“Absolutely.”
She stalls yet another moment, so this time I probe. “Connie, I know you didn’t come here to check out where I live, so what really brought you here today?”
She looks to me, her face now holding a pain much like mine. “He’s so strong in the day, but at night, when he thinks I don’t hear...he cries. He always cries, and it breaks my heart. I try to help him, but I’m not what he needs. Velyn, he needs you.”
A quivered breath escapes my lips. “I’ve tried to reach out to him, Connie.”
She stands from the chair and hands me a piece of paper with an address. “Try harder.”
Looking over the address, I then look up to her. “The cabin?”
“Yes, Dylan doesn’t want to keep it anymore. He’s there now, clearing it out to sell. Go to him, Velyn… please.”
I look again to the paper, and when I look back up, she’s already out the door shutting it softly behind her. I let out a breath—I’ll try, but I have a feeling that I’m the last person Dylan wants to see.
The last time I was here, the sun was shining lighting up the path to the cabin. But when I pull up tonight, it’s dark. Eerily dark. Is he even here?
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay here?” the driver questions as he pulls the cab further up the path.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thank you.”
He pulls up and I pay and get out, making way up the porch steps and to the front door. I peek inside the window, but it’s dark. I’m starting to wonder if maybe Dylan isn’t here, and that I should’ve had the driver wait for me. Too late now, as I look over my shoulder, I see the driver is already halfway down the driveway. Turning back, I raise my hand to knock on the door, but when I rap lightly, it moves. I push it open a little more, tucking my head inside and calling out.
“Dylan?” There’s no answer. I look side to side up and down the wrap-around porch, then letting out a breath, I push the door fully open and step inside. Closing the door behind me, I call out again. “Dylan, are you here?”
Still no reply.
I look through, right to the back of the cabin, and see that the back doors open. Laying my bag on the island as I pass through the kitchen, I reach the door, and there he is sitting quietly on an old Adirondack chair. When I step outside, he doesn’t look but knows I’m here.
“What are you doing here, Velyn?”
I stand still, not moving in any closer. “I came to talk to you.”
“Then you’ve wasted your time.”
“Dylan, I’m not leaving here until you talk to me.”
He stands abruptly, turning to me and coming within inches. “Then you’re going to
be waiting a while.”
Storming past, he walks back into the house but doesn’t close the door behind him—it may be a stretch, but I’m taking that as a sign, so I follow him in.
He’s moving around the sitting area, working to build a fire. “I don’t care how long it takes Dylan we’re talking whether you think so or not.”
Running his hand through his hair, he looks to me. “Then make yourself comfortable, Velyn, because I have nothing to say to you.”
A couple of hours have passed, and he’s never once wavered. I would ask, and he would avoid. I was getting tired; it had been a long day, but I was determined to get him to open up.
I stand from my place on the couch, going to make my way to the kitchen for a glass of water, but part way, my legs start to give out. I reach for the side table, but before I can, Dylan’s already there grabbing me into his arms.
“Dammit, Velyn, you’re pushing too hard.” Cradled against his chest, he carries me to the couch, laying me down gently.
I lay back. “It’s been a busy day; I guess I’ve overdone it.”
Standing tall, he turns to walk away, but I grab his hand. “Dylan, please don’t keep shutting me out. I know you’re hurting...I am too. Please, let me in.”
He just looks at my hand, his thumb slowly rubbing my palm. When he finally does look at me, tears are brimming at his lids. He leans over, taking me once again into his arms and walks me up the stairs to the bedroom.
Laying me gently on the bed, he slowly moves over me; his eyes always connected with mine. “I need you, but I can’t talk...I'm sorry but I can’t.”
Keeping my focus on his, I slip my hand behind his neck and pull him in, closing the distance as our lips meet. It’s measured. Each move he makes, every touch of his skin to mine is done with a purpose. Like he’s committing it to memory. A memory that he’ll be able to have with him when I’m not.
I know what this is; it’s his goodbye. With every movement, every kiss, and every caring touch, I know this is his way of telling me it’s over.
It’s not just physical; it’s emotional.
The next morning, I don’t want to open my eyes. I know what’s waiting for me, or rather what’s not. When I turn over, looking to the nightstand, on it, in his handwriting there’s a piece of paper —
‘It’s just too hard—I’m sorry, D.’
I take a deep breath. It may be too hard, but Dylan’s sadly mistaken if he thinks I’m bowing out. I head downstairs, grabbing my phone out of my purse. I don’t miss that the last of his boxes are gone leaving the cabin with only the furniture. Opening up my contacts, I hit Jordan’s number.
“Velyn, hey!”
“Hey, Jordan, I need a favor.”
“Sure, what is it?”
I exhale a desperate breath—this is my last hope. “Do you have any contacts in the city records department; I need access to Chase’s birth certificate?”
When I knock on the door, I have no idea what I’m going to say or for that matter, whom I’m going to encounter. I’ve never been one to do things on a whim. Never been one to make a move without having a plan. But there’s no longer time for plans.
It takes a moment, but then I hear the light tap and shuffle of someone approaching from behind the door. A breath catches in my throat in anticipation, then even more when the door opens, and the woman before me is the angelic twin of my dearest friend.
“Hello, can I help you?” the woman questions.
I stand there just another quick moment before speaking, and then I look into her eyes. “My name’s Velyn Adler, and I think you may be the only person left that can help me. I need you to explain to my boyfriend why you left him and his brother because I fear if you don’t, I won’t only have lost Chase, but I’ll lose Dylan too.”
Sarah looks to me, a pool of tears now in her eyes. “Come in; I think we have a lot to talk about.”
Chapter 23
-Dylan-
I’m done with this school year, now I’m just counting down the days until I get the hell out of this place. It’s a reminder...one I don’t need. One that every time I walk into a class or through that damn quad, it’s a sickening reminder of everything that I’ve lost. Everything that has been taken from me.
My cell rings through the speakers of my car. Looking at the screen on my dash, I see that it’s Connie. I haven’t talked to her in a few days, so she’s probably getting worried knowing I should put her mind at ease, I answer the phone.
“Hey, Connie.”
“Mi hijo, can you come here?”
“Right now?” I ask.
“Si!”
I don’t bother asking why because regardless of what it is, I’m still going to go over...it’s Connie.
Within minutes I’m pulling up to her two-bedroom townhouse on the eastside. It’s cute, as some would say and in a good neighborhood, so that's a plus, but I still never understood why she didn’t just live at the house. She had her own room there; that’s where she would stay when we were little. Who knows, maybe as Chase and I got older, she needed an escape. Hell, I know I could have used one at times.
Parking the car, I jump out and notice a black sedan in the driveway; I wonder if it’s the realtors. With everything that has happened, Connie’s decided to make some changes. She
says I’m grown and feels it’s time for her to move on. I think the memories in the house are just as hard for her as they are for me. She’s staying until we find a replacement for her but then she’s moving to her sister’s in California. It’ll be nice for her to be close to family after all these years, but I’m going to miss her. However, she’s made me promise that I’ll come and visit her; actually, it was more of a warning that if I didn’t, she would hunt me down.
When I walk in the door, I hear the sound of a female voice coming from upstairs. I take the flight of steps two by two until I reach the landing into the living room. When I look in, Connie is sitting on the couch with a look of guilt splayed across her face, and as I move forward, I see why. Velyn and—
“What the hell are you doing here?” I let out in a roar.
From beside me, Connie lets out a gasp and Velyn is quickly on her feet explaining. “I brought her here.”
I look to Velyn, who’s making her way to me. “Why in the hell would you do that? Do you have any idea who she is, what she’s done?” I turn to Connie. “And you, why would you let her in your home? She walked out and left you to raise Chase and me. She didn’t even look back, and you welcome her with open arms.”
Sarah Dandridge, or whatever the hell she changed her name to when she walked out, stands to her feet. Shoulders back, she tries to portray unwavering confidence, but I see right through it.
“Dylan, son—”
In two large strides, I’m in front of her, but Velyn’s also quickly beside me, resting a hand on my arm.
I look at Sarah. “You have no right to call me son. I’m not your son, and I’ll never be your son. You’re nothing to me.”
“I understand you’re upset,” she counters.
I let out a laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I lean in looking right in her eyes, a slow growl coming from deep within. “I’d have to care about you to be upset. Didn’t you hear me? You. Are. Nothing to me.” With the last of my words coming out with a
roar, Velyn’s hand squeezes my arm and I turn to her. “You need to stay out of my business and out of my life. How can I make this clearer to you?”
Not waiting for a reply, I turn and walk out, jump in my car, and peel out of the driveway. When will they figure out that I don’t need anyone, not anymore?
The bass is pumping, and the kegs are lined up neatly in a row crossing from one end of the room to the other. It’s the last party of my senior year, why not go out with a bang—or at least one hell of a raging hangover?
Jordan sneaks up behind me, his trusty sidekick with him. I turn and look at them with a greeting. “Jordan! Ava! Glad you two could take the time out of your conveniently busy schedules to stop by.”
Of course, all I get from Ava is an eye roll, and Jordan offers up a little more with a, “You called we came.”
“There was a time when I didn’t have to call you,” I let out.
Jordan lets out a sigh. “Yeah, well, things change.”
“Yeah, no shit. I also used to have a brother, and now he’s dead.”
“Shit, Dylan, really?” Jordan scowls.
I hold his stare long and hard, and then with a laugh, I move past him. Maybe I was wrong in thinking that Jordan would still be someone I wanted in my life. I think perhaps a whole new fresh start is what I need.
Walking out to the patio, I instantly spot a stunning blonde with legs for days, a nice set of tits and an ass calling out to me. I make my way over to introduce myself, and she’s instantly welcoming.
“Hey, handsome.”
“Hey, beautiful.”
She moves in, placing a hand on my bicep, but instantly at her touch, my whole body turns cold.
“Dammit!” I growl.
Her eyes go wide. “Excuse me?”
I look out, not to her, but up to the open sky. “You’ve got to be shitting me?”
“Um yeah, okay, I’m so lost right now,” she comments.
I look down to her utterly confused glare. “No shit. Look, it’s not you, it’s me.”
She flashes her eyes up to me, brow pinched. “Yeah, that’s something you definitely don’t need to explain, creep.”
Not wasting another second, she expertly twirls on her spiked heel and heads off.
Dammit, why is Velyn still in my head? I don’t want her in my head.
“That’s what happens when you love someone, Dylan.”
Hearing the voice behind me and realizing I said that aloud, I turn and see Velyn standing there. She usually has an undeniable radiance about her, well, to me she always did. But when I look at her now the light’s gone—she looks shattered.
Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to regain some sense, I reply, “Who said anything about love?”
With her eyes no longer holding a spark and her voice dull with no joyful expression, she replies, “I did. I was hoping if I said it, you’d realize it’s true.”
A sharp pain hits my chest. Dammit. I bring up my hand to push it away, but it doesn’t work, so I look down to the ground to avoid eye contact.
“It’s not true. Velyn, you’re creating shit up in your head to try and reason this all out when it’s simple; I just don’t want this.”
She doesn’t give a reply, not even a, you’re a damn liar, so when I look up, she’s just standing there with tears in her eyes.
I shake my head. “Vel, what do you want from me?”
“Honesty,” she replies.
“And you think I haven’t been honest?”
Velyn lets out a shuddered breath. “Not with yourself, no.”
The interaction between us has added the slightest glimmer to her eyes. I’m guessing it’s hope; hope that I may consider what she’s saying, and then come to some prodigious revelation that she’s right and let her back in, but she’s mistaken.
“Velyn, I’m being honest with myself. I don’t want this...I don’t want us.”
The tears fall from her eyes freely, with no attempt on her part to keep them at bay. With a slight pain now in my chest, I clear my throat and move to leave, stopping briefly beside her. “I think you should leave and don't come back...please.”
A muted sob escapes from between her lips, and the pain in my chest has grown to a full force slaughter.
I head back into the house, making my way passed the droves of bodies grouped throughout the rooms. Reaching the bedroom, I walk in, locking the
door behind me. I move over to the other side of the room and fall onto the bed—Chase’s bed. It’s where I’ve been sleeping every night since I’ve returned home. It’s bare; all his stuff has been removed. I close my eyes and lay there, blocking out the now muffled noise rumbling on the other side of the door. The pain in my chest from before is still there; it never really goes away but seems to dull when I can just block all the shit out of my mind.
I turn on my side, facing the door. From the movement, the pillow that I’m lying on, Chase’s pillow, gives off a slight scent of that fruity shampoo he used. I let out a chuckle at the memory of the time I saw the hot pink bottle in the main bathroom. I busted into his room, searching around. He asked what the hell I was doing? I looked to him in mock surprise and said that I was looking for the girl he was hiding away. He only shook his head, returning to his video game. That’s the only reaction I ever got from him, but I knew he was really laughing inside. He always said that he found me entertaining...or was it exhausting? Either way, he never said anything when it came to my constant razzing—he was the perfect little brother—but now he’s gone.
As I lay there a while longer, suddenly, a loud bang comes from somewhere in the house. “Time for this party to come to an end.”
I sit up, throwing my legs over the edge and when I look to the door, a white piece of paper slides out from underneath it. I walk over to pick it up and
when I open it, I let out a chuckle.
‘Push me away all you want, but I’m not going anywhere, so deal with it.’
I quickly open the door just as Velyn’s about to turn and walk away. I grab her by the arm, pulling her into the room. Shutting the door behind us, I then lean her up against it.
“You're stubborn,” I let out, my body moving in close to hers but not touching.
Her chin juts out. “I like persistent better.”
“You don’t listen, and that could get you in trouble, Velyn.”
She straightens herself, bringing her face closer to mine; so close that I can feel her warm breath. “Oh, I listen. I just choose to ignore the obdurate nonsense that comes out of your mouth.”
I look between her eyes, trying to get the slightest read on her. Something changed in the few moments from out on the patio to in here.
She’s become unshakeable.
I push off the door, not removing my eyes from hers until I turn to head over to the other side of the room.
“I don’t want this,” I state clearly.
“Bullshit—actually, no, not bullshit.” She moves toward me. “You want this, and you know you want this. You, Dylan, just don’t like the uncertainty it comes with. You hate that someone else can take something away that may end with you getting your little feelings hurt.”
Snark—I haven’t seen this side of her since before we got together.
“Wow, pulling out the big guns. Does sweet little Velyn think a verbal lashing is really going to change how I feel? Sweetheart, I don’t want you in my life; it’s that simple. No feelings are getting hurt here because honestly, there aren’t any to get hurt.”
Velyn’s eyes blaze with fury. Her arms come up, and with all her force, she pushes on my chest.
“You.” She pushes again. “Are.” and again. “An asshole.” That last push has me hitting the edge of the bed and falling onto it. She doesn’t waste a second. She jumps on top, straddling me with her legs.
I let out a laugh. “Babe, if you wanted to get me in bed, all you had to do was ask. I’m definitely down for a no-strings hook-up with a sweet piece of ass.”
She freezes.
“What, Velyn, not what you’re about? Well, it’s what I need. I just want someone to take care of my needs but knows when her job’s done.”
Loving Chase: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance Novel Page 18
