by Bella Jewel
He’s a clever man. If he makes it look like I’ve cheated, I’ll have far less of a chance of taking what I’m entitled to, and he knows it. He’s smart enough to pull it off, too. He just needs to make it seem like I’ve been having an affair. But I haven’t, so there shouldn’t be anything he can find.
Right?
Dammit.
I’m doubting myself, now. Going over every time I’ve been with or around Tatum. No, I haven’t done anything that could be used against me. Right?
“I’ll be speaking with you soon,” he mutters, opening the door and stepping out, slamming it behind him.
Great.
Just great.
That didn’t go to plan.
It never does, though, does it?
Fucking fate.
8
CALLIE
“I ended things with Patrick,” Jo says, the moment I walk through the front door. I place my bag on the ground, my shoulder aching, and glance at her.
She’s sitting on the sofa, vodka in hand, wearing her pajamas, looking like she’s about ready to lose her shit for a final time. I understand how she feels. That trip didn’t go to plan, hell, it didn’t even go close, and now we’ve found ourselves with even more drama than when we first left.
We’re all over it.
We’ve all had enough.
“Tell me about it,” I say, walking over to the sofa and sitting down beside her, taking the bottle of vodka and taking a long, well-earned sip.
“He came over here, demanding to know where I’d been, and he didn’t care ... He didn’t care that I look the way I look, he just wanted to know what I was doing. He saw Tatum leaving my apartment, and now he’s got it in his head that I had an affair and he’s running with it, because it’s the perfect plan, isn’t it? He’s scared of losing everything, he can’t if I’ve cheated.”
I shake my head, fighting back an eyeroll. Fucking Patrick, he always seems to think he’s got the upper hand in everything, but he knows damn well he doesn’t so he’s clutching at straws. “He’s got nothing, honey, and you know it. You haven’t cheated, he’s just trying a different angle. Was he upset that you ended it at least?”
She shakes her head, laughing bitterly. “Nope, not at all. He was more worried about himself, as always.”
“I’m sorry, I know you’re done, but you’ve spent a long time with Patrick doing the right thing, the very least he could have done was pretend to care that he’s losing a good woman, because he is. You know that, right?”
She nods, meeting my eyes. “Oh, hell yes I know that. Anyway, tell me how your afternoon went. What happened when you got back to Tanner’s place?”
I exhale. “We dropped Ethan off, and then we went back there to wait for Tatum to come back with Chase. Tanner wanted to discuss how we were going to approach the whole situation, as in telling everyone the whole story about Celia’s death. Andrea arrived, and we went over it with her. She wanted to attack Chase, understandably, and she was so damned angry that Tatum had to take her for a walk.”
Jo’s eyes widen. “Oh, no, poor thing. It’s such a horrible story to hear. Do you think the rest of her family will react the same?”
“Worse, I think. Then there is Chase’s mother, who has lived in the dark all this time, it’s not going to go down well when she finds out why her son hasn’t visited her or called her a lot. She’s about to find out he’s the reason a girl killed herself. It’s going to cause hell, to put it mildly.”
“And you?” Jo asks, giving me a sympathetic smile.
Me.
Yes, me.
The girl who I’m sure none of them ever want to see or hear about for the rest of their lives. The girl, who in their mind, is the reason Celia is dead. The girl who turned everything upside down. I’m about to go in there, turn the tides, and make everything that much worse for everyone. Not to mention the fact that Tanner and I are sort of seeing each other.
That is a whole other issue that could make things complicated.
“Tanner wants me there. He wants to take Chase and I over tomorrow night and tell the family. I tried to tell him I don’t want a part in that, but he said I’ve come this far, I should be there when they find out the truth. But ... I’m terrified.”
“I’m sure they’ll understand,” Jo says, her voice calming at a time when I really need her to be calm, which I’m grateful for. “They’re going to be upset at first, of course, but once Tanner tells them the whole truth, they might calm down.”
“Yeah, maybe. That or they’ll hate me forever.”
“Maybe,” Jo agrees. “Maybe not. I guess you have to wait and see.”
“Then there’s Chase. Do we take him to the cops, or do we just let him be? Tatum wants him to go and tell them what happened, to put bigger charges on the gang so that they stay away for longer, but Tanner doesn’t think it’ll make any difference, being that it was so long ago and there is no proof. I’m on the fence, I think it’s worth a shot, but I also know it’ll put Chase right in the middle of it too.”
“Chase put himself in the middle of it years ago, honey, he made that choice.”
I nod. “Yeah, he did. Tatum though ...”
Jo’s face softens, just a little. “Yeah, he’s a good person and he’s a good brother. He tried to do what he thought was right, I get that, I’d do it for someone I loved, too.”
“Yeah, but now he has to watch Chase go down again.”
“Yeah, I know, but he’ll be okay. He’s strong and, in the end, he owes it to Tanner to do the right thing now. If he ever wants their friendship back again.”
I nod, exhaling. “This has been insane.”
“You’re right about that. I didn’t expect things to go so bad.”
“No, me either. Now we’re facing even more drama.”
“We’ll be okay,” Jo says. “We’ve been through worse, we’ll get through this, too. We just have to stick together.”
Yeah, maybe.
Or maybe it would be best if we all went our separate ways.
I don’t know what’s right anymore.
I just know we’re about to open Pandora's box.
And once it’s open, it’ll change everyone's lives.
Forever.
“TANNER,” I WHISPER, arching backward, my body aching for more even though he’s already deep inside me.
“Fuck,” he growls, driving his cock in and out of my pussy, bringing me to the brink and then slowing down, taunting me, teasing me until I’m begging for more.
“Please,” I moan, clutching his back, holding his big shoulders in my hands and squeezing his muscles. I want all of him, even though he’s already inside of me, it just doesn’t feel close enough. Like I just need so much more. “Please.”
His thrusts become more intense and my legs tremble around his hips as he finally lets me reach my peak, exploding beneath him, until I’m gasping his name and shaking as a well-earned orgasm rips through my body. A few moments later, his follows with a raspy growl in my ear that makes my skin prickle.
When we both come down from our high, he presses his forehead to mine. Our eyes meet, and I whisper, “That was amazing.”
He makes a murmuring sound in his throat and says, “Fuck yeah, it was.”
“I wish we could just stay here forever, just like this, and never have to face the world outside.”
He rolls off me, pulling me carefully into his arms when he lands on his back. His biceps press me closer to him, and I feel safe, like nothing in the world could touch me while I’m lying right here. That’s a nice feeling, even if I know it’s only going to be fleeting. I exhale and turn my face into his chest, breathing him in.
“Me too, but we can’t. We need to go to dinner and face the music, it’ll never stop playing until we do.”
“Very poetic,” I mumble.
He chuckles, a sound that I’m coming to love more and more every time I hear it. “I like it when you laugh.”
“Like it too,
been a long time.”
“Your family are going to hate me,” I blurt, but I can’t help it, I’m terrified of facing them, terrified of what they’re going to think.
“They won’t hate you, they’ll understand, even if it takes a bit.”
“What if they don’t understand?”
“They will, I promise.”
I don’t like promises, they’re made to be broken.
Rolling out of Tanner’s arms, I start getting ready. Neither of us says a lot as we dress and get into the car, heading over to his family home for dinner. A dinner they don’t know I’m attending at this point—he figured it would be easier to just show up. Shock and explain. If he told them he was bringing me, he said they’d likely refuse, and he didn’t want to ruin any chances of getting this out in the open.
My stomach twists the whole drive over, and at times, I actually feel like I might just stop breathing. Tanner reaches over, grabbing my hand and squeezing, but I can hardly feel it. I’m sure at one point he also whispers for me to breathe. I don’t answer. I feel like I’m going to pass out, and part of me wishes I would, just so I don’t have to feel this anymore.
I’ve thought about this moment a thousand times over the last six years. I’ve thought about how it would feel, to have them all finally learn the truth, I’ve even imagined that we’d all get along and everything would be perfect. That’s the problem with imagining things, though. They are unrealistic expectations, and those lead to problems in the long run.
They’re not real.
I need to accept that.
Still, I can’t believe I’m on my way to put Celia to rest finally. To get her truth out, to get her the justice she deserves, to let her finally rest the way she deserves. She never wanted her family to know what happened to her, it’s why she kept it to herself, but in doing that, she allowed herself to drown. That should have never happened.
We arrive at the family home I only very recently broke into, and I stare at the beautiful big house. My stomach twists so violently, I clutch at it.
“It’ll be okay,” Tanner says. “Hey, Callie, look at me.”
I look at him, my eyes wide with fear. I don’t know if I’m ready for this. Now we’re here, I don’t know if I can face it. I don’t even know what the hell Tanner and I are, and yet here we are about to drop a bomb on his family, not just one, but two. We’re about to forever change their lives.
“It’s goin’ to be okay, do you hear me?”
I hold his eyes, then nod weakly. “Okay.”
“Let’s go and finish this, once and for all.”
I nod and we get out of the truck. He walks around to my side and takes my hand in his, squeezing, letting me know he’s got my back. I’m grateful for that, considering only weeks ago, he wanted revenge. He wanted me to suffer for what happened to Celia, and now he’s here, on my side, helping me out.
It’s funny how quickly things can change.
How quickly life can throw a curveball.
We reach the front door and my breathing quickens. The moment they see me, they’re going to flip. I know they will. Part of me prays that maybe they’re sympathetic people and they’ll be understanding, but mostly, I think they’ll lose their minds. Why shouldn’t they, too? As far as they’re concerned, Tanner just brought home the girl who killed their daughter.
Not exactly an exceptional first dinner.
Tanner opens the front door, squeezing my hand again before releasing it and stepping inside. We move through the big house, and I fight with every shaky step not to vomit. My mind is spinning, my palms are sweaty, and I don’t know how I’m managing to put one foot in front of the other.
“Tanner, is that you?”
Her voice. Their mother.
It comes from the kitchen, and as she rounds the corner, a huge smile on her face, I watch everything change. Her smile wavers as her eyes lock onto mine, and realization hits her pretty features. Her gasp fills the quiet room and her eyes lock onto Tanner’s full of so much betrayal I want to scream and cover my face so I don’t have to see that look ever again in my life.
“Before you freak out,” Tanner says, “I have good reason to have her here.”
“What possible reason could you have to bring her into my home?” she spits, her voice suddenly filled with acid.
“Mrs Yates,” I begin, but she throws a hand up.
“Get her out of my home, Tanner. Right now.”
“Mom,” he says, stepping forward, “you need to hear what I have to say. You need to know the truth.”
“Truth?” she says, shaking her head, her eyes so sad it breaks me apart. “The truth is she’s a killer, and you brought her into my home. How dare you? How dare you do that to Celia.”
“Mom,” he tries again.
“You need to get her out of my house.”
“Mom,” he takes another step.
“Now, Tanner!” she screams.
“I’ll leave,” I say, my voice shaky, my eyes burning with unshed tears. “I’m sorry to have caused you pain.”
I turn to leave and Tanner’s voice booms through the house just as his dad rounds the corner and sees me, his eyes turning into angry orbs. “She didn’t kill Celia on purpose, Celia killed herself. You need to fuckin’ listen, because this girl went away for somethin' she didn’t fuckin’ do. I didn’t want to believe it either, but I have proof, god dammit!” he roars.
His mom flinches, his dad’s eyes grow hard, and my feet stay planted on the ground, my body half turned to leave.
“What are you talking about?” Mrs Yates whispers, her voice trembling.
“I didn’t want to have to do this, to bring it all up again, but I made this girl's life a misery because I wanted revenge for Celia. You don’t know that, but I’ve taken her to hell and back, only to find out that she was fuckin’ tellin' the truth the whole time. Celia killed herself, Mom, she took her own life.”
“No.” His mom shakes her head, her hands trembling. “No, you’re wrong. Celia was happy. She was happy.”
“She was raped,” Tanner says, his voice calm and yet his body is so tight he looks like he could take down a bear with one hit. “She was attacked by eight men, because of Chase. You want someone to blame, you blame him. Why do you think he disappeared? It wasn’t because of pain; it was because of guilt. I have proof. I have Chase back to tell the damn real story. You need to sit down and let us go over this.”
“No,” his mom sobs, shaking her head. “No, you’re lying.”
“Son,” his dad says, his voice hard. “You need to be very careful. Whatever reason you have for bein’ around that girl, is your own. Don’t justify her actions because it’s clear that you have some sort of feelings for her.”
The look his dad gives me nearly brings me to my knees, but, somehow, I manage to stay on my feet. I’m ashamed, and angry, and so horrified. I hate that I’m hurting this family even more. It doesn’t feel good to deliver the truth, it doesn’t feel freeing, it only makes me feel like I’m suffocating even more.
“You’re seeing her?” his mother gasps. “You’re seeing the girl who killed Celia?”
“Just listen,” Tanner growls angrily, running his hands through his hair. “She didn’t fuckin’ do it on purpose. She wasn’t drinking. She wasn’t driving recklessly. Celia fuckin’ stepped out in front of that car. Celia was drownin' and nobody noticed. You want to blame someone, then we should be blamin’ ourselves for not realizin' she was hurt.”
Mrs. Yates gasps and shakes her head, horrified. “How could you say that?”
“Sit down, we’re talking this through. Callie is staying, because she deserves to be heard out. She went away for a long fuckin’ time for something she had no control over. If it wasn’t her, it would have been someone else. Celia wanted to die, and she would have found a way to make that happen. Now, are you two going to listen to me, or do you want me to fuckin’ walk out of here and not come back until you do?”
“Tanner,”
Mrs Yates whispers, her voice hurt, “how could you say something like that?”
“Look, Momma,” he says walking over and placing his hands on her shoulders, “I know exactly how you’re feelin’ right now, I used to feel the same when I looked at that girl over there. The same feelings of anger and rage, I didn’t want to hear her story, hell, I didn’t want to know about it at all, but in the end, her story needs to be heard.”
Mrs. Yates looks at me, really looks at me, and her eyes close for a second as she takes a deep breath in and then exhales loudly. “Fine, I’ll hear the story, but then you’re going to take her from my house. You’ve hurt me enough for the night.”
“That’s all I need,” Tanner says, then looks to me. “Callie?”
Well.
It’s my turn now.
Here goes nothing.
9
JOANNE
I raise my hand, then lower it, then raise it again. My heart pounds against my chest as I stand out in front of Tanner and Tatum’s house, not knowing if I should be here, if this is a bad idea, or if I’ve just completely lost my mind finally.
I can’t stop thinking about him.
I keep telling myself I’m here to warn him that Patrick is on his case and will probably start snooping around, but really, deep down, I know that’s not why I’m here. I’m here because in the short time I’ve been home, I can’t get him out of my mind. I can’t get our time in that basement out of my mind.
He’s all I want, and my entire body is craving him like a hard drug that I can’t shake.
Patrick and I are over.
We spoke again this morning and we both agreed that it’s not going to work, though he still carried on about me taking everything and how he won’t let me. I did try to explain that if he just makes sure I’m okay, I’m not going to take anything of importance to him.
He doesn’t seem to believe that.
His words were, "As soon as you start talking to your little boyfriend, you’ll change your mind because he’ll convince you to take me for everything I’m worth."
