Unspeakable (Freedom Series Book 1)

by Michelle Pickett

  “It’s my aunt’s property. She plans to build a house here one day. No one will bother us. Wait there.” Brody got out of the Jeep, walked around to my door, and opened it for me.

  “Where are we going?”

  “The backseat.”

  “Huh?”

  Brody grinned. “Not for that. Although, I wouldn’t be opposed to it.” I rolled my eyes. “Okay, okay, you’ll see when you get back there. It’s a surprise, remember?”

  I sighed and climbed into the backseat. “It’s nice back here. Roomy. Is this yours or your mom’s?”

  “It’s mine. Well, actually, it was my aunt’s until she got a new one. Then she sold me this one at an enormous discount,” Brody said as he grabbed a pillow out of the back and slipped it behind me. “There’s no way I could afford a Jeep Grand Cherokee otherwise. I work at her place washing dishes and stuff like that to pay her.”

  “That’s nice of her.”

  “Yeah, she’s great.” Brody grabbed a bag from the very back of the Jeep before sliding next to me. He took a blanket out of the bag and settled it over us. Next, he brought out a large bowl sealed with a plastic lid, sliding closer to me, until our thighs touched—oh, holy hotness!—and then he balanced the bowl on our thighs.

  “Okay, what’s up, Ace?”

  He held up a finger for me to wait. Reaching into the bag once more, he pulled out a case. When Brody opened it, it folded back to reveal a video screen. “I hope you haven’t seen this one.” He handed me a DVD before he pulled the lid off the bowl and the smell of buttered popcorn filled the Jeep’s interior. “I brought you Coke since that’s what you order every time I’ve been with you.” He reached in a cooler and gave me a can. “I know how much you hate for people to order for you, but I didn’t know what else you liked.”

  I held the Coke by the tips of my fingers and stared at him. My voice stalled in my throat, and my gaze held his for a few beats. I mapped the striations of blues in his eyes before my gaze skimmed over his face, committing every feature, every curve, every line, to memory. I didn’t want to forget how he looked at that moment. The very moment I knew he’d taken all there was of me.

  Oh, shiznit. I’m falling in love with him. No, no, I can’t be. I hardly know him. So it can’t be love. It must be lust, then. He has a body hotter than Hades itself, but that’s not it either. I don’t know what it is. It’s more than lust, but not quite love. What comes in between lust and love? Whatever it is, that’s what I am. I’m in between lust and love with Brody.

  “What?” Brody asked, looking at me with his head tilted to the side.

  “I just can’t believe you went to so much trouble for me just so I didn’t have to sit alone on a Friday night,” I whispered. I laid the Coke can in my lap and raised my hand to his face, hovering just a millimeter away from his skin, but not touching him. My fingers trembled, whether from nerves or the need to touch him, I wasn’t sure. Maybe both.

  “I told you the next time we watched a movie, I wanted you with me. Technically, I said in my bed, but since that isn’t possible, this will have to do.”

  “Thank you.” My hand skimmed over his jaw to the back of his neck. I leaned to him and hugged him tightly, laying my head on his shoulder.

  Brody wrapped his arms around me, resting his head on top of mine. When I ended the hug and pulled back, Brody cupped my face in his hands. I froze, and we looked in each other’s eyes. I could feel Brody’s breath against my lips. It came in fast puffs, matching mine. I wondered if his heart was beating as hard as mine. If he’d leaned in for a kiss, I wouldn’t have moved. I’d have let him kiss me—I’d have kissed him back.

  He pulled me toward him. My tongue darted out to moisten my lips, and Brody groaned. Just before his lips touched mine, he pulled my head down and placed his mouth against my forehead. I sighed, partly from the feel of his lips on my skin and partly from the disappointment that it wasn’t on my lips.

  “You’re welcome. It wasn’t a big deal. A few bags of microwave popcorn and a cooler full of Cokes, no biggie.” Brody shrugged a shoulder, pushing a lock of my hair behind my ear. “Have you seen this movie?”

  “Nope.” I wanted to forget the movie and pull him to me. Brody made me feel things I’d never felt with Jaden. And it wasn’t just physical, although he was hot as Hell. It was everything. Brody made me feel wanted, cared for, special, respected, all things that a girl could wish for from a boy.

  “Good. Let’s pop this sucker in and fill our faces with popcorn dripping in butter.”

  “Sounds good.” I leaned back against the pillow and got comfortable.

  We sat in Brody’s Jeep in the dark field watching a horror movie. I jumped at every little sound, and Brody laughed at me.

  “Come here,” he said, putting his arm around me and pulling me into the crook of his arm. “I’ll keep the monsters away.” An amused grinned pulled on his lips.

  “You couldn’t pick a comedy to watch while we’re out in the middle of nowhere in the dark?”

  “That’s no fun.” He squeezed me tighter to him and tickled my side.

  I giggled and squirmed against him. “Yeah, if you say so.”

  I stayed snuggled against Brody’s side. His hand gently grazed up and down my arm, and I wished I could have worn short sleeves so I would’ve felt his skin sliding against mine. Since I’d started noticing the effects Brody was having on me, I’d wondered if I was having the same on him. Yes, he’d tried to kiss me, but he was known for his steady stream of romances. And no matter how hard I tried to put that out of my mind, I couldn’t get past him dating Sarah, Tanya, and then Kara right after school started. But every time I moved against him as the movie played, I heard his heart rate speed up under my ear, or his breathing change… and I knew. Brody Victor was not immune to the effects of our attraction to each other. He was feeling it as strongly as I was. That made me happy, and a little scared.

  “That was pretty good,” I said when the movie was over.

  “How would you know? You had the blanket over your eyes most of the time.” Brody grinned.

  I moved to sit up so he could take care of the video, but his arm tightened around me. I settled back against him.

  “I did not.”

  “Okay, whatever you say.” Brody pulled the blanket around me. “Are you getting cold?”

  Ha! If he only knew how not cold I was. “No.”

  “So…” He drummed the thumb of one hand on his knee.

  “What?” I pushed the strands of hair that had worked their way out of the knot at the base of my neck behind my ear and looked up at Brody.

  “Jaden. He’s quite a piece of work, that one.”

  I sighed and pulled away from him. This time, he let me go. “I was hoping we were going to avoid this conversation.”

  “What? Just sit, watch the movie, and never bring up the thousand-pound elephant dangling over our heads?”

  I glared at him. “I was hoping.”

  Brody nodded. “Okay. Sure, if that’s what you want. I just don’t get you. You seem so self-assured in everything you do. So independent… until it comes to him. And then it’s like all your common sense and intelligence flies out the window. You roll over and just let him treat you like dirt. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “I know. What time is it?”

  “It’s after ten.”

  “I need to get home. My curfew is eleven.”

  Brody sighed and sat up. We were silent as we folded the blanket and picked up the empty pop cans and popcorn bowl, putting everything back in the bag in the rear of the Jeep.

  It wasn’t until we were driving home that Brody spoke. “I overheard you saying to Jenna that you’d tried to break up with Jaden before. What happened?”

  “I’ve tried more than once. He made my life a living hell. He’d follow me from class to class when I was at school, and I’d catch him following me even outside of school, at the mall, the movies, and places like that. He threatened any guy who came w
ithin ten feet of me. And forget asking me out, no guy would dare do that. They’d barely speak to me. That’s why I sat alone in all my classes before you came along. No one would risk getting on Jaden’s bad side. So they stayed away.”

  “So he bullied you into getting back together,” Brody said, his voice hard.

  “I guess so.”

  “You’re home.” He stopped in front of my neighbor’s house and turned out the lights.

  “Thanks so much for tonight. I had a lot of fun.” I looked at Brody and smiled. “It sure beat sitting at home all night.”

  Brody grabbed my hand, laced his fingers with mine, and squeezed. “Anytime.”

  I slipped out of the Jeep, our fingers sliding slowly away from each other’s. Shutting the door, I walked home. I saw Brody flip on his lights and slowly pull away from the curb as I closed the door behind me.

  “You made it home before curfew tonight. There’s a first time for everything, I guess.” I jumped at the sound of Ralph’s voice behind me.

  Ralph owned two successful car lots and was on the Cassidy Independent School Board. He was highly respected in the social circles in Middleton. My mother, however, was not. She was white trash from the wrong side of the tracks. Everyone assumed she was nothing more than a gold-digging hussy. If they knew the real Ralph McKenna—not the front he put on when he was around other people—they’d know there were easier ways to dig for gold. They’d also know gold digging went both ways.

  Ralph and my mother married just six months after meeting. Six months after my stepdad died in a car accident. She was working as a waitress, trying to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table until the life insurance benefits and the inheritance from my stepdad’s will was finally distributed. She planned to go back to school and finish the degree she started before her surprise pregnancy with me caused her to drop out. But she met Ralph, and it was love at first sight. A whirlwind romance, an elopement in Vegas, and they’ve been happy ever since. Or that was the story they told everyone.

  “Yes, sir,” I said, inching my way to the stairs and hoping he’d just let me go up to my bedroom.

  “Jaden called looking for you. Didn’t seem too happy that you weren’t home after you told him you would be. He’s on his way over now.”

  My heart sank.

  Jaden’s coming here? Ralph told him I wasn’t home. Crap.

  Breathe. Just breathe.

  I’d barely gotten to my bedroom when the doorbell rang. Turning, I went back to the stairs. I could see Ralph and Jaden talking in the foyer below. Ralph laughed at something Jaden said and clapped him on the back. I sighed, forcing my feet to go down the stairs. My heart beat in my ears, the blood whooshing behind them. My hands were slick with sweat and slipped on the bannister.

  “Hey,” I said to Jaden, smiling.

  He didn’t speak to me. Instead, he looked at Ralph and said, “I know Willow’s curfew is eleven, but do you think we could take a drive? I’ll have her back by midnight.”

  “Sure, Jaden, that’s fine,” Ralph said, clapping Jaden on the back again like they were long-lost buddies. Ick.

  Jaden gripped my upper arm and guided me out to his car. He didn’t say a word. We’d driven through my subdivision before he pulled into a convenience store parking lot, jammed his Mustang into park, and turned to glare at me.

  “Where were you?”

  “Out,” I said, raising my chin.

  “With?”

  “A friend. What difference does it make?”

  “I know you weren’t with Jenna like you told your mom and Ralph,” Jaden said quietly. It was almost scarier than if he were yelling at me. “Karen saw you.”

  “Should have known your spy was out on patrol.”

  He turned toward me so fast I flinched against the car door. “Check the attitude, Willow,” he said, pointing a finger in my face. “Who were you out with?”

  “A friend.”

  “What friend?” He nearly spat the word friend.

  “None of your freakin’ business, Jaden,” I yelled. “You go off and party with Sarah and God only knows who else whenever you want. I think I’m entitled to visit with a friend if I want to.”

  “You aren’t entitled to anything—”

  “Take me home.”

  “We aren’t done.”

  “I am. Either take me home or I’ll walk.” I narrowed my eyes at him. When he didn’t start driving, I said, “Now.”

  “You’re making this harder than it has to be,” he warned. “You do not want to push me. I don’t want to be the bad guy, but I will be if you don’t play by the rules.”

  “No, you’re making things harder, Jaden. You and your rules are full of shit. Things are going to change. I’m not putting up with your possessive bullshit anymore. Get over yourself. I’m going to start doing what I want, when I want to do it, without getting permission from you… and you’re going to keep your mouth shut about what you know. If you don’t like it, then maybe we should break up now and get it over with.”

  “I won’t keep my mouth shut. I’ll tell everyone.” Leaning toward me, he whispered, “Everyone.” He planted a quick kiss on the end of my nose. “And you and I both know who people will believe.”

  “Well, here’s the deal.” I smoothed out my shirt and adjusted my belt before I looked at him. “You’ve known what happened for… hmm, how long? Weeks? No, longer than that. Months? No, even longer.” I shook my head and tsked. “Gee, I don’t think the police are going to like it when they find out you had this information and didn’t come forward.”

  Jaden’s face turned red, and a vein bulged in his neck. It was definitely the wrong thing to say. And he made sure I knew it.

  Jamming the car into drive, he squealed out of the parking lot. He didn’t say another word to me on the drive back to my house. When he pulled into my driveway, he looked at me and finally broke the silence. “You seem to have it all figured out. But if you were so sure it would be that easy, you would have done something before now. To me. To Ralph. But you haven’t. So I call BS on your little threat, Willow. Now get the hell out of my car.” I’d barely got out and shut the door when he gunned the engine, peeled out of the drive, and sped down the street.

  “Ass,” I muttered, running my hands over my tear-stained face.

  Breathe. Just breathe. You’re strong. Breathe.

  Monday morning and the shit was about to hit the proverbial fan. I looked at my face in the mirror, still foggy from my shower. I could see the purple splotch even through the condensation.

  Makeup isn’t gonna cover that. What’s my story? I took an elbow while swimming. Yeah, that’ll work.

  I blew my hair dry straight, angling it toward my face. Maybe if it fell forward, it’d help hide what makeup couldn’t. Not likely.

  I put on my makeup, trying to use concealer around my eye to hide as much of the bruising as I could. It was a lost cause, and, besides, no amount of makeup could cover the swelling.

  I grabbed a pair of black yoga pants and the new T-shirt I had made when Jenna and I were at the mall that said, Mondays should be illegal. Once dressed, I grabbed my things and left for school.

  Jenna had texted repeatedly since Friday night. I sent her one text telling her things were okay, and I’d tell her more Monday. Other than that one text, I hadn’t talked to anyone since Friday. Sitting in my car in the student parking lot, I pulled out my phone. I knew I needed to warn them before they saw me, especially Brody.

  I felt sick. I hated lying to them. I hated how weak it made me look… how weak I was.

  Jaden texted me over and over during the weekend, reminding me that he knew my secret and he had no problem telling people. And even if they didn’t believe him, they would believe Ralph. With every text he sent, my stomach roiled. Bile rose in my throat, scorching it. I felt pathetic and useless. And pissed. And not for the first time, I thought I’d just tell him to go ahead. Tell everyone. I didn’t care anymore. Just do it and get it over
with. Whatever the fallout was, it couldn’t be any worse than living with the secret hanging over me.

  Me: Had an accident over the weekend. Don’t flip when you see me.

  Jenna: Yeah. An accident. Ok.

  Me: Tell Tim for me.

  Jenna: Sure. Whatever.

  I sat looking at the screen on my phone, tapping my fingernail on the back. I knew I had to text Brody. I couldn’t just walk into biology without warning him. He’d have a fit. These were always the hardest bruises to explain. The others, I could hide with clothes, but my face, I couldn’t. That was why he didn’t normally hit in the face. I guess that shows how much I pissed him off Friday night.

  Breathe. Just breathe. It won’t break you. Just breathe.

  I took a deep breath and started typing.

  Me: Hey, Ace.

  Brody: Hey back.

  Me: I need to tell you something and you have to promise me you’ll be cool.

  Brody: Okay.

  Me: No. Promise.

  Brody: I promise. I’ll be cool.

  Me: I had an accident over the weekend. Don’t flip out when you see me.

  Brody: I’m gonna kill him.

  Me: You just promised me. Cool remember? Or I’ll leave.

  Brody: Damn it, Willow. Okay. I’ll try.

  Me: Try hard. For me.

  Sighing, I opened the car door. I reached in the backseat to grab my bag. When I turned around, I saw Brody jogging across the parking lot toward me.

  Oh, jeez. I was hoping to put this off until we were in class where he wouldn’t make a scene.

  “I saw your car when I pulled in. What happened?” His voice trailed off when he got close enough to see my eye. “What the hell?”

  “I had an accident—”

  “Don’t lie to me, Willow. Remember sitting in my aunt’s bar and telling me you wouldn’t lie to me? So, let’s try again. What happened?” Brody reached out and took my chin in his hand, moving my head to the side so he could get a better look at my mangled eye. He gently smoothed the hair away from my face.

  I bit my lip and looked away from him. If he didn’t want me to lie to him, I wouldn’t say anything at all. That was the safest thing to do, anyway.