by Love, K. J.
From showing up at her school, to the attack, who I’m sure was him. Then the confrontation in the parking lot, at least she hit him that time. To him almost running them off of the road. If I ever get my hands on him... Through my rage a thought registers.
“Wait! What kind of car is it?”
Asher looks confused by my question.
“The car, what color? What kind of car was he driving?”
“He’s changed a few times, but it’s mainly been a black sedan with tinted windows.”
“That’s him!” I shout as I run out the door with Asher right behind me.
“What's going on?” Asher asks.
“I saw the punk. He’s been riding by here all day.”
“No way, the police have been doing extra patrols. You couldn’t have seen him.”
“I’m telling you a black sedan with tinted windows has been riding up and down this street. It was parked at that lot that’s for sale when I came out a few minutes ago.”
“Maybe Troy needs to call the police department again.”
Trying very hard to control my anger, I walk to the end of the driveway and scan the street. I wish he would drive by now. What kind of man would treat a girl this way? That's just it though, he’s not a man.
“I don’t see anything. Let’s go in and tell Troy so he can make that call.”
That’s not what I want to do, I want him to drive back by because when I get done with him he won’t be bothering her anymore.
“I don’t want Kayla to know you told me. I want to give her a chance to come clean with me. I haven’t been here long she hasn’t had much of a chance to talk to me yet. We’ll keep an eye out and if we see him again. We’ll call the police.”
“Okay. Your call man, but I think we should tell Troy.”
Walking back inside we run into the girls as they are coming out. Kayla comes over and wraps her arms around me.
“Hey, baby. Did you miss me?”
“Always, sweetie.” I say kissing the top of her head.
As we walk in she says, “You smell so good.”
Laughing I say, “Thank you. So do you.”
“Speaking of which, I’ve washed your jersey and it no longer smells like you. Do you think you can do something about that before you leave?”
I hug her to me. “I will definitely take care of that. As a matter of fact, there’s a few things I plan to take care of before I leave here tomorrow.”
Looking back over my shoulder, I scan the street one more time before we go in.
Chapter 35Kayla
We all sit at the dinner table together and I smile as I look around the table. I love all of these people so much. Blake is sitting right beside me and my life seems so perfect, I can’t imagine things getting any better for me. Looking up at Blake, he smiles at me and takes my hand in his under the table, giving it a light squeeze. If he asks me to move with him again right now, I’m pretty sure I’d tell him yes.
The phone rings and Troy gets up to answer it. Troy does not like for dinner to be interrupted with phone calls, so you can hear the frustration in his voice when he answers the phone.
“Hello.”
“It’s not a good time now.”
“If you have something to say to her, you can tell me. By Monday you should be served with your restraining order.”
It’s David. What could he possibly want now? Why did he have to call with Blake here?
“When? I think that is a fair request. We are in the middle of dinner. I’ll talk to her.”
“Give us an hour. Yes. Okay. Bye.”
Oh no! Is he coming here? Troy would not let that happen. Blake is clenching his jaw, letting me know he has figured out who Troy was talking to.
Troy returns to the table, but instead of finishing his meal, he looks at me.
“Kayla, that was David. It seems that after some thought, he has decided that he wants the car he bought you back.”
“What? That was supposed to be a gift and I’ve paid for part of it.” I’m really angry. He’s doing this to get back at me.
“Kayla, I understand you’re upset, but if you want a clean break from him you need to give him the car. He helped you buy that when he thought y’all were getting married. That’s clearly never happening now.” His eyes quickly shift to Blake.
Looking over at Blake, he’s looking at me and I can’t tell what he’s thinking.
“What should I do?”
Blake looks down at me with a sad smile.
“Let him have it. You won’t need it.”
I smile at him before looking back to Troy.
“Okay. How do we get it to him?”
“He’ll be here in about an hour. So, finish your food and go get your stuff out of the car.”
“He’s coming here? No, he can’t do that. Blake is here. I don’t want him here.”
“It’ll be fine Kayla. I’ll be right beside you the whole time.” Blake states.
“Everyone finish your food. Kayla, we will all be here. He won’t do anything to you.”
Blake leans over and kisses the side of my head. He and Asher look at each other. I look at Tessa. She smiles and nods her head, letting me know that it’ll be fine.
Not being able to eat anymore, all I can do is bounce my leg up and down. I keep seeing Blake and Asher look at each other and I wonder what they are up to. I never wanted Blake and David to run into each other and now they are going to be face to face.
Blake leans down and whispers in my ear, “Kayla, baby. Try to calm down. All this will be over after tonight. I promise you that.”
Once we finish eating Tessa and Asher help Lisa clean up, while Blake and I go clean out my car.
“So, he bought you a car?” Blake asks.
“Well, he helped buy me a car. He put the money down on it. I helped make payments, but he has paid more than I have.”
Blake looks like he’s deep in thought. We carry my stuff back into the house and up to my room.
“This is your room? Now when I go back home and picture you, I’ll know what it looks like.” He says as he walks around.
“Yes, this is it.”
He’s picking up his letter that I have laying on my night stand. He smiles at me.
“Your question about prom. I’d love to take you. You just give me all the details and I’ll be here.”
I run to him and give him a kiss. I can’t believe it. This day just got a lot better. It will be so amazing to show my man off at prom. I know he’ll look amazing in a tux.
“Wow! I should have told you I’d take you earlier.”
I run my hand up and down his chest. “Yes, you should have.”
Tessa knocks on the door. “Kayla, David just pulled up. Do you want Dad to go down with you?”
“No, we’ll be fine.” Blake tells her.
“Let me get the key and spare key.” I dig in my jewelry box and grab the extra key.
“Kayla, just give him the keys. Don’t say anything to him. And if he says something, I’ll take care of it. Okay?”
I only nod my head. We walk down the stairs hand in hand. I can do this. I can do anything with him by my side.
We walk out the door and David is leaning against his car, but when he sees us, he stands up. He has some guy with him that I’ve never seen before. He must have brought him to drive his car back.
David walks up and motions his head toward Blake. “Who’s he?”
Looking up at Blake I can tell this isn’t going to go as smoothly as I was hoping. “This is Blake.”
“He’s the one you’ve been screwing around with?”
Blake steps toward David and I try to pull him back.
“You want some buddy?” David asks him as he hits him with his chest.
Taking a small step back from the hit, I watch as Blake’s whole demeanor changes right in front of my eyes. My breath catches in my throat. Blake grabs David by the shirt and throws him into his car. The guy with him steps out of th
e car.
“I’m only going to say this once unless you want your ass kicked too. Get back in the car.”
The guy’s eyes widen at the venom dripping from Blake’s threatening tone. Cautiously, he glances at David, then sits himself back in the car and closes the door.
My breath hisses out of my lungs so rapidly that I feel dizzy from it. Blake looks like he can handle himself just fine against David, but I worry that had that guy pushed his luck that Blake would have been hurt all because of me and I couldn’t live with myself if he were. My eyes move back to Blake.
Blake is furious. Don’t have a panic attack now. Just breathe. Blake can handle this.
“You better show some damn respect you little punk. Weren’t you taught anything about being a man?”
“How long did it take you to get into her pants? She won’t stay with you. She’s nothing but a whore.”
“You so asked for this,” Blake growled darkly.
It was almost in slow motion. Blake pulls his fist back and he punches David in the face. Blood spews out of his nose and he tries to hit Blake back. Blake just shoves him harder against the car, hitting him in the stomach. I start yelling for help. Asher and Tessa come running out.
Blake is momentarily distracted and David gets a punch in but it looks weak.
“Good, you got your one hit. I won’t feel so bad now for kicking your ass.”
David swings again, but Blake ducks down. He hits David so hard this time he knocks him a few feet into the yard. David just lies there.
“Get your sorry ass up. You think you’re a big man, come on show me. You attack, chase, and stalk her, but you’re not man enough to stand up to me?” Blake kicks at his leg.
“Stop! Blake! Please.” I plead with him.
He turns and looks at me. I shake my head no.
“That’s enough Blake, please. I don’t think he’ll mess with me anymore.”
Blake turns back to him. Pointing over at me as he says, “Don’t call, follow, or go anywhere near her again, because if you do, I will hunt you down and this will feel like a walk in the park compared to next time.”
David’s eye is swollen, his nose is bleeding, and he is holding his stomach.
“You’ll never share with her the bond that I do. The things that we’ve been through together, you’ll never understand her the way I do.”
Blake looks at him confused. Don’t do this David. Blake looks at me.
“What is he talking about Kayla?”
“Yeah, Kayla. Tell Blake here what I’m talking about.”
I throw the keys at David. “Just take the car and leave David. Nobody wants you here.”
He gets up and stumbles to my car.
“You know what man, you can have her.”
He gets in the car just as Troy walks out.
“What is going on?”
“Nothing now Dad. Let’s go inside and let Blake and Kayla talk.” Tessa says, walking up to her dad.
Blake is walking toward the lake, he’s running his hands through his hair. He’s upset and I don’t know if I should give him a minute or go after him. Standing frozen, I watch as he walks away from me. I should have told him everything.
In the distance, I see him sitting on the dock. Seeing that his shoulders are slumped I can’t wait any longer. Walking slowly in his direction I say a prayer that he will forgive me for not telling him. And that he won’t think I’m horrible. I can’t bear the thought of losing him over this.
Making it to the dock, I stand there for a minute hoping that he will speak first, however that doesn’t happen. I risk sitting down beside him, but not close enough that we are touching. My mind drifts back to just a few hours ago when our rolls were reversed. Hopefully, he’ll forgive me as easily as I forgave him.
“Blake?”
Just shaking his head no, he won’t look at me.
“I’m sorry. I’ll tell you everything if you still want me to. Please, don’t shut me out.”
He still won’t speak. We sit in silence for what seems like forever. I watch as the sun sets in the distance. It’s beautiful and something I had hoped to share with him, but not like this.
“I don’t know if I can do this Kayla? I feel like I’m giving a hundred and ten percent here and you won’t even let me in.”
I start to cry, but he still won’t look at me.
“Blake, I will let you in. I promise, don’t give up on me yet.” I’m sobbing now, but he still can’t, or won’t, look at me.
“You keep stuff from me, Kayla. You didn’t tell me he was stalking you, or that you’d been attacked, almost ran off the road. You didn’t tell me any of that!”
He gets up and walks away from me.
“I give you my heart and you won’t even give me the truth. It’s my job to protect you.” He says pounding on his chest. “How can I do that or how can I be here for you if you won’t even tell me what’s going on?” He shakes his head no. “It’s just too much. We can’t be together and you not tell me what’s going on with you. And what was he talking about Kayla? More secrets that you haven’t told me I’m sure.”
He screams up at the sky. The heartache written on his face was the same that was tearing through me right this minute. Listening to yet another person give up on me is always hard, but to think that Blake was giving up on me… well it was killing me.
“You frustrate me more than anyone ever has. Every emotion I have concerning you is more intense. You have to let me in or this will never work. Part of me wants to get in that truck and go home and never look back, but I know if I do that I’ll lose the only thing I’ve ever really wanted in my life. I can’t do this alone Kayla either you’re in this or you’re not.”
“Will you listen to me, Blake? I listened to you earlier and once I heard you out everything changed. Please give me that same opportunity.”
He walks around for a few more minutes, I remain still, not saying a word. Finally, he sits down beside me. I long to touch him, but the fear of rejection keeps my hands in my lap. My heart aches as he speaks.
“Okay, Kayla. I’ll listen, but if you can’t open up to me, I’m going to have to walk away, even if it kills me.”
A sob breaks free from my chest and I bring my hand up to my mouth. The day I went back and Tessa urged me to tell him everything, I knew it would hurt him when he found out the whole truth. Yet, I still couldn’t bring myself to say the words out loud. Now this is two times I’ve hurt him. If he walks away tonight, I can’t blame him.
“You remember me telling you that I agreed to marry David for the wrong reason?”
“Yes.”
He seems so cold nothing like the Blake I love. His voice was low and emotionless. My heart twists again. The pain surges through my veins as if it were a physical object ripping my heart in two.
“I was pregnant.” My voice is low, but sounds so much stronger than I feel.
He finally looks at me, with shock and worry marring his beautiful face.
“I had a miscarriage and it devastated me for a while. I went into a deep depression. David was there for me. I probably wouldn’t have come out of it, if it hadn’t been for him. After I did get better, I felt like I owed him, even after I knew I didn’t love him. It was hard to walk away. We shared our grief over the loss of a child.”
He puts his head in his hands and shakes his head no. I continue because I’m afraid if I stop I won’t be able to continue.
“I also got depressed after the weekend I met you. When I broke up with him, he brought it all back up. It devastated me all over again. It wasn’t until I got your letter that I was even able to get out of the bed.”
“Kayla…”
“Let me finish. Please. I’m getting better. I’m seeing a counselor and it helps to talk about it. I haven’t discussed this with her yet, but I will. But I’ve told her all about you.”
He looks at me and his eyes soften and he smiles sweetly at me.
“She’s told me to follow
my heart and to listen to my inner voice. Blake, I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you all of this. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about what David was doing. If it makes you feel better, I’m pretty sure he won’t bother me anymore now.”
He half grunts and half laughs. “He better hope he doesn’t. Kayla, you could have told me all of this and I would have understood. I told you I love you and I meant that. You can’t keep things from me.”
“I promise. No more secrets. I have one more thing I need to tell you.”
He looks at me as if he is bracing himself for some horrible news.
“I love you, Blake McGinnis. I love you more than life itself.”
Chapter 36Blake
Thank God. I think I may have just reached the high point of my life. Taking her in my arms, I kiss her with more passion than ever before. We are both breathless and smiling from ear to ear when we finally break apart. Nothing else in my life has ever compared to this moment.
“It’s about time you admitted it.”
“Hey, wait, you didn’t tell me until earlier today yourself. So, why did you wait so long? Although, I personally believe this is really fast.” She says, bumping me with her shoulder.
This is going to be hard to admit, but I feel it’s something I need to share with her so that she understands that this is scary for me too. “I didn’t tell you before now because I didn’t want to scare you. You know you’ve already freaked out on me once, besides, this all scares me too”
“Blake McGinnis gets scared? I don’t believe it.”
I reach up and move some hair out of her face. “Believe it. You scare me more than anything ever has.”
“Why do I scare you?”
“Because, Kayla, I’ve never felt this vulnerable before. If you wanted, you could completely destroy me.”
She looks up at me with an intense look on her face.
“The feeling is mutual, I assure you.”
“You realize this is the first time we’ve actually been together that we haven’t had to be worried about being in a hurry or that some drama hasn’t been going on around us?”
