by Vi Carter
“Layla, I’m fine,” Jared said, but my throat was tightening.
“You fought with Chester,” I said, hoping I was wrong. But his eyes darkened, and he looked away.
“He deserved it,” He finally said, looking back at me. He was completely right. Chester did deserve it. But I just hated that Jared was the one to deliver it, especially for me. He had done enough.
“Stay still,” I told him while removing my hand from his. I needed to get ointment on his cut. This time Jared didn’t close his eyes. He watched me, and I nearly got ointment in his eye. He was making me so nervous. His breath brushed my neck, moving down the V of my t-shirt. Heat spread up my neck and to my cheeks.
When I leaned back, I focused on getting another q-tip and antiseptic for his knuckles. My eyes darted to him as I got them ready. He was once again tracking every movement I made. When I sat back and took one of his large hands into my lap, he stretched out his fingers for me.
“I kept my promise,” he said, and I snorted while dabbing the broken skin. He hissed, and I stopped.
“Don’t stop. It’s fine,” he said, so I continued. I didn’t want to hurt him, but if his cuts weren’t cleaned, they could get infected.
“I’m still his friend,” Jared continued, and I stopped what I was doing and narrowed my eyes at him.
“Really, after you beat him up?”
Jared’s eyes darkened once again. “Yes, I made you a promise, and I kept it.” He was serious, and I didn’t know what was worse: that he beat him up or that he still spoke to him for me. Deep down, a part of me was swelling with love for him, that he would do this for me. But the rational part of me, the part that didn’t want to see Jared hurting, felt guilt.
We didn’t speak as I finished off his hands. The bruise on his cheek wasn’t bad.
“Any more bruises or cuts?” I asked, and the corner of his mouth turned up.
“Unfortunately, not.” His grin grew, but I didn’t smile.
“What does that even mean?” He wanted someone to hurt him?
He quickly twined our fingers together, making me look at him. “Layla. It was a joke.” He dipped his head, forcing me to look up at him.
“I’m not laughing, Jared.”
“You’re so gentle; I wish I had more wounds for you to clean.” The tips of my ears burned at the compliment, and now I couldn’t control the maniac smile that broke out across my face.
“Oh. Okay then.” A small laugh escaped my lips, and Jared’s eyes darted to them before returning to my eyes. He smiled now, dimples and all.
“I owed you a compliment from yesterday,” he said, and I smiled wider.
“Yeah, I was wondering where that text went.” His eyes gleamed at my joking tone. I wasn’t one for joking or was never good at making conversation, but with Jared, it just came naturally. He still held my hand, and it felt dangerous right now. My mind was racing ahead, and I needed it to slow down.
“I still have to give you one for today.”
My heart swelled. “I think one is enough for now,” I told him, retracting my hand. I pushed back my chair and started to tidy up. My heart slowed down along with my body temperature.
“We'll sit in the den,” I told him. I grabbed two cokes from the fridge.
Once he sat down, I moved to the opposite side of the couch facing him. Tucking my feet under me, I opened my can. His eyes followed every movement I made. I tried to ignore my erratic heartbeat.
“So, you do know I’m grounded,” I asked Jared, searching for something to say. He threw his arm over the back of the couch, pulling one of his legs under him. His coke sat on the table.
“I recall you said you couldn’t come out. You never said anyone couldn’t come over.” I grinned at Jared’s skewed logic. My eyes lingered on the cut over his eyebrow, and I let out a heavy breath.
“You got to promise me no more fighting,” I said, and he reached for his coke.
“It was only a bit of a scuffle. Seriously, stop worrying.” Once Jared sat back, I raised a brow at him. A scuffle?
I knew if I stared at him long enough he would break, and he did, promising me. I smiled at him.
“You’re a little vixen, Layla.” A half grin appeared on his face. I played with the tab of the can not sure what to say to that.
“So how bad does Chester look?” I asked. Since Alex had used the phrase, “beaten the crap out of” as to how Chester looked, I wondered just how bad it was compared to Jared’s face.
He gave me a guarded look. “Same as me.” The shrug he gave didn’t match his tone and look.
I didn't want to keep going on about this, but I needed him to understand.
“Jared, I don’t want you fighting with your friends over me.” When he looked up, his expression softened.
“He shouldn’t have spoken to you the way he did.” Now I wondered if I had told Jared about his threatening behavior at the house party and the trailer, what more would he do?
“Still. It’s important to me. I don’t want you….” I was struggling for the right way to explain this to him. “My whole life has been you protecting me, and I appreciated it so much.” Jared’s jaw clenched. “But we aren’t ten anymore, and I won’t have you going around fighting with people.” I forced as much authority as I could into my voice.
Jared covered his mouth. I wasn’t sure why until I saw the smile in his eyes that he tried to hide.
“Jared, I’m serious,” I said, and he removed his hand while reaching across the safe space I had set up between us. The couch shrunk as he took my hand in his and shifted closer. I lowered my gaze to our joined hands.
He took a deep breath, and I slowly lifted my gaze until our eyes met.
“I can’t help it. I want to protect you. I have since I first saw you.” His voice was hoarse and thick as he spoke, his focus on our joined hands now. “But I know you’re not a child anymore.” He looked at me now. “So, I’ll try to do better.”
He was killing me. I swallowed the lump in my throat and stared at our hands.
“This,” I said raising our joined hands. My pulse spiked as I spoke. His eyes were guarded now.
“Is this okay?” Now I felt stupid as he stared at me. “I mean, do you do this, with all your friends?”
The grin that grew on his face had my stomach plummeting.
“Are you asking me if I hold hands with Chester?”
My chest burned with embarrassment now, and I gave him a frosty look. A sharp laugh from his lips had me pulling away from him, but instead of getting away, Jared pulled me closer, my free hand hitting his chest. My mind was in a frenzy, trying to figure out what was he doing.
His eyes bore into mine. “No, Layla. I don’t hold hands with my friends.” His serious tone had me nodding. I felt so far out of my depth right now. Our gazes were locked, and I thought my chest was going to explode. So, did that mean he liked me or was it that he saw me as a sister? Did brothers hold their sister’s hands like this? I knew they didn’t. “If it bothers you, I’ll stop.” That was one thing about Jared, I knew if I told him to stop he would, but I didn’t want him to stop.
My lips parted as he waited for my answer. A flash of uncertainty passed his features.
“No. I don’t want you to stop.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Relief shone in his eyes, and his thumb jerked across my hand. “Good.”
My pulse jumped all over the place as Jared smiled at me, and his thumb continued to stroke my hand, sending my nerves leaping. As I looked at Jared, now, I wanted him to close the space between us and kiss me, but I also didn’t. It made no sense, how he made me feel. Maybe I was afraid that if we got closer, it would destroy us. Jared chatted about his job and his love for the water. I was listening but also taking in every inch of his face, watching his dimples appear and disappear at his memory of a drowning man had his voice and eyes darkening. Swimming in the rain had his eyes glowing with happiness. I could listen to his voice all night, and the
continued stroke of his thumb was making me feel alive, in a way that I had never felt before.
“So, will you come?” His gaze searched my face as he waited for an answer. I had been so focused on his lips and how they moved around each word, that I hadn’t been paying attention. Heat burned my face, and I tilted my head to the side, trying to race through his words and see what I could pick up.
“My dad would really love to meet you. But I get it if you don’t want to.” His words where heavy and his thick lashes lowered, shielding his eyes.
“No, of course, I want to meet him.” His smile was instant, his full gaze back on me, his eyes searched my face now.
“God, you’re beautiful.” His words had my voice catching in my throat. I didn’t move a muscle as I waited for him to laugh or tell me it was a joke. But when his eyes grew darker, and his hand tightened around mine, I knew he meant it.
“Thank you.” My voice was barely a whisper as Jared moved closer. I swallowed, not sure what was going to happen or what to do. His eyes met mine, and my stomach flipped.
My heart leaped as the front door opened and I could hear Evelyn’s and Carl’s voices in the hall. Jared released my hand and was sitting back on the couch so quick that I wondered if I had imagined us holding hands and sitting very close to each other only a moment ago. I didn’t have ten seconds to gather myself when the den opened. Carl had said something that caused Evelyn to smile and reach for him, but her hand fell flat before it reached his shoulder as she took in Jared and me. My face burned, and I forced a smile, telling myself to calm down, that I had done nothing wrong.
“Hi, you guys are home early,” I said. Carl looked from Jared to me. Evelyn recovered first. “Yeah, we both wanted an early night,” she said, her eyes slightly narrowed.
“I was just about to leave,” Jared said, standing now. It wasn’t abrupt, and he seemed relaxed, but I felt disappointment. I wanted to ask him was he sure, but I didn’t. Carl wasn’t as tense now.
“Please don’t leave on our account.” As friendly as Carl’s words were, they weren’t said with much conviction.
“No. I have work tomorrow and dinner to plan.” Now Jared looked at me, one side of his lips quirked up. “How about I pick you up at seven o'clock?”
I stared at him for a moment before answering. “Perfect,” I replied, and he said goodnight to Evelyn and Carl. I offered to walk him the few steps to the door, but he insisted he would be fine. I really wanted a moment in the hall before Evelyn and Carl launched into a million questions. Surprise filtered through me when they only asked about the meal, and I explained that it would be with his dad. It dawned on me then that I was grounded.
"Oh God, I can cancel until next week, when I'm no longer grounded." Carl and Evelyn had a secret conversation with just looks. "No, go on, we will let one day slide," Carl said, before kissing me on the forehead and telling me not to stay up too late. Evelyn followed him but gave me a soft smile before pulling the door after her. Once they left, I fell back on the couch and threw my arm over my eyes. A goofy ass smile spread across my face.
Jared thought I was beautiful.
***
To say I was nervous was a colossal understatement. I knew I had met Jared’s Father in the shop, but going to his home was so much different, on so many levels. First, I was going to see his home, where he had built a new life for himself since we had been separated. The fact that he wanted me to meet his father meant so much.
Big blue eyes stared back at me as I bit down on my lip while looking in the mirror. I don’t know how long I had been standing in the hall, staring at myself. Seconds? Minutes? It was Evelyn’s hand and appearance in the mirror that had me releasing myself from the stare.
“Are you nervous?” Her soft brown eyes smiled at me, and I nodded my response while releasing my battered lip from between my teeth.
“I remember meeting Carl’s father for the first time.” My skin flushed, and my stomach dipped.
“That’s not the same,” I told her, my voice sounding pitiful to me. Spinning me around, Evelyn had that no-nonsense look on her face, and a hand on her hip. I suppressed the grin that threatened to take over. She was trying to do “I’m a mother now hear my words.”
“That boy wants you to meet his father for the same reasons that Carl wanted me to meet his father.” My stomach clenched tight at her words. God, how I wished they were right.
“I wanted Evelyn to meet my father-” Carl must have been in the kitchen listening because now he leaned in and kissed Evelyn gently on the cheek before continuing. “-Because he wouldn’t listen to reason about how great of a son I was. She did her mind tricks on him.” I giggled as Evelyn pushed him away. Sometimes they seemed as if they were teenagers.
“Okay, I’ll tell the truth. Because I loved her, and I wanted him to love her too.” Now they looked at each other so softly, which had me feeling lucky once again at the family I got.
Carl looked at me, and before he spoke, I tensed. The shift happened on his shoulders: they grew tenser.
“I noticed Jared had a cut and a bruise on his face last night. Boys who fight often have bad tempers.” I couldn’t blame Carl, but right away I felt a tightness in my chest, and the need to defend Jared helped me not feel nervous anymore.
“Jared doesn’t. But he was defending me once again.”
“There’s more than one way to defend a person.” Carl’s voice had softened, but his words hurt me. We didn’t all grow up in a safe world; some of us had to fight to survive. But I didn’t say that. Evelyn reached behind her and patted Carl gently on the chest. “Sometimes when we love someone that much, we can’t control ourselves.” Carl’s eyebrows rose as high as mine. Jared didn’t love me, but I didn’t correct Evelyn because now Carl didn’t seem so tense.
“That’s true.” A brief moment of silence filled the hall before Carl left Evelyn and me alone once again.
“Red suits you. It’s your color.” I laughed at Evelyn’s words because every color was my color according to her. Yet I found myself doing a little twirl in my red knee-length swing dress. It was real sixties looking with its long sleeves, but I loved it.
Evelyn exhaled a soft laugh, just as the doorbell rang. All the lightness that I was feeling fled. I blinked a few times before nodding at Evelyn. She didn’t say anything but nodded back at me, like she knew the turmoil that was going on inside me, and maybe she did. Getting my bag and phone, I quickly said goodbye as the doorbell rang for the second time.
Jared was once again facing the road, allowing me to take in his broad shoulders that were covered in a white and blue striped shirt. The black slacks and dark shoes made him look so formal. As he turned, I could smell his aftershave. Little butterflies erupted in my stomach and exploded as he turned completely to me. His smile grew fast and steady, dimples appearing.
“Wow, you look great.” I looked down at the dress before looking back at him from under my lashes. “Thanks.” Taking my hand in his, Jared walked us to his Jeep. I took a moment to look back at the house before climbing in, only to find Carl and Evelyn watching from the window seat in the den. Evelyn gave a small wave while Carl smiled. I quickly waved back before getting in.
The drive to Jared’s house was tense and quiet, and I wondered what had changed from the fantastic smile he had given me only moments ago. Maybe it was me being awkward, maybe I was giving off nervous vibes.
“You look really good,” I told him, and he glanced at me quickly.
“Thanks.” But the tension in his shoulders and around his eyes wasn’t lost on me. After a few moments of silence, he cleared his throat before reaching for the radio. Some song filled with angst and despair filled the jeep. I wanted to switch it off, but I didn’t want to be rude, yet the screeches of the tortured lover weren’t very appealing.
“I’m really excited to meet your dad.” At my words, Jared turned down the radio.
“Yeah, he’s really looking forward to meeting you. Now let me warn you
, he’s cooking.” Jared glanced at me, his eyebrows slightly raised.
“Okkayyy…” I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Jared’s lip pulled up slightly, and it was nice to see him relaxed again.
“Let’s just say he’s slow at taking everything off the pan.”
“Good thing I like my meat well done,” I told Jared, and he gave a short laugh.
“We’ll see.”
Jared didn't live far away from the mini market. The houses were small and modest but well kept. Their neighborhood had around twenty houses. All were bungalows with overhanging porches. Jared pulled his Jeep behind a red car that sat in the drive. My stomach tightened as he turned off the engine. He seemed to hang onto the steering wheel like walking into the house would alter him. Was Mr. Garcia abusive? That was the first thought that popped into my head.
“Jared, what’s wrong?” I unbuckled my belt and faced him, fixing the ends of my dress under me. He released the steering just as the front door opened and Mr. Garcia waved out at us. He was the picture of happiness. He didn’t look like a violent man, he actually looked like a gentle soul, but I knew how looks could be deceiving.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“Come on.” Jared looked relaxed once again, as he smiled at his dad before looking at me. His smile was still there, so I smiled back before getting out of the jeep. The strap of my bag dug into my shoulder as I pulled on it. My nerves seemed to jump around the place. Jared’s nerves were making me nervous now. I reached Mr. Garcia, and he pulled me into a hug that surprised a small short squeal from me. My hands hung at my sides until the shock passed and I hugged him back. He smelled of oils and fresh air; the oil tickled my nose.
“So glad to have you in our home,” he said, not letting me go.
“Alright, Dad, let me in,” Jared spoke from behind me. Mr. Garcia and I were blocking the door and when he released me, I quickly glanced at Jared and gave a smile. “Great to meet you too, Mr. Garcia.”
