all just staring at me while I was out of it?
“No,” he looked away for the first time as if I’d found a weak spot and I wondered how or what had caused the vulnerability in his eyes.
“I wouldn’t let him touch you, but I know enough to know you were only sleeping, trust me."
“Trust you?”
He nodded, “I brought you home and looked after you, didn’t I?”
I nodded back, feeling so intimidated by him.
“Let me get my shoes on, I’ll drive you.”
I wanted to fight against his request but I knew it was futile and honestly, I had no idea how to get home from wherever we were in Beverley. Looking around Kit’s house, I knew it must have been in the wealthier area of Beverley, the house was h
uge and luxuriously decorated. I wondered where his parents were but didn’t pry as I didn’t know him at all.
Once Kit was ready, he opened the door and moved back for me to go first. It was unexpected as I didn’t have Kit down as the type of guy to be chivalrous.
I thanked him and he smiled as if he’d gotten some sort of upper hand from just opening the door for me. I wanted to ask him what he was smiling about but instead, I stopped on the first step outside to look at the surroundings.
“You live on the Beck?” I asked.
The Beck was a large stretch of water, basically a river, that partially ran through Beverley.
Kit walked past me and down the steps. “Yep, we own both houses,” he said as if it was nothing.
“We? And what do you mean, both houses?”
I took the steps down to his level and he looked at me.
“I and my brothers… and both houses, this house and the one connected next door. This one wasn’t big enough for all of us so we bought both.”
Kit acted like all that he was saying was a totally normal thing whilst I stood like a fool staring back up at the three-story houses that were connected to each other and had steps leading up to the doors on both houses.
“You ready?” Kit waited for me by the gate and grinned at me when he saw my face.
I wasn’t normally one to be interested in other people’s business but I couldn’t lie, I wanted to know what the hell these brothers did to be able to afford to buy two houses on Beverley Beck.
I followed Kit as he led me down the street and past the other houses.
“Your parents live with you, right?” I asked.
“Nope.”
I nodded, not wanting to ask any more questions.
“Down here,” he led me down the side of the houses and eventually we ended up at the back of them.
“Why didn’t we just come out of the back door if your car is around here?”
“You insisted on the front door, I had to take the opportunity before you ran away,” he smirked at me and walked up to a car that I was sure couldn’t be his. Then I thought about his living situation and I figured he probably would own a car like this.
He opened the car door and waited for me to get in.
“You coming?” He smiled at me and looked me over again as if he was trying to figure me out.
“This is your car?”
“I hope so,” he said as both sides of his mouth rose slightly and I moved forward to get in.
As Kit shut the door, the smell of new car hit my nose, and as I looked around it, Kit walked around the front of the car and got in.
He turned the car on and when no sound was made, I smiled.
“Is this car electric?”
He glanced at me and frowned. “Yeah, it’s a Tesla. How did you know?”
“I like to save the planet…” I said before realising just how stupid it sounded.
I looked away and rolled my eyes.
I like to save the planet? Jesus, Eve. Why don’t you tell him you hug trees on a weekend, too?
“Where do you live?”
“Will you know if I tell you?”
“No, but my GPS will.”
“Satnav,” I corrected him.
“Just type in your address, Blondie.”
“Why are you calling me that? You’ve known me barely a day and you’ve given me a nickname.”
“What would you prefer? Fat ass?” He winked and I settled on the fact that he thought he was actually funny. It pissed me off more than his insult did.
“Will you stop calling me names!”
“I didn’t!”
“What the hell is wrong with you? You just did!”
I couldn’t believe I’d agreed to be in a car with him, this guy drove me mad.
“I said you had a fat ass. Not that you’re fat. There’s a difference ... .”
“Fat is just fat, you tit-head.”
“That’s not very nice. I was just about to tell you how pretty you are,” he smirked which only wound me up even more.
“I highly doubt that, don’t take the piss.”
“Uh, I hate that saying... But you are pretty. How am I taking the piss?”
“Forget it.” I typed my postcode into the Satnav and silence reigned for a short while but I felt Kit constantly glancing at me as he drove and it was making me incredibly uncomfortable.
“What?” I finally snapped.
“Nothing.” He shook his head and looked to the side as if to shrug it off.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, honest."
I glared at him and he chuckled quietly.
“You know how pretty you are. I hate it when girls blatantly deny it when they know they are. Is it for more attention? If I told you you’re smoking hot, you’d deny that, too."
“I’m sorry, you think I’m an attention seeker?”
Kit glanced over at me, looking defeated.
“This is a bad day for me…”
I waited for him to carry on and he sighed.
“You’re either just like every other girl or you don’t know you’re beautiful.”
My chest leapt for a second and I hated myself for it, no one had ever called me beautiful before besides my parents.
“Trust me... I’m not like other girls.” Because unlike them I knew he was just saying it to get a reaction and I wasn’t going to melt like he expected.
“Well, that’s a given...”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
We were near my home now and I couldn’t wait to get out.
“Come on, do I really have to explain that as well?”
“Are you always this arrogant?” I asked.
“Are you always such a bitch?” he bit back.
That was it.
“Stop the car,” I told him.
“What?”
“Stop the car. I wanna get out.”
“No. We’re nearly there- ”
“Stop the fucking car!” I yelled.
In one swift move, he pulled into a street and I was shoved back into the seat as he braked abruptly.
“Dick,” I muttered, pushing my hair out of my face.
“What was that, Blondie? You want my what?” he said after me as I got out.
“You couldn’t pay me, Escort.”
I shut the door on him laughing.
“Are you gonna get back in, sweetheart?” He must have rolled down the window but I stalked away from the car quickly and headed through a passage to my house before he could follow me any further.
Infuriated and vibrating with anger, I tried to shake it off on the walk home and hearing my grandma as I walked in the door made me relax straight away.
“Eve, is that you?”
“Yeah!” I shouted back and pulled my shoes off before heading into the kitchen.
I saw the back of my grandma, she was pouring tea and reached for another cup so she could pour me one.
“You’re home late.”
“Yeah.”
I didn’t wanna tell her that I’d somehow found my way into a stranger’s house after passing out at college, she definitely didn’t need that amount of worry after already hearing me scream every night.
“I caught up on some work…” I said and thanked her as she handed me my tea.
“Where’s Gramps?”
“In that bloody shed.”
I grinned as my grandma continued complaining about my grandad and how he’d already brought a load of mud in on his wellies.
I rubbed my head and felt the tension there.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” I said.
“Earlier?” My grandma looked at me confused and I hated that I had to remind her of our disagreement we’d had that morning.
It had been weeks in the making before my grandma had gained the courage to approach me once again about my nightmares and like every other time, I’d shut her down on the subject.
“My nightmares…”
“Oh, yeah, don’t worry, I’d already forgotten,” she smiled at me and offered me a biscuit from the plate she’d already laid out for my grandad.
As she took them outside to him, I headed upstairs sipping my tea, to get a shower. I desperately needed it. My head was bruised and aching and the warm water did wonders.
I washed my hair and got out quickly so I could get dressed in what I called my trampy clothes. They consisted of my worn-out grey joggers that I’d had for years and an old top that hung over one of my shoulders and also had a rip in the shoulder. As I ran down the stairs, I pulled the towel from my head and noticed my grandma standing behind the partially opened front door.
“Eve, there’s a parcel or something for you here,” she said, moving away from the door and closing it.
I frowned and watched as my grandma headed back into the kitchen. I ruffled my unbrushed hair back and smiled as I opened the door, ready to tell the parcel man that he had the wrong house. Only for my smile to instantly be wiped away at the sight of Kit filling my doorway.
What the hell was he doing here?
He looked me up and down and grinned, holding up my bag in his hand.
“You’re not only clumsy but forgetful too, huh?”
I narrowed my eyes at his cocky Australian accent and snatched my bag. I couldn’t believe I’d only known this guy a day and already I disliked him like I’d known him a lifetime.
He pressed himself up against the door frame and looked me up and down again with a certain look in his eyes, it was both teasing and full of mischief.
“Sexy look, by the way. Ain't you gonna invite me in?”
“No. Thanks for bringing me my bag,” I shut the door and smirked to myself at my small victory. I could just imagine him standing on the other side of the door - cocky attitude disassembled.
* * *
After sleeping so much, I definitely couldn’t sleep that night and I headed downstairs to sit on the couch. I put the TV on and lounged back into the pillow, only there was nothing but Teleshopping on and I stared over at the cabinet across from me. Inside memorabilia and photo albums were lined up together, taunting me, along with DVDs and old records. Getting up, I hesitantly reached for one of the photo albums and traced the binder with my finger. Under the dim light of the lamp by the sofa, I flicked through the pages until I reached a section that pained every inch of my soul. I ran my finger over the picture of my parents, praying I could just feel them for a second. They looked exactly as I remembered them in the photo, Mum’s big eyes and curly hair, Dad’s perfect smile and a look that could wipe away my biggest fears. A sob escaped me but I held back the tears. As I found a picture of my brother at school playing guitar, I couldn’t hold back my tears any longer. There were photos of us together, one where he was holding a can of lager like a big man, probably one of his first pints. It was too much for me and anger welled within me that they weren’t here. That they’d been ripped from this world like they were nothing. That they’d been taken from me.