Crushed

by Amity Hope

  “So?” Reece asked.

  “So I don’t have any to wear.”

  “So?” he repeated. “I don’t see that as a problem.” Then he smirked again and motioned to his dresser. “I’m kidding. Grab something out of there.”

  She helped herself to a t-shirt and then found her toothbrush, which she was glad she’d remembered, and left for the bathroom. When she got back, Reece had already burrowed under the covers.

  She turned off the light and wiggled across the bed until she found herself wrapped up in his arms. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek and then his head flopped back down on his own pillow.

  “That’s it?” she asked. She realized it sounded a whole lot like she was pouting.

  “Cleo, I’ve been missing you like crazy for months. I had a hard enough time keeping myself in check out in the living room. We’re in my bed and you’ve barely got anything but my t-shirt on. Anything more than a little kiss…and I’m not going to want to stop.”

  “Oh,” she said. “I wasn’t planning on asking you to stop. Does that change things?”

  “Yeah,” he said as he moved closer to her again. “Yeah, it does.”

  ***

  The next morning, he was awake way before Cleo. Which was crazy, he thought, because he’d never had a problem sleeping. He could sleep just about any time, any place. But not when he was fuming mad. She was the only thing keeping him even a little bit calmed down.

  Even in her sleep she had herself wrapped so tightly around him it was like she never planned on letting him go. And he was just fine with that. This was all he had wanted for the last three months. And he was trying not to let what was going on with his dad ruin it.

  He didn’t want to move because he didn’t want to wake Cleo up. She almost never got a whole nights’ sleep. So he just started tossing around ideas in his head. All of them had drawbacks. And he was sure Cleo wasn’t going to like a single one of them. But by tomorrow, something was going to have to give. He was not letting her go back to that house.

  He was worried that she seriously thought that what she had been dealing with had been tolerable. Because she was willing to put up with it for Luci’s sake. He hated that she could possibly feel that way. It shouldn’t have to be tolerable. It shouldn’t be happening. Ever.

  And if he had anything to say about it, it wouldn’t.

  But that still left Luci to worry about and he was. Worried, that is. She was just a kid. And she depended on Cleo. A lot. Cleo swore Paul had never touched Luci. But she admitted she was afraid that might change. So…what? They just waited until he actually did? No, Reece thought, no way. He hated the thought of anything happening to Luci as much as he hated the thought of anything happening to Cleo.

  And then there was his mom to worry about. She was furious about Landon not allowing Cleo in their house. Paying Paul off? He was afraid that was really going to push her over the edge.

  He hated that this was all because of him.

  The irony of the whole situation was that it was never because of Cleo that he didn’t want to go to the college of his dad’s choice. Or take over his business. And if he hadn’t been such a coward, not wanting to deal with him over it, he realized, this never would’ve happened. But it did because he waited too long to tell him. And then he came to his own conclusions. Made his own assumptions. And even though at the time, Reece had told him he was wrong about Cleo, it didn’t matter. Landon ignored him when he tried to tell him that he’d always felt that way. He didn’t listen. No surprise there because he never listened.

  And now Cleo was the one that had everything to lose.

  And he knew he needed to make sure that didn’t happen.

  They had to find a way to fix this.

  The problem was he was pretty sure they weren’t going to be able to do it themselves.

  Chapter 24

  Reece thought that if his mom could see Cleo right then, she’d be pretty happy.

  She was eating a caramel French toast bake his mom had left in the fridge for him. He could tell she was loving every bite. She was on her third piece and he was kind of impressed. He had no idea she could eat so much.

  She had a mug of caramel hot chocolate with instant coffee stirred in. It was the closest he could get to her favorite without running to the little coffee shop in town. He wouldn’t have been opposed to doing that but the weather had turned stormy. She’d told him it would be silly to leave the house. It was an absolute downpour, complete with wind, thunder and a few flashes of lightening.

  “So I have a few ideas,” he started in while she finished eating.

  They were downstairs again. He felt pretty lucky that it happened to be her Saturday off. As if, finally, for once, something was going their way. Even if it was a small something, he’d take it. He was relieved that if nothing came up, she’d asked if they could spend the whole day together. Too bad the conversation was going to ruin that a bit.

  “I have money in savings, too. What if we get a place together?” It was a huge proposition. He knew that. He didn’t care. He just wanted to throw the idea out there.

  She blinked at him in surprise. Swallowed the bite she was chewing. Took a sip of her hot chocolate, probably to give herself a minute to think, he realized. Then she asked, “You mean like…move in together?” She looked and sounded surprised. But at least she didn’t look horrified by the idea.

  He nodded.

  “No,” she said quietly. She started shaking her head. “Just because I’m having problems at my house, I don’t want you to leave yours.”

  “Do you think I want to stay here? With him? After what he did?” he didn’t mean to raise his voice. It seemed to have shot up on its own. “Look, you’re eighteen. I’ll be eighteen in two more months. I was thinking either you could stay with Emma for two months? Or, we could find a place now and I’ll stay here until my birthday. But I’ll pay part of the rent. Just until my parents can’t tell me I can’t leave.”

  Reece knew he had enough money saved for this. His mom had told him to save his money for something important. He knew she sure as hell hadn’t meant to save it so he could use it to move out of her house. She was going to hate the idea.

  He knew Cleo had money saved, too.

  And though he’d been thinking of getting a car with his savings, his mom had said they’d switch his vehicle to his name on his birthday. Just like they’d done for Amanda and Chelsey. Maybe he should feel guilty about that, waiting until it was in his name and then dropping the bomb that he was leaving. But he didn’t feel guilty because after what his father had done, he figured the man owed him at least that much. The plan made sense in his head that morning, while he had been thinking things over. But it didn’t look like it was making as much sense to Cleo as it did to him.

  She put her plate down on the coffee table and slid it away. Suddenly, he wished he’d waited until she was done eating. Because he was sure he’d just made her lose her appetite.

  “Reece,” she started, “I appreciate the offer but—”

  “It’s not like I’d be doing it as a favor!” he interrupted. “I want to be with you.”

  “I want to be with you, too,” she said. He could feel a huge “but” headed his way. He wasn’t wrong. “But we’re still in high school.”

  “And we’ll both be adults,” he pointed out. He wasn’t at all surprised that she’d shot this idea down. He had known it was a long shot. And he knew she was right. And while he did want to be with her, he also did not want to be where his dad was. Moving out would be like a two for one deal for him. But he could tell it wasn’t going to fly. Not yet. Maybe after graduation but judging by the stubborn look on her face, definitely not now.

  “So, what have you got?” he asked. “What do you think we should do?”

  She rolled her lips in and was silent for a minute. Meaning she was hesitant. And that, he was sure, meant that she knew he wasn’t going to like what she had to say.

  Fi
nally she said, “I think I should just go home and talk to Paul. I could try to convince him that we’re not together. I mean, Luci told him she was the one that invited you the other night. It was one night, for a few hours. It was my birthday.” She shrugged. “I think I could convince him nothing has changed. That you only came over because we’re friends.”

  He already hated this idea. “That means we’d never be at your house. Which I’m fine with, I don’t want you there at all. But that means Luci would be alone a lot. Or,” he realized the other side of this, “you and I would never be together. Which we probably couldn’t be because someone would see us and it would get back to him.”

  She was silent. He slumped back into the couch. “That’s your idea?! To pretend like this week never happened? So you go back to being what…his punching bag?” She tried to cut him off but he kept talking. “And we act like nothing has changed between us? Like things are just as crappy as they have been the last few months? No!” he shouted as he shot up from the couch. Maybe his idea was a little over the top. But hers? Stupidest. Idea. Ever. “No way.”

  “Okay,” she said quietly, “how about…” She faded off and he knew he wasn’t going to like this one either. “I tell him we’re together. I know all he’s worried about is the money. What if I take five thousand out of my savings to replace the money from your dad?”

  Did he think her first idea was the stupidest ever? This topped that. Cleo was one of the smartest people he knew. But right now, she wasn’t thinking straight.

  “Do you want me to start listing all of the reasons that’s not going to work? Because for one thing, how do you know he won’t take your money and kick you out anyway? And then you’ll have almost nothing left to start over with. Not to mention, that means you’d still be in that house!” There was also the issue with his dad. Would he fire Paul? Reece had no idea. He didn’t really care. Except he wasn’t sure what that would mean for Luci, and Cleo wasn’t the only one worried about her.

  “It’s not that bad there,” she said quietly.

  “How can you say that?”

  “Maybe I want to be there,” she admitted.

  “Why?” he demanded. The last thing he had wanted was to fight with her. But he was getting frustrated. He had made her show him her bruises last night. The one on her stomach was faint. The ones on her thigh made him want to punch a hole through the wall. And the one on her shoulder, though it didn’t look as bad as the others, bothered her the most. He wondered if she’d wrenched it or something and just hadn’t realized it. “I thought you hated it there?” Not just because of Paul. The place wasn’t exactly full of happy memories for her. It literally gave her nightmares. He couldn’t understand why she would ever want to stay there.

  “I do hate it there,” she said and her eyes started filling up with tears. “But it’s familiar. It’s what I know. It’s where Luci is. It’s a lot less scary than not having any idea what’s going to happen to me. Or her. What if I can’t find anywhere to go? What if no one will rent to someone still in high school? What if your dad fires Paul and he takes Luci and leaves town? He could do that, you know. He could leave with her and not tell me where they’re going. Then what? What do I do if they just disappear?”

  So that was it. She was scared.

  And he couldn’t blame her at all.

  “I mean, it’s not like he does this all the time. It’s hardly ever,” she said in a strained voice.

  “Once is too much!” Reece argued, his voice harsh. “You get that, don’t you? Please tell me you understand that even one time is not okay?”

  He dropped down on the couch just as big, fat, silent tears started to fall. He put his arms around her. She held on to him like he was the last thing she had left in the world. He thought it was heart wrenching; the way she could cry like that and barely made a sound.

  “I know,” she whispered. “I know it’s not okay. That’s not what I meant. I just don’t want you to think it happens all the time. It doesn’t. And if I would just stay out of his way, it probably wouldn’t happen at all. I antagonized him.”

  “Tell me you did not just say that!” he ordered. “That makes it sound like you think it’s your fault!”

  “No. It’s just…” Not her fault. Not exactly. But she thought she could work harder at avoiding it. Maybe it wouldn’t happen. Maybe.

  Reece could tell what she was thinking. He shook his head. “Cleo, this is not your fault. Not in any way. Do you understand that?”

  She nodded, and then ran her hands over her face. “I do…I know that. But I just…I want things to be back to normal. I want them to be how they were when my mom was here,” she said around more tears. “And I know you might not think that was normal, either. But it was normal for me. I want her here. I want her to take care of me. And I want her to take care of Luci. I just want things to be okay again. And most of the time, I feel like they might never be.”

  “They will,” he assured her. He was surprised she brought up her mom. She almost never did. “And what I want, is for you to be okay. And I know that’s what your mom would want to. She’d be proud of you, Cleo. For the way you take care of your sister. But you shouldn’t have to protect Luci from her dad. I want you away from him. I don’t want this to happen again. Ever. You’re going to be alright,” he tried to assure her. “Emma said you could stay with them. She told you that already. So you know that you have somewhere to go.”

  “But for how long? And I hate depending on other people,” she sniffled. Her tears were already drying up. He wished that if she needed to cry, that she would just do it. He could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen her cry in the past year and a half. And two had been within the past week.

  “That’s because you’ve never had to do it before. You’ve never been able to do it before. You’ve always taken care of yourself. But Cleo,” he said as he kissed the top of her head, “there are people who will help you. Especially if they know you need help. All you have to do is let them.”

  When the doorbell went off, echoing through the whole house, they both jumped a little. She leaned back and darted a questioning look at him as she scrubbed the few remaining tears away.

  He could tell she was worried it was his parents. But he knew it wouldn’t be them. Chelsey would’ve warned him. Also, “My parents wouldn’t ring the doorbell,” he told her as he got up.

  He was tempted to just let whoever it was go away. But Cleo followed him up the stairs and he could see Emma through the side window. She was soaked.

  “Took you long enough!” she said as she pushed her way past him. “Oh, Cleo!” she moaned. It was obvious Cleo had been crying. Emma peeled her wet jacket off and handed it to Reece. He tossed it on a chair and she tossed her arms around her friend. “It’s going to be okay, you know,” Emma told her. “Unless…” she looked from Cleo to Reece and frowned. “You two aren’t fighting or something, are you? Did I come at a bad time?”

  “No, we’re not fighting,” he said as Cleo slid from Emma’s arms into his.

  Emma smiled but it looked a little forced. She looked nervous. “See. Things are going to work out. One thing at a time. But you’re going to get there,” she said. She looked around. “Can we maybe talk?”

  Reece raised his eyebrows. “Do you want me to leave?” he asked. He didn’t know if she meant she needed privacy or not.

  “No,” she glanced at her friend again. “I don’t think so. But I do need to talk to Cleo.”

  “Okay,” Cleo said. She glanced at Reece and then back to Emma. “What’s going on?”

  “Let’s go back downstairs,” he suggested. The look on Emma’s face made him think this might take a while. Or that they’d want to be sitting. Or both.

  When they got downstairs, he pulled Cleo onto his lap. Emma sat across from them.

  “You look nervous,” Cleo accused.

  She was right.

  “Promise me you won’t be mad,” Emma said.

  “E
mma,” Cleo said quietly, “what did you do?”

  “I told my mom everything,” Emma blurted out. “I know I told you if you told Reece, I wouldn’t. But she knew something was up. You were moving in slow motion the last two days at my house. You slept for hours yesterday afternoon. Luci was obviously upset Thursday night. The phone call from Paul…” Emma trailed off.

  Cleo buried her face in Reece’s neck. “I just want this all to go away.”

  “I know baby,” he said. “But it’s not going to. We’re going to have to deal with it.”

  His dad suddenly seemed like the least of their problems.

  “She’s going to report what happened. She doesn’t think it’s safe for either of you to be in that house,” Emma explained.

  Cleo groaned. This was her worst fear, coming to life. And it was going to be at the hand of her best friend. “Do you know what you’ve done?”

  “Yes,” Emma said firmly. “I’ve been a good friend. We’re getting you out of a bad situation and Luci, too. Paul can’t get away with what he’s done. You can stay with us, both of you, until things get figured out.”

  “You mean until Luci gets tossed into foster care,” Cleo said. She was angry even if she did understand why Emma had done what she’d done.

  “Not necessarily,” Emma explained. “Mom’s making some phone calls because she has no idea where to start. But she’s going to do whatever she can to keep you and Luci together.”

  Cleo rubbed her hands over her face and then took a deep breath. “What if…what if nothing happens to Paul? What if he kicks me out and Luci doesn’t get taken away?”

  “I don’t know,” Emma admitted. “Mom said we just need to get through this one step at a time.”

  Cleo blew out a breath of frustration because Emma’s comment didn’t help in the least.

  “So what happens in the meantime?” Reece demanded. “Did she have any ideas about that?”