The Things We Hide: A Friends to Lovers Young Adult Romance (Pushed Aside Book 2)

by Cassandra Hallman

  Copyright © 2019 by Cassandra Hallman

  All rights reserved.

  Cover by T.E. Black

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Epilogue

  Next in this Series

  About the Authors

  Jenna Reed

  Sinful Secrets

  1

  Jenna

  “I love you too Eliza. I’ll be back in a few weeks,” I promise my best friend as I hug her so tightly that she makes a distressed wheezing sound. I let her go and I turn to Jaxon to give him a hug as well, but much gentler. “And you take care of her in my absence. I’m counting on you, big guy.” I wink and playfully punch him on the arm before I turn around and leave.

  Hunter is already waiting for me at the door. He has been driving me back and forth for the last few months and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy our little road trips. Hunter is sweet, funny, and utterly handsome. I could get lost in his green eyes like a little girl in a dark forest without a flashlight.

  It’s a three-hour drive between the group home where I live and Jaxon’s place. I come here as much as I can, which is about every other weekend and I enjoy every single trip. Eliza wants me to come every weekend. Actually, Eliza wants me to come and live with her and Jaxon, but I can’t. She doesn’t know why, and I feel bad about keeping the real reason from her but I just don’t have a choice right now. I need to keep this secret, at least until I am legal. Three more months and I will be eighteen. It can’t come fast enough.

  I slump into the passenger seat of Hunter’s car and turn on the seat warmer. I don’t think I will be able to afford my own car any time soon but when I can, this is going to be a must. I don’t care if the car has manual windows and the brakes don’t work, I will buy it as long as it has a seat warmer. Okay, maybe the brakes have to work also.I am getting ahead of myself. First, I need to learn how to drive. Then I need to finish school. Then I need to get a job. Then maybe I can worry about getting a car.

  “Hunter, will you teach me how to drive?” I use my sweetest voice and look at him with puppy-dog eyes when he glances over to me from the driver’s side. He doesn’t look very excited about my idea.

  “Ah, I don’t know. Would we have to use my car?”

  “Never mind.” I roll my eyes at him. Of course, he is afraid that I would wreck his car. For all I know, he isn’t wrong. Maybe I am a horrible driver and if I do crash his car, it’s not like I would be able to pay for the damage.

  “What time do you have to be home by?”

  “Whenever. As long as I am up and ready for school in the morning nobody will care what time I get back.” I am almost eighteen and none of the current caregivers at the group home are particularly interested in what I do. Their job is pretty much to keep me alive and make sure I attend school as state law mandates. Beyond that, they don’t give a damn about me or any of the other kids. There has only been one person who truly cared about us, and she is dead now.

  Thinking about Sarah is like getting punched in the chest. Her death hit me hard. Maybe even harder than my own mom’s death. Losing both people so close to each other certainly didn’t help. But at least I saw it coming with my mom. I had known for so long that my mom was sick and struggling with addiction. Part of me was prepared for her to die, but nothing could have prepared me for sweet Sarah’s death. She died so suddenly, so violently. Sometimes, I still can’t believe that Colt killed her. I have tried to forget, but the images still haunt me each night and occasionally during the day.

  I am so lost in thought that I don’t realize that Hunter took an exit and we are not on the interstate anymore. I look around trying to figure out what we are doing.

  “Isn’t it a little too early for a pee break? We have only been driving for fifteen minutes. Does your old age make it hard for you to hold your pee? If you need to stop every fifteen minutes, I probably won’t make it to school on time.”

  Hunter doesn’t answer. He just pulls into a huge parking lot in front of what looks to be an abandoned warehouse. He puts the car in park and opens his door to get out. I grab his arm to stop him. “What are you doing?”

  “Unless you want to sit on my lap when I teach you how to drive, I suggest that I sit in the passenger seat.” I would probably blush about the sitting in his lap comment if it wasn’t for the fact that he is about to let me drive.

  “You’re going to teach me? Right now? Really?” I basically yell at him, unable to contain my excitement. I release his arm and crawl over to the driver seat while he walks around the car. By the time he settles into the passenger seat I am ready to go and eagerly waiting for instructions.

  “Jesus Jen, how is your butt not on fire? What setting is this seat warmer on? Conflagration?” He shifts uncomfortably in the seat making me I chuckle. I hold onto the steering wheel like I know what I am doing, which I absolutely don’t.

  “Okay, first you need to adjust the seat and the mirrors, so you can sit comfortably, see everything and reach the pedals. Move your seat to the front,” he orders, and I look helplessly around. I suddenly feel like I am trying to operate a spaceship instead of a car with all these buttons and handles than I am clueless about.

  “How?” I ask, and Hunter reaches across my lap. He feels next to my seat until he finds the little button that automatically makes my seat move up with a low buzzing noise. He is basically in my lap while he is doing this and him being so close is making my skin tingle under my clothes.

  No, No, No! I am not going to fall for this guy. I am not my mother. I spent my whole life watching my mom date one guy after another and it never ended well. She would start a relationship and totally depend on the guy who would eventually disappoint and leave her. I am not like her. I will find my own way in life and I will not depend on anyone.

  He straightens out and continues barking orders. “Put your left foot to the side, you won’t be using it. Right foot is doing all the work. Check all your mirrors, make sure you can see around the vehicle well and for the love of god, buckle up before you start driving.”

  I buckle up and put my left foot all the way to the side like he said. The stupid grin never leaves my face as I wait for further instructions. “What now?”

  “Put the car in drive and then slowly, very slowly, push the gas down. Right pedal is the gas, left pedal is the brakes. Got it?” He asks, sounding a little nervous.

  “Got it,” I try to sound super confident even though I am anything but. I do what he told me and put the car in drive. I put my foot on the gas pedal and push down gently. The car starts moving forward and I can’t contain myself.

  “I’m doing it! I’m doing it! I’m dri
ving!” I yell at poor Hunter.

  My moves are jerky at first, but Hunter is surprisingly patient and lets me drive for a while. We are just cruising across the empty parking lot and around the building, so there are no other cars I have to watch out for and I am thankful for that.

  “All right, I think that’s enough for your first driving lesson. Go ahead and put it in park.” When I do, he continues, “You did really good. I’m impressed.”

  “Come on now, don’t act so surprised. You know I am awesome at everything I do.”

  He grins at my joke and gets out of the car. I also get out this time and when we meet in front of the hood, I shock both of us by jumping into his arms. I give him a fierce hug and bury my face in his chest. “Thank you.”

  He wraps his arms around me and plants a kiss on the top of my head. “You are very welcome.” When he is being so sweet to me it is hard to believe what he does for living. I try not to think about Hunter’s business. I’ve never really asked him outright, but from what I can gather, he is some kind of loan shark. I like to think that he is a nice loan shark and just asks very politely for his money back instead of beating people up. Yup, that’s the story I’m sticking to.

  We stand like this for what feels like too long and yet not long enough. I’m torn between not wanting to get too close, and wanting to get closer. This feels so nice. I don’t want to let go, but I have to. I can’t be like my mom. I peel myself away from Hunter’s body and walk back around to the passenger side.

  We sit back in our seats like nothing happened. We are both aware of these little moments happening between us, and that they are occurring more frequently. But, Hunter is also aware of me closing myself off, especially after those moments. He actually asked me out before, but I told him no so many times that he eventually stopped asking.

  When Hunter pulls back on the interstate, we drive right into rush hour traffic. He switches lanes a few times, trying to get through it quicker, but it doesn’t seem to be helping much. We are in the middle lane when Hunter tries to pass the car in front of us. He switches lanes and speeds up.

  Out of nowhere a black SUV that must have been two cars behind us, pulls out and speeds towards us. I can hear the engine roar behind us. Is he deliberately trying to hit us? Hunter quickly pulls the car all the way over to the emergency lane almost swerving into the ditch. I hear the sound of tires squealing approaching and the car that almost ran us off the road whizzes by us at high speed. I look over and catch a glimpse of the driver. My heart stops. No! It can’t be. I must be dreaming. It can’t be who I think it is. He is in jail. There is no way it was him. I try to convince myself that my mind was playing tricks on me, but when I look over to Hunter, I see the same shock reflected in his eyes. I’m scared of the answer, but I still ask, “Was that Colt?”

  “Yes.” Hunter smacks the steering wheel, making me jump in my seat. “I have no idea how, but it was definitely him.”

  2

  Hunter

  I haven’t seen Colt in months, but I would recognize him anywhere. We had been friends most of our lives before his drug use got out of control and turned him into a different person. Being reminded of that makes my stomach churn. I hate what he did, and I hate that I lost my friend in the process.

  I glance over to Jenna who looks like she seen a ghost. She might as well have. “Are you okay?” I touch her hand which is balled up by her side. I wrap my fingers around her hand and give it a gentle squeeze. She relaxes, but only a little.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I think.”

  I slowly pull back into traffic. This time I stay in the slow lane. It takes all my concentration to keep driving straight. My thoughts are all jumbled up. I need to figure out how he got out and if what just happened was a coincidence or if he tracked me down on purpose.

  “I’ve got to call Jax and tell him,” I say more to myself than to Jen. I dial the number and put it on speaker.

  Jaxon answers the phone after a few rings. “What did Jen forget this time?”

  I ignore his question and get straight to the point. “I just saw Colt.”

  After a few seconds of tense silence Jaxon replies, “I’ll call you right back.”

  I’m not surprised that he didn’t question my statement. He knows me well enough to know I wouldn’t say something like this unless I was one hundred percent sure. And I am sure about this. While I am gathering my thoughts and trying to wrap my head around what just happened, Jenna is sitting next to me silently. The silence worries me more than anything since she usually talks nonstop.

  It takes about twenty minutes for Jaxon to call me back. I answer on the first ring and put him on speaker, so Jenna can hear too.

  “I just got off the phone with my lawyer. Frederick had to do some digging, but we know how Colt got out. Apparently, Coleman was elected to be a judge a few weeks ago. He somehow got the district attorney to bring Colt’s case back to the court with some bullshit new evidence proving he is innocent. They cleared him of all charges and released him from jail.”

  Shit. I hear Jen gasp next to me and I can see her body stiffen even more than she had been. I am sure Jenna knows what Coleman almost did to Eliza. Having him involved with Colt is bad, really bad. They are both holding a grudge against Jaxon and Eliza, and Colt is not too fond of any of us for what he felt was a massive betrayal. With him out and Coleman as a judge who has a DA in his pocket, we could be in serious trouble. I can’t let Jenna see me worry though. She looks like she is freaking out enough as it is.

  “I’m going to try to figure out where Colt is staying and make sure he is keeping his distance. I’ll call you if I hear anything else.” Jaxon sounds tense. I know he is probably thinking what I am thinking. Colt and Coleman are up to something. We just need to figure out what.

  I usually just drive Jen home and drop her off, but after what happened I don’t want to just leave her there. She looks really shaken by the whole thing. We are ten miles away from her place when I finally ask her, “Want to grab some dinner before I drop you off?”

  “Sure.” I’m surprised by her quick answer. I had asked her out to dinner a few times and she had always declined. I am not sure why she never wanted to go out with me before. I like her, and unless I have lost my touch completely, I am pretty sure she likes me back. I am not going to read too much into her agreeing today though. She probably just doesn’t want to be alone right now. It’s not like she has a supportive family waiting for her at home to comfort her.

  I take the next exit that has food and pull up in front of an Applebee’s.

  “This is not a date,” Jenna tells me before we get out of the car.

  “Not a date, got it,” I wink at her, making her roll her eyes.

  We walk in and the waitress sits us in a small booth near the bar. Jenna is still being unusually quiet, but I figured I would just let her be until she is ready to talk. Besides Jenna ordering food and her ‘this is not a date’ comment, she hasn’t said a word. But I don’t get really worried until I see her reaching for the silverware and notice that her hand is shaking.

  “Jen, why don’t you come back with me? You can stay with Eliza and Jaxon, or you can stay with me. I have a guest room you know.” This might not be optimal with Colt on the loose, but I can’t leave her here like this.

  “You drove me all the way out here.” Her voice is small as she looks down and tries to hide her shaking hands under the table. Yeah, she is definitely coming back with me.

  “So? I don’t care. Let’s just eat and drive back.” The fact that she didn’t say no right away lets me know that I can convince her.

  “I need to go to school. I only got couple of months left before I am done. I need to get my high school diploma, or I’ll never find a job.” She keeps arguing, but I know I almost have her.

  “I’m not asking you to move in. Just come spend a few more days with us, at least until this whole Colt thing is figured out. We’ll tell your caseworker that you have the flu and need to rec
uperate till the end of the week. I can get you a doctor’s note if needed.”

  Jen sighs in defeat. “Okay, I’ll stay at your place. I don’t want to keep crashing on Jaxon’s couch. They need their alone time.”

  Hook, line, and sinker. I don’t even know why I am so happy about her staying at my house. I know she won’t sleep with me and that would usually be the only reason I get excited to have a girl over. Still, having her close will be nice. She is actually fun to hang out with, when most girls tend to annoy me after a while. I don’t have a lot of friends in general. Not real friends at least. Jaxon and Colt were my only friends for a long time. Now with Colt gone, it has just been me, Jax, and Eliza. Jenna has slowly become part of my inner circle and I want to keep her safe. Now that she has agreed to stay with me, I’ll know where she is and that she will be safe and cared for. I hate that she lives at the group home anyways, with no one who actually gives a damn about her. I never understood why she won’t let us move her closer. We offered plenty of times, but she is adamant about staying where she lives now.

  We finish eating and signal the waitress for the check. She brings it two minutes later and puts it on the table in front of me. I’m just about to put my card in it when Jen snatches the black leather check holder from my hand and slides a twenty-dollar bill in before handing it back to me. “I was going to pay for your dinner.”

  “I told you, this is not a date. You don’t have to pay for my dinner. It’s enough you keep driving me across the state without taking any gas money.” She crosses her arms and leans back in her seat. Her facial expression is stern and I know she is not going to budge on this. Fine, if it’s so important to her she can pay for her own dinner. I know how to pick my battles.