by J. Nathan
I shrugged. “People talk.”
“Yeah. They took jewelry and money from that one.”
“Could it be different people? Like, unrelated crimes?” If art didn’t work out, maybe crime solving could be my thing.
He shook his head. “I just don’t know.” I’d never seen him so stumped. He always carried himself with such confidence. Never letting anything stand in his way or cause him to falter.
My mother looked to me. “Honey, we’re supposed to leave next Friday for your grandfather’s fundraisers. But I’m not so sure we should leave you alone now.”
“I’ll stay home,” my dad offered, using any excuse to get out of going to a bunch of fundraisers for a politician—even if the politician was his father-in-law. Even more so when the fundraisers were during one of his few weeks off.
“We have an alarm system,” I assured them. “And I know where the guns are kept.”
My parents exchanged an uncertain look.
“I’ll be fine. Besides...who’d be stupid enough to break into a detective’s house?”
“I’ll have the guys patrol the neighborhood,” my dad offered.
I nodded. “Good idea. When are you coming back?”
“The following Friday. Then we have that two-night event in Bunkerson that you’re attending.”
“Will you be all right?” my dad asked. Given the hopeful look in his eyes, he wanted me to say no so he had an excuse to stay home.
“I think I can handle it. Just a wild party. Three hundred people or so.”
He laughed, while my mother lifted her brows. “Will Caynan be there?”
My dad’s eyes jumped between us. “Caynan?”
Shit.
“Hadley didn’t tell you she’s been dating a new boy? He’s from London.” Damn her. She knew exactly what she was doing. Let the inquisition begin.
“Why is this the first I’m hearing of it?” He sounded at a loss for words, as if he assumed he knew everything that happened in my life.
I shrugged. “It’s nothing serious.”
“Looked serious at the fundraiser.” The traitor’s eyes shifted to my dad’s. “He got her out on the dance floor.”
“When am I going to meet this boy?” he asked.
Oh shit. “He’s really busy with school and baseball right now.”
“He any good?” I could tell by his tone he was genuinely interested.
I nodded. “Really good.”
“I’ll have to tag along to one of his games.”
I smiled, though I planned to never let that happen.
“And invite him for dinner.” He stuffed another sausage into his mouth. “Tomorrow.”
I swallowed down my horror. “It’s a little early for family dinners. We’ve only been on one date.”
“I’m working every night until we leave,” he explained between bites. “And I need to know who my daughter’s hanging out with.”
Meeting a girl’s father was tough. But when her father was a detective…yeah, it sucked. “No promises.”
Caynan
“They’re impressed by how fast you work,” my dad explained over a breakfast of cold pizza.
“Three houses in a matter of weeks? Or my skill with a safe?” I asked, realizing how fucked up it was to be discussing this with my dad over breakfast.
“Both.”
“Do we really need them?”
“Your talents are wasted with these trivial jobs,” he said with a mouthful of pizza.
“These trivial jobs are what pay our bills.” I couldn’t hide my frustration. “Dad. I need a real job.”
“You have a real job,” he snapped.
“Something I can put on a resume. I need normal experiences. This shit is getting old fast.”
“Watch it.”
I felt my rage building. “What? Does the truth hurt?”
“What truth?” He scraped his chair back with his feet and stood up, pointing into my face. “This is it for you. How many times do I have to tell you?” I saw in his face something I wasn’t used to seeing. Fear. The fact that I wanted out scared the hell out of him. He needed me. His eyes were shit. And without me, he couldn’t disarm an alarm. He couldn’t crack a safe. He couldn’t do anything.
Take care of your father.
“When do we meet with them?” I ground out between gritted teeth.
He shrugged. “Whenever they call.” With that, he turned his back on me and walked out of the trailer.
You’re all each other have, my mother’s voice taunted me.
I growled, turning and punching my fist into the nearest wall.
Hadley
I stepped out of my car, this time with no help from Caynan. I glanced around the crowded parking lot. His Jeep was parked across the way, but there was no sign of him. I made my way inside the school and into English class. Caynan already sat in his seat as I slid into mine.
“Hey.” I noticed scratches on the fingers of his right hand and discoloration on his knuckles. “What happened?”
He glanced up, confusion in his eyes.
“Your hand.”
His eyes dropped to it. “Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Looks like something.”
His jaw clenched. “I was just fixing something on my Jeep.” His eyes flashed away.
Uh, huh.
“You sure you’re okay?”
He nodded.
Here goes nothing. “So…my dad wants to see you play.”
His eyes nearly burst out of his head as he broke into a coughing fit.
“What’s wrong?” I laughed. “Scared he might jinx you?”
He controlled his coughing, but he didn’t smile. “You were talking about me?”
“My mom was talking about you.”
Ms. Atwood entered the room with a guest speaker, silencing the room and ending our conversation before I could even think of broaching the subject of dinner with my parents. If his reaction to my dad checking out his game was any indication, dinner was even more unlikely than I’d initially thought.
At the bell, Caynan made some excuse about having to talk to his coach and bolted out of the room.
“What’s up with him,” Cass asked as she scooped up her books and walked into the hallway with me.
“I might’ve mentioned my dad wanted to see him play.”
“Yup, that would definitely scare a guy.”
“That’s not the worst of it. My dad wants him to come over for dinner.”
Cass exploded into hysterics. “Well, that relationship was nice while it lasted.”
I bumped her with my shoulder. “Thanks a lot.”
“Did he find out he was a detective before or after the date?”
“Before.”
Cass nodded. “I give him credit for taking you out in the first place. Maybe he’s just scared a second date will mean a lie detector test.”
The rest of the day passed with no sign of Caynan. I knew when I was being avoided, and he’d been avoiding me like I’d just told him I was pregnant. I guess I couldn’t blame him. It was way too fast to be talking about him to my parents—forget bringing my dad to one of his games.
At the final bell, I grabbed my books from my locker. When I stepped back to close it, Caynan stood there.
“So, what did you tell your dad about me?” He sounded unsure, vulnerable even.
My stomach bubbled with hope. “That you’re good at baseball.”
“Just good?” He stepped toward me, backing me into my locker.
I couldn’t even smile, mesmerized by his nearness—especially after assuming I’d scared him away. “Really good.”
He lowered his mouth toward mine, but I pushed him back.
“You done avoiding me?”
His head reeled back. “I wasn’t avoiding you.”
“Sure you were. Look. Fathers are scary. Even more so when they’re cops. But it really was innocent. My mom mentioned you in front of him and he just—”
“Wanted to make sure you were hanging out with good people. I get it. You’re lucky he cares.”
I nodded, realizing that having two involved parents was more of an anomaly these days.
“Can I at least have a heads up when he’s gonna be there?” Caynan asked.
“So you can be sure to mash it?”
He leaned forward, and this time I let him press his lips to mine. They were warm and held the reassurance that I hadn’t blown everything.
Caynan
After breakfast with my dad and then Hadley mentioning her dad wanted to see me play, it sent me into a slight tailspin. I tried putting some distance between us. But then I felt like crap for avoiding her. She didn’t deserve to have to deal with me and all my bullshit. But I didn’t have the nerve—or the strength—to let her go. Not yet anyway. Not when she made me feel more like the real me than I’d felt in a long time.
“Pig.”
I stared up at the puffy clouds floating above Hadley and me. I didn’t see anything even close to resembling a pig. We’d been lying on a wool blanket on the beach for the past two hours. Sadly, we were both fully clothed. I pointed to a darker cloud to the left. “That one kinda looks like a frog.”
“A frog?” Hadley’s laugh mixed with the crashing of the waves on the shore. “You’re pathetic at this game.”
I linked my hands behind my head, the fabric of the blanket scratching the backs of my fingers. “Never claimed to be good at everything.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure you have.”
I laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Once my mouth gets moving, I just can’t seem to stop it.”
“Oh, yeah?” Hadley rolled onto her side, her head resting in her palm. “Prove it.”
I smiled, loving the sassy way she challenged me. “Prove what?”
“How long your mouth can move without stopping. Preferably with mine.”
Oh, fuck yeah. My dick twitched as I rolled onto my side, scoping out the surrounding area. Aside from the few seagulls swooping down in search of food and a man a mile down the beach combing the sand with a metal detector, the beach was deserted.
I took a moment to get my head and…well…the other one in check.
But Hadley wasn’t having it.
She moved forward, her lips colliding with mine. The eager swipe of her minty tongue in my mouth sent my body buzzing. If I was going to hell—which chances were I was—I might as well have fun doing it. I immersed myself in the kiss. In the taste of cherry on her lips. In the feel of her soft body pressed against mine. All of her. Every. Sexy. Inch. She controlled the kiss, and it was damn sexy.
I pulled back, knowing I needed to stop whatever my body was screaming at me to continue.
Hadley’s eyes flared. “You’re such a liar.”
Every part of my body tensed as I swallowed around the sudden lump in my throat. “What?”
“You said you couldn’t stop.” She dragged her thumb along my bottom lip, wiping away the ChapStick she’d left there. The pressure of her soft finger left an indelible numbness in its wake, something I wasn’t used to. “And you stopped. Way too soon.”
If I didn’t want to kiss the hell out of her before, I did now. The girl wanted to push me. Wanted to wrap her tiny hands around my heart and never let go. I was in way over my head.
No. I was screwed.
“Come over for dinner tomorrow night.”
My head flew back, her words an instant icy shower. “What?”
Nervousness grabbed hold of her features. “I figured if I took you by surprise, you’d say yes.” Her eyes flashed away. “My dad invited you.”
Oh, fuck. “I thought he wanted to come to my game?”
“He wants you to come for dinner, too.”
I swallowed. Hard. “Ummm.”
Her words flew out in a single breath. “I don’t want to freak you out. I told him we’ve only been out once, but my parents are heading out of town and, like you said earlier, he just wants to know who I’m hanging out with.”
I could tell she needed me to know it wasn’t her idea. She clearly didn’t have a choice.
I knew that feeling all too well.
“I don’t know…” I couldn’t even look at her. Lying to her face was a lot harder than I thought it would be. “…I—”
“Oh, come on.”
My eyes cut to hers.
She cocked her head, her nervousness replaced by that feisty spunk that made her who she was. “You scared?”
“Scared? I’m not scared of anything.” More like freaked the fuck out.
“Then say yes.”
My internal battle raged, thoughts whizzing through my head at rapid fire. How could I meet her dad? He’d profile me the second I walked through the door. How could I get out of it without hurting her feelings? How could I get away from her without agreeing to anything? Dammit. I knew I’d been playing with fire. I’d let things get too far. “I have to check with my dad.”
“Say yes.” Her puppy dog eyes begged me.
I closed my eyes, praying for the strength to get out of it unscathed. I needed to put a stop to what was happening—what I was letting happen. This shit was supposed to be fun. Pushing Feisty’s buttons had started off like a game. I liked watching her squirm. I liked having her put me in my place. But now I needed to figure out how to push her away before we both ended up hurt.
“Say yes.”
The hope in her voice nearly crushed me. I wasn’t being fair to her. There was no future for us. And Hadley was the type of girl who deserved an amazing future. Hell, she was the type of girl I’d see a future with if I actually had one of my own. My eyes popped open and, with the powerful waves crashing nearby and her at my side, I did the only thing I could.
I nodded.
Hadley
I hurried to English class Friday morning, eager to see Caynan. When I passed through the door, my eyes shot to his empty seat. I slipped into my mine, waiting for him to show. I’d become one of those girls. The type whose happiness revolved around the presence of a guy. Dammit.
Cass entered the classroom. “Hey girl.”
“Hey.”
She lifted her chin toward Caynan’s desk. “Where’s lover boy?”
I shrugged.
She dropped into her seat, twisting to face me. “So, is tonight the night?”
I inhaled a deep breath. “Yup.”
“Is your dad planning to clean one of his antique guns at the table?”
I laughed. “He’s not like that. You know that.”
“I picture him whipping it out and laying it down all nonchalant before asking lover boy to pass the peas.”
I snorted at the ridiculous image in my head.
“I’d give anything to see lover boy’s face.”
“Stop calling him that.”
Her eyes tightened. “Why?”
I titled my head. “It’s too early. I barely know him.”
“Oh, I’d say you’re getting to know him. And he really wants to get to know you. All of you.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I’m serious, Hadley. The way he looks at you…the guy’s got it bad.”
CHAPTER NINE
Hadley
“Maybe he didn’t realize you said tonight,” my mother offered as I stared down at my phone.
It was eight-thirty. We’d been outside on our back patio for two hours. The food was cold no matter how many times my mother reheated it.
Caynan hadn’t texted. Hadn’t called. Hadn’t given me the courtesy of an excuse for blowing me off. For making me look like an idiot. I knew he didn’t want to meet my dad. But to blow me off completely? Who did that?
“He’s probably sick.” My dad finally picked up his fork and gnawed into the cold piece of filet. “You said he wasn’t in school.”
“He could’ve called,” I mumbled, beyond pissed and completely humiliated that the first boy my dad took any interest in stood me up.
“Don’t jump to
conclusions,” my mother warned. “I’ve met him. Something serious must’ve happened to keep him from showing up.”
I pushed back my chair and stood. “Well, I don’t feel like waiting any longer. Sorry I ruined your night.” With that, I took off for my room, hearing my parents’ pleas for me to wait. But for what? He wasn’t showing up. He never intended to.
* * *
The weekend had come and gone and still no word from Caynan. I’d prepared myself on my way into school on Monday, ready to confront him during English class. But he was a no-show there, too.
I looked out across the crowded cafeteria during lunch. People passed by in a blur.
Cass moved her face to block the cafeteria from my view. “Stop sulking.”
“This from the person who pushed me to go out with him.”
“He’s clearly sick.”
I cocked my head. “And he couldn’t send a text?”
“You think he’s missed school just to avoid you?” She mirrored my cocked head.
A few hours later, with Cass’ words in mind, I struggled to focus on the homework spread out all over my bed.
Maybe something had happened to Caynan. Maybe, while I was moping and hating him for blowing me off, he was in some hospital somewhere. Maybe he was hurt. Or maybe it wasn’t him at all. Maybe he was off caring for his sick father. He’d lost his mom; maybe something had happened to his dad.
Sending a quick text to check if he was okay didn’t seem like such a terrible idea anymore. I grabbed my phone and sent a message. Just checking that you’re all right…
I waited.
Hours passed before I finally gave up and went to bed without any response.
* * *
Tuesday morning, I pulled into the school parking lot. My hands tightened on the steering wheel and my stomach churned like I’d eaten something bad. Caynan’s Jeep was there. It had been five days. Five days since I’d seen him. Since I’d spoken to him. Since I’d wanted to strangle him.
I hopped out of my car and marched into the building, knowing I was moments away from coming face to face with him. My heartrate sped up exponentially as I trudged down the busy hallway. I grabbed the books I needed from my locker and walked into English class. I tried to appear unfazed, but I couldn’t help myself. I looked right to Caynan, reading over notes in his notebook. He didn’t even bother to glance up when I entered.
