Bender (The Core Four Series)

by Stacy Borel

  “I’d love some sleep. I swear this is like the week that never ends,” I grumbled.

  “Hmmm, and I thought it was just me. Alright Blue, hold on.” He lifted my arms around his neck, and he picked me up, cradling my too his body. Carrying me up the stairs we went into his room, and he laid me on the bed. He pulled off his gym shorts and crawled under the covers behind me, spooning me. “I’ll wake you up before you need to leave,” he said, kissing my temple.

  “K. Thank you.” I yawned. His body was like a big blanket, and it comforted me in so many ways. It only took a few minutes for sleep to drag me under.

  Beep, beep, beep. What the hell was that noise? Opening one eye I looked at the clock feeling completely discombobulated and stiff. Did the alarm just go off? Rolling on to my back I stretched my limbs and glanced at Camden’s side of the bed. It was empty, but I heard the shower running in the distance. Man I must have been really out, because I didn’t even feel him get up. I had a little over thirty minutes to get ready for work.

  A second little beep, beep, beep went off.

  Sitting up, I rubbed my tired eyes and looked on Camden’s night stand. His phone was sitting there and the screen was lit. I tried not to look at it, I really did, but curiosity got the best of me. I didn’t know why all the trust conversations that I’d had with Camden and Macie went out the window in that moment, but I needed to look. Something was drawing me to see who it was. Reaching for his phone, I pushed the bottom button on his to light the screen up, and I saw two text messages from Bree. Instantly I felt sick. Why was she texting him? I was able to see partial messages, but I’d never be able to look at them without him knowing that I read them. I looked up at the door and listened for the shower. It was still running so I had a little bit of time. With shaky hands I picked up the phone and lit up the screen again.

  Bree: Hey I’m in town. Need 2 talk….

  Bree: Meet me @ Fastfreddys @….

  That was all that I could see of the messages without actually opening them up. Bile was rising in my throat, and I had to swallow it back down. I put the phone back exactly how it was before and sat on the bed in a shocked state. Why was she texting him? Would he actually go meet her? The bigger question would be would he tell me about it? None of this was sitting well with me. I wasn’t a jealous person, at least I didn’t think I was, but I’d also never dated someone who made me feel jealousy. I always knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was with them, and they were with me. So now brings the question of whether I ask him what it was about, or did I even bother telling him that I saw the texts? I wanted to so bad, but I thought I’d wait to see if he mentioned it.

  I heard the water cut off, and Camden came back in the room a few minutes later. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and droplets of water still clung to his skin. He saw me looking at him and a little ghost of a smile appeared on his perfect lips.

  “Sleep good?” he asked.

  I wanted him. Despite how I had been feeling only a few short seconds ago, I wanted him. I didn’t think I’d ever not want him. “Yeah, I needed a nap. I don’t think I’ve been getting enough sleep at night.”

  “I don’t think you have either. You’ve been tossing and turning quite a bit, and you’ve been mumbling.”

  “I have? What have I been saying?”

  “Yes. But none of it is coherent. You’re just making little noises.”

  “Oh. Hmmm…sorry if it’s been keeping you awake.”

  He went to the closet and pulled out some clothes. When he dropped the towel, he was faced away from me, and I couldn’t remove my eyes from his toned ass and how the muscles in his back moved. I think I was salivating.

  “You aren’t. You settle down a little when I tuck you back into me.”

  My heart melted. “You cuddle me closer?”

  “Mhmm.” He tugged his gym shorts up over his hips, and I pouted not being able to see all of him any longer.

  I covered my mouth to stifle a yawn, and he smiled at me. Walking toward the bed, he bent down and kissed me tenderly on the lips. I wanted to yank him down and have my way with him, but both of us needed to get going. The unease was still flowing through me as I watched him grab his phone from the night stand and check it. I tried to tell if there were any differences in his demeanor or if he’d come out and tell me what was up, but he held it in. There were no changes in his expression, nor did he mention the texts. I felt myself pull away slightly, not wanting to give away that it was killing me not knowing.

  “I’m going to head downstairs to get my bag ready, do you want me to make you something before you have to leave?” he offered.

  I shook my head. I definitely wasn’t feeling hungry with this pit sitting in my stomach, and I wanted to scream at him to tell me what was going on.

  “Nah, I’m good. I think I’ll brush my hair and teeth and take off.”

  He looked at me a little funny, but nodded. “Okay.”

  He turned and went downstairs. Getting up, I made myself presentable and followed after him to say bye. Everything about our movements was completely normal… until he told me he was going to be working late. Alarms started ringing in my head and I was reeling. I needed to get out of here and get away so I could try and clear my head. Words wouldn’t even form on my lips and I simply nodded at him and made my way to the door. Before I walked out, I looked back at him and saw him staring at me strangely. He said bye, and I had no response, there was nothing. Walking out the front door, I half expected him to follow after me, to question what my problem was, but he didn’t. I think I found that more disturbing that he didn’t. Now who was the one acting differently?

  Once I was at work, I couldn’t concentrate. My mind kept playing over and over the text that I’d seen, and this Bree girl who wanted to meet my boyfriend at FastEddy’s. I was only thirty minutes into my shift, and I couldn’t deal with it any longer. Have you ever tried to concentrate on the job when every single thought was being consumed by something else? Not really feeling like I was lying, I went to my boss and said I was sick and needed to go home. She looked at my sympathetically and told me she hoped I felt better. As I walked out of the office, one thought occurred to me. I needed to see for myself. I had no idea what time she told Camden to meet her, but I did know where. There was another small hole in the wall restaurant across the street from FastEddy’s where I could sit inside and not be seen. My mind made up, I made the short drive and parked my car around the corner. I’d only hoped that the person serving me wouldn’t mind that I planned on staying there until I was certain Camden wouldn’t show up at the other diner.

  I’d been seated for only ten minutes, and I was sipping my water when it hit me what I was doing. Had I lost that much faith in my relationship with Camden that I felt the need to resort to spying, or had I not had faith in the first place? He’d never given me a reason not to trust him. And at what point did I become this crazy person? I wanted to leave, to prove to myself that I didn’t need to be here and I could put aside my doubts. No scratch that, I needed to leave. Except every time I was going to call the waiter over to me to pay my tab, I stopped myself. My stupid head was spinning in circles and every minute that ticked by I was getting angrier with myself.

  Just over an hour into my stalking, I looked across street at the outdoor patio of FastEddy’s and watched as a familiar looking dark-haired girl was seated. How did I know her? I was going through faces in my memory trying to peg exactly where I’ve seen her but nothing was ringing a bell. Hmmm… maybe I knew her from class or something. I was going to shrug it off but then Camden’s car came pulling up to my side of the road and parallel parked. I ducked in my seat as if he could see me, when in actuality the windows were too dark for him to see in. My heart went into my throat, and I was holding my breath as he got out of the car and looked across the street. The girl gave a small wave and that was when it hit me. Holy shit it was the girl from the photograph. The one that was hanging in his parents’ hallway. No, no,
no, this wasn’t happening! I felt like my eyes were deceiving me. Dizzily looking from her to him, then him to her. I was going to puke. Camden turned in my direction but was looking at the other side of his vehicle. The passenger side door opened and Dodger stepped out. What the hell was he doing here too? They both made their way across the street and through the restaurant until they stepped out on the patio. The women stood up, and I looked on as she hugged Dodger and kissed his cheek. Oh Macie would have a field day with his balls right about now had she seen him do that. When Camden greeted her, she smiled big, as if she were happier to see him. She went into his open arms, and he held her tightly. He was speaking into her ear, and she nodded as he spoke. When he broke away, she held his hand as they sat down.

  He’d been lying to me. He came to meet up with a girl, and he never told me about it, and for whatever reason Dodger was in on it. Mindlessly I sat and watched as they conversed and shared some laughs. I didn’t know why I stayed there letting every ounce of respect for Camden dissolve into nothing, but I did. Call it torture, call it affliction, call it whatever you want, I was planted in my chair as it all unfolded. Every emotion one could feel— disgust, hurt, pain, anger— were rolling through me like a raging storm.

  I snapped.

  Pulling out my wallet I threw some money on the table and stood up. Fury was fueling me to move forward. Once outside I went to Camden’s car and looked over the hood at the three of them. All I kept saying to myself was, ‘he told me he was working late’. When I heard the chime of her laughter float across the air, I think that was when I broke. Tears welled in my eyes clouding my vision, but not enough to do what I did next. I slung my purse at his passenger side door as hard as I possibly could. The sound of the beating amped me up to do it again, over and over. A few people stopped and watched what I was doing, but nobody said anything to me. Well, maybe they did, but I didn’t hear them. I was in my own little bubble. I’d hoped that it would give me some relief, some sort of reprieve from the need to go over there and hurt him. I never said anything about what I was doing was right, but all sense of reason had left my body. When it wasn’t enough, I dropped my bag and started using my feet. As my destruction continued I had looked up in time to see Camden reach across the table and place his palm on the woman’s cheek. Have you ever been so angry that you saw red? His gesture repulsed me. I kicked everything that I could lay my eyes on; the bumper, the door, the hood. I was running around it like a mad woman. A small crowd was forming around me, murmuring about calling the police. I wanted to say, ‘yes, call the police, because if he comes over here I am going to be charged with murder’. When my feet were no longer enough I started using my fists, pounding on the windows attempting to break the glass. It was like Camden was the car, and I was kicking the shit out it like I wanted to do him.

  Arms suddenly closed in around me and I was lifted in the air away from the object of my focus. I screamed, “No! Put me down!”

  Camden came to stand in front of me, his chest heaving. “Keegan? What the fuck are you doing?”

  “I hate you. I HATE YOU!” I spat. “Who is she you son of a bitch? You lied to me.”

  I didn’t realize who was holding me from behind until I heard Dodger’s voice in my ear. “Keegan, settle down. Jesus Christ, would you relax.”

  “Fuck you, Dodger! I can’t believe you’ve known about him being with someone else, and you didn’t say anything.” I grunted.

  I kicked against him trying to break free. “Shit!” I hit him in the shin. The girl that they were sitting with had made her way through the crowd and saw me. Her mouth dropped open in shock, but then a funny thing happened, she looked at me… in approval? What the hell?

  Camden took two steps toward me and grasped my upper arms, pulling me away from Dodger. “Seriously Keegan, would you calm down, you’re going to hurt yourself more if you don’t stop.”

  I tried to use my arms to bring them up and around to break his hold, but I should have known better. Camden was built like a brick house, and I didn’t stand a chance. He brought me in, locking me in a bear hug, and his face came down to mine. His eyes were deadly serious, and all I saw the black of his pupils. “Enough!” he commanded.

  “Oh screw you! How long have you been cheating on me, huh? How long Camden? Or should I ask your little whore over there?”

  I was still squirming, and I kicked him hard in the knee. He grunted but didn’t waver in his hold. Instead, he pushed me up against his car and wrapped one of his legs around me, preventing me from any further movement of my limbs.

  “I said, enough,” he said through gritted teeth. “If you’d stop for one second and let me explain, you’d know that I’m not cheating. In fact it’s not even close.”

  I was just starting to feel some pain in my hand, but I ignored it. “What in the hell are you talking about? I saw you! I saw you kiss her on the cheek, I saw you holding her hand.”

  “Keegan, look at her.” I was glaring at him. “Look…at...her.” My eyes shifted to where she was standing in the crowd. “See her. Does anything about her look familiar?”

  Of course she was familiar. She was the girl from the photograph, she was my worst nightmare come to life. I hated her. I hated her so severely that just seeing her made me want to bend at the waist and throw up. But for some reason Camden wouldn’t let me move until I gave him what he wanted. I eyed the girl, taking in her beautiful features. The black hair, and striking sea green eyes. She was watching me as though she were willing me to make a connection, to see something that was right in front of my face. And then it happened. The face, the chiseled cheeks made more feminine because she was a female, the hair… I glanced back at Camden in confusion.

  “Do you see it now?” he asked, his tone softening.

  I shook my head. “Who- who is she?”

  I saw her step forward out of the corner of my eye, and she came to stand beside me. “Keegan this is my half-sister, Breslin.” He told me in a way of introduction.

  “Half-sister,” I said as a statement, rolling the words around on my tongue, tasting it and letting it sink in.

  “Yes.”

  “But you don’t have a sister,” I nearly whispered.

  “I do. And I swear I’ll explain everything to you, but can I trust that you won’t go beating the shit out of something else if I let you go?”

  Wait, what? Of course I wouldn’t hit anything, I didn’t do that. Okay, well actually it seemed that I did, but this wasn’t normal behavior. My adrenaline was fading, and my emotions were sweeping through me.

  “Okay.” I told him even though it didn’t really answer his question. I was staring at Breslin, and my brain was trying to make the connection. “Sister,” I repeated like it would make more sense if I said it again.

  “Do you think she’s in shock?” I heard Dodger ask.

  “I don’t know, but we should go somewhere where we aren’t being stared at,” Camden replied.

  “Right,” Dodger responded. “Let’s go.”

  And just like that we were on our way back to the apartment. I barely remember the car ride, or how I got in the vehicle. I just know that I never once took my eyes off of her, the one who made my heart feel fractured.

  “KEEGAN I’M SORRY THAT YOU WERE MISLED into believing that I was someone else,” Bree told me. “Seriously Cam? You didn’t bother telling your girlfriend?”

  He glared at her. Jesus their features were similar. “You told me not to talk to anyone about it. What the hell did you want me to do?”

  “Oh I don’t know, maybe let her in on it so shit like this could have been avoided?” she replied sarcastically.

  I sat on the couch still somewhat confused as Camden was cleaning my knuckles of blood and dirt. I’d apparently done a number on them, and they were swollen and split open.

  He was squatting in front of me as he glanced up at her and said, “Bree, you didn’t want me to tell anybody about your situation, not even Dodge. Except now you’re telling
me I was supposed to explain to someone that didn’t even know you existed, ‘hey, my sister that you didn’t know about called me in a panic because she got knocked up by some random guy and I need to help her out of that mess’.”

  She threw her hands up in the air. “Argh! You’re impossible you know that?”

  Bree walked into the kitchen to talk to Dodger who was currently icing his shin. Hmmm…I didn’t think I kicked him that hard.

  I was looking down at what Camden was doing, my eyes refusing to meet his even though I knew he was watching me. “So a sister? Care to tell me how that happened?”

  He shrugged. “My dad had a long-time girlfriend throughout high school and college. His junior year she got pregnant. At first she wasn’t going to keep it, but my dad’s really against abortion, and he felt like he should have a say in keeping it. Before they split up, she told him she’d have the baby but she didn’t want any responsibilities. Of course as she went through her pregnancy she ended up changing her mind and wanted to keep her. My dad was able to get partial custody of Bree, and then two years after she was born, Dad met my mom.”

  Wow! That wasn’t the story that I was expecting. “So why the secrecy then? Are you two close?”

  “Sort of. Out of all my brothers, it’s me who she comes to. Bree has always struggled with where she fits in with my family. My dad has always been there for her, and he took part in raising her. My mom treated her like she was her own daughter. And of course, we all grew up with her during the summer months and some holidays, but for whatever reason, Bree stopped coming around. She knows that we do family dinners, and that she is always going to be a part of that. I just think she’s trying to find where her place is. Her mother isn’t always there. As far as the secrecy goes, well I was going to try and handle this without anybody knowing, but Dodger somehow figured it out and demanded that he come with me so Bree knew we were here for her.”

  It made sense, it really did, but I was dumbfounded as to why he never even mentioned Bree before now. Why I had to find out about her like this, instead of me acting like a psycho in the middle of Athens and making a scene.