“So you finally learned?” I shoot back, pursing my lips.
“You’ve molded me into a model human being,” he replies with a wink. “My shower’s probably about ready. I’ll let you know when you’re ready to go?”
I nod, watching him peel his shirt off as he heads to the door. I bite my lip as my eyes trail down the muscles of his shoulders to the small of his back where dimples flesh themselves out against the muscles just above the band of his pants. I have a feeling he’s doing it on purpose to distract me, and it works because I’m suddenly on fire again and acutely aware that I look like as much of a drowned sewer rat as my brother.
I grab fresh clothes as I wait for my turn. When Danny opens the door, I’m rifling through my underwear. His eyes fall to the contents of the suitcase, and his face flushes red. He rubs his scruff, coughing before nodding over his shoulder. Words seem to have failed his open mouth as I tuck the black lace bra underneath the band t-shirt I’ve picked out.
“Thanks,” I reply, and he nods without speaking and then turns back into the living area.
I take a deep breath as I follow him, and let it out when I realize Macy’s not here yet. I may have two more minutes of peace before she comes in. While I shower, I find myself praying she keeps her mouth shut– that she’s grown up in the fifteen-plus months since I saw her last.
And most of all that she’s not still friends with the bastard. My personal Voldermort.
When I open the door to the bathroom, I see Macy sitting next to Zack. Her eyes lift to mine, and the smile that has turned my stomach so many times comes to her lips.
“Macy,” I say, nodding to her.
“How you doing, KO?”
Any hope that Macy’s grown into a normal human leaves the moment the letters cross her red-stained lips. My eyes remained locked on her as my whole body freezes. It’s like I’ve swallowed a hot rock as I try to think of something other than, fuck you bitch, to say.
Zack twists in his seat, his arm lifting from her shoulders. “What’s KO mean?”
The room spins, and I find myself leaning back against the kitchen counter. Danny’s already getting up from where he’s sitting. I feel like I’m going to pass out as the edges of my cell phone bite into my hand. I forgot Voldemort’s followers were almost as bad as him.
Macy laughs into her hand. “Oh, you know, that’s what you get called when you knock your boyfriend out after you trip over your feet.”
Zack’s arm pulls back from Macy, and his usually smiling face goes ashen. “He pushed her.”
Danny’s next to me now, and I grab his arm for support. His eyes fall to mine, and I know my chest is heaving too fast.
What’s she going to say next?
What are you going to do about it?
“And that’s typically what you say when you’re too embarrassed to admit the truth,” she says, her tone as nasty as the way she said the two letters.
The truth. I relish the thought of it at that moment; to spit the venomous truth in her face. To stop letting it drown me.
My eyes lock on her, and my breathing evens. “You made sure everyone thought that, didn’t you?”
Macy raises an eyebrow at me in question, and whatever strength I mustered fades with the memories of the last six months of high school. That torturous nickname replaced me and made me that girl. Macy’s one of the many reasons I left and never looked back– the reason I didn’t have any friends by the time I graduated.
The truth. I have proof.
My hands shake as I look down at my cell phone and open the hidden folder on it. I toss it into her lap and the picture of the massive bruise, complete with the darker lines of his knuckles, covering my stomach faces up for everyone on the bus to see.
“Does that look like I tripped?”
Macy looks down at the cell phone as if it’s diseased and Zack picks it up from her lap. He swipes his finger across the screen, and his face becomes redder and redder as Macy’s body starts to tremble. Her eyes water at the edges as Zack stands.
“Get out,” he growls with the cell phone still in his hand. I step forward to take it, and he shakes his head before giving it to Joey.
Danny steps around me to look at the pictures with Joey and Aaron while Macy stays seated, staring at the floor.
“I said get out!” Zack hollers and she finally snaps to, rushing from the bus with tears streaming down her face. I’m pretty sure she’s sorry Zack’s obviously not her boyfriend anymore and not for the way she’s treated me.
I turn to face the guys, and all their eyes are on me. Zack sits down and puts his head in his hands. The world seems to shift as my eyes find Danny, his muscles in his arms tensed from the fists his hands are in. Joey and Aaron’s gazes lock on me, so sad I can’t take it anymore.
I grab my smaller board and dart off the bus as Joey yells my name, “Sky! Skylar Jaclyn Haze!”
They all know now.
The truth is out.
But I still feel as empty as before. I’m far from free.
My feet hit the pavement at the same time as my board, and then I’m on it, blindly cruising through the parking lot of the venue, now mostly empty. Angry tears course down my cheeks as I try to forget that night.
But I can’t. And I never will.
“You cannot be serious!” I said, throwing my hands up as I twisted in the passenger seat to face Brian.
His jaw clenched, and his lips pushed downwards. “What proof do I have that you didn’t?”
“I don’t need proof. I didn’t cheat on you– and what proof do you have I did?” I snapped, and he kept his eyes on the road. I had the proof he had, though and at that moment I was done with him. “Yeah, that’s right, you don’t. But I do. Kristy sound familiar?”
Brian hammered on the brakes, and my head jerked forward.
“Get out!” he yelled.
“Whatever,” I said as I opened the door. “We’re done!”
I slammed the door and started to walk forward, but Brian met me in front of the car.
“We’re done when I say we’re done!” he growled, and then his fist rammed into my stomach. As I began to double over his knee came up, smacking hard into my jaw. I tried to hold my balance, but his hand whipped around, sending the blood from the impact of his knee flying. The world spun as I attempted to process what just happened.
“We’re done!” he hissed, and I grabbed his arm as I struggled to keep the world from blackening completely. When he turned to shrug me off, I sent a right hook into his face.
He stumbled backward before collapsing.
The most popular Senior in high school knocked out. KO.
I’m skating blindly, and I don’t see the person whose arms wrap around me to pull me off the board. I bury my face in his chest, and I know from the cologne and feeling of his body that it’s Danny.
“God, Sky,” he whispers into my hair, now tangled from the wind. His lips find the top of my head and stay there until my sobs die down. “Why didn’t you call?”
“What could you’ve done?” I ask as I look up at him.
His hands move to cup my cheeks. “Been there for you like you were there for me.”
“You would’ve been on the first flight back– and what good would that have done? You wouldn’t be where you are if that happened,” I reply, and his eyes crush shut. “Every one of you would’ve come back– and someone…”
“I would’ve killed him,” Zack says from behind us. “I still think I might.”
Danny’s eyes open, and his tongue darts over his lips. “We’re not finished talking about this, Sky. We need to talk about this. I need to tell you things.”
“Things?” I whisper as he steps aside.
“Your brother’s on the phone with your parents,” Zack explains as he hands me my skateboard.
“They already know,” I whisper, and Zack steps back.
“They know?” he repeats.
“They had to bring me to the hospital,” I r
eply, and Zack’s head shakes back and forth.
“Why didn’t they?”
“Press charges?” Joey asks as he joins us. He looks down at my cell phone, foot tapping before his eyes come back up to mine. “They did.”
“The bastard’s in jail then?” Zack replies, and Aaron comes up behind Joey. He’s shaking his head at me, and my cheeks burn.
“No,” Joey says. “She asked them to drop the charges.”
I swallow hard. “You don’t understand.”
“That you let that bastard get away with what he did to you? No, you’re right. I don’t,” Joey snaps, and Danny steps in front of me.
“Watch it,” Danny hisses.
“You’re just lucky no one ever pressed charges on you,” Zack says, voice low and nasty.
Danny’s body tenses. “I never hit anyone.”
“Could’ve fooled us,” Zack says, signaling to the scar on Danny’s lip.
“Don’t drag Danny into this,” I say, and I step forward. Danny grabs my elbow, but I shake my head at him before locking eyes on my brother. “Don’t you dare think I don’t feel guilty about it every day– but I wasn’t strong enough to face all the shit that was happening to me. Macy wasn’t half of it. People chose sides without understanding the whole story. He was the popular guy — I wasn’t shit after you guys left–and don’t think I’m blaming you– because I’m not. I can’t make an excuse for not putting him in jail except I was in pain, and I was all by myself.” The tears rush down my face as I point at Joey. “I feel guilty every second of the day knowing that some other girl could be facing him every day like that and not be strong enough to walk away.”
Joey’s face drops, and he looks down at his hands as I push past him.
Danny’s voice is almost too low for me to hear as he says, “The door’s going to be closed when you get in there. Leave us alone. I’ll talk to her.”
“Okay,” Joey replies.
I wonder if he’s just sick of fighting, or if he realizes Danny’s the only one that can talk me down. When he comes into my room, I’m sitting on the bed staring at my hands. I don’t look up.
“You know the worst part?” I ask as he sits down next to me. My gaze finds his face. “I kept thinking of you–how long you dealt with that kind of abuse every single day.”
“You saved me from that, Sky — why couldn’t you let me save you?”
“I just wanted to hear your voice and know that not everyone in the world sucked.”
“But I kind of sucked, didn’t I? Leaving you like that– after kissing you. I just thought you’d be better off without me. I didn’t want you to always to be waiting on me coming home. I should’ve just told you the truth.” Danny’s hands come up to cup my face, and his thumb traces the scar. “I just didn’t have the will to say it, and instead I ran away from the only thing that’s ever made sense in my life.”
“I don’t understand, ” I whisper as his gaze comes up to mine.
“I love you, Sky. I always have, and I’m never going to run away from you again.”
Danny’s lips crush into mine, and the kiss is different than the one we shared before. It’s desperate, filled with urgency kept in too long and sadness at the edges. The emotions give way as his kiss deepens and I wrap my legs around his waist. His hands slip up into my hair as his mouth moves to the scar on my chin, then down my neck before going to my ear.
“Forgive me,” he whispers.
“There’s nothing to forgive,” I reply as I press my forehead against his.
“You’ve always saved me,” he says, and his eyes close. “I wish I could’ve saved you.”
I slide off his lap and open my suitcase. I stand and hand him the wrinkled picture.
“You did.”
Danny looks down at the picture. “How?”
“Because I always knew you’d come home to me.”
Chapter 16
We spend the night talking about pointless things, but things that somehow matter. Danny tells me about their first real concert; how nervous he got and how he messed up and swore everyone would know it– but no one did. And I tell him how I got into longboarding and explain the scars on my legs from when I was trying to learn. It’s past midnight when we start talking about his tattoos.
“What about this one?” I ask, pointing to a cursive F. My eyes are heavy as I cuddle closer to him.
“Seriously?” he asks, his chin tucking into his neck. “I’m hoping that question is because you’re deliriously tired.”
I yawn and sink deeper into the bed, wrapping my arm around his waist and weaving our fingers together. I huff instead of replying with a response because I haven’t a clue what it symbolizes.
“Who’s my favorite band?” he asks, kissing my head. “And then we’re going to bed.”
“Foo Fighters,” I mumble into his soft cotton t-shirt.
“There you go. Now, time for bed,” Danny replies, reaching over and turning off the light. “Love you.”
I can feel my lips form a smile, but I’m asleep before I can respond. The next morning I wake up with Danny’s arms wrapped around me. I turn over and face him, and he brushes my hair out of my face.
“Hey, Beautiful,” he whispers before placing a kiss on my forehead. I lean up and kiss him slowly, relishing the feeling of his lips against mine before I pull away. He holds my face in his hands and smiles at me, making my heart stammer.
“There’s something I meant to tell you last night,” I say, smiling up at him.
His brows go up. “Oh, yeah?”
“I love you, Danny Maddox,” I reply, and he laughs before leaning down to kiss me again. I turn, and he follows, pulling his body over mine to balance on his forearms. My hands run over his ribcage, and I feel the goosebumps travel across his flesh under my fingertips as I pull his body closer to mine. The kiss deepens as his lips part my mouth before he pulls away to place his forehead on mine.
“This is dangerous,” he says with his eyes closed as his chest heaves. “What are we going to tell them?”
I put my hands on either side of his face, so his suddenly tense jaw relaxes. He stares down at me, hazel eyes racing back and forth over mine.
“Let’s just wait until they’re calmed down about the whole Macy thing,” I suggest, and he nods.
“I always knew it was going to be hard to tell them,” he says as he sighs. I kiss him once more before he moves to the side of me and stares at the ceiling.
I turn on my elbow to look down at him. “I didn’t say we wouldn’t tell them. I just think we should wait until they’re a little calmer…plus, I’m not really sure what’s up with Zack.”
Danny pinches his forehead with his fingers as he inhales. “Yeah, that.”
“Do you know more about what that happens to be?” I ask, and he sits up, putting his arms on his knees.
He looks over his shoulder at me, pushing his cheek out. “You’re special.”
My brows rise into my forehead as he sighs and stands to pull his shirt off the floor and back over his head.
“That’s all you’re going to tell me?” I ask, shaking my head in disbelief.
“It’s the only thing I know for sure,” he replies before leaning down and kissing me again. He looks down at his watch and then nods over his shoulder. “We should check and see if that driver ever showed up– either way we’re running late.”
I follow him out the door to find the guys in various uncomfortable looking positions strewn about the living area of the RV, along with empty bottles of the booze from the fridge.
“Well, that answers why they didn’t check on us,” Danny says as he pushes Zack with his foot. He’s slouched against the bench seat that Joey’s curled up in a ball on.
“Muppets,” Zack mumbles as he moves into a ball on the floor and wraps his arms around Danny’s foot.
“You better not start kissing my toes,” Danny says as he manages to pry his foot free.
Zack cracks one eye open. “Yo
u guys didn’t do it in there, did you?”
“You’re the one who’s half-naked,” Danny points out, signaling to Zack’s boxer briefs and socks.
I turn to find Aaron is actually completely naked, face planted on the floor. I turn back around into Danny’s shoulder.
Danny bursts out laughing. “What the hell happened last night?”
Zack pulls off his socks and chucks them at Aaron’s face. “You know Aaron tends to strip when he’s loaded.”
“No,” Danny says, shaking his head as I look at the ceiling. “You tend to end up naked when you’re loaded.”
Zack puts his palms up. “Apparently, Aaron decided he wanted to be the nude dude this time–and there can’t be more than one nude dude in this party.”
“Nudes?” Joey mutters as he sits up, and then immediately puts his head back down. “Never mind. Nudes or not, I want to vomit.”
“Aaron’s nude,” Danny says, and Joey’s upper lip twitches.
“We’ve all seen that before, well except you, Sky,” Joey replies before struggling to his feet. He titters as he heads towards Aaron. He ends up tripping and falling on top of him.
Aaron yelps and pulls away, and I turn back around before I see the front portion of him. My face burns and Danny seems to find my expression to be priceless because he leans forward, bracing himself against his knees as he laughs.
“Shit!” Aaron says. “How did I get naked?” There’s a sharp intake of breath. “Did Sky see anything?”
“That your ass is a pretty decent comparison to a full moon in its white glory,” Danny replies through choking laughter, and Aaron must signal to his lower portion. That seems to stabilize Danny. He winks at me as he leans down and picks up a pair of boxers. He tosses them at Aaron as he answers, “She didn’t see your dick, man.”
Aaron lets out a relieved sigh, and Joey pushes past us to the sink in just enough time to lose some of the liquor from his stomach.
“So where’s the driver because you’re sure as hell not driving anywhere for a few hours,” I say as I go to sit down at the table, and then think better of it. I’m not sure exactly where Aaron’s naked body has been, and I’m not entirely convinced Zack’s been even partially clothed all night.
Out of Beat (Boys of Fallout Book 1) Page 8
