Page 2 of Don't Leave Me Behind
I barely suppress the shudder that threatens to overtake me when she says my name. It’s been too long since I’ve seen her. Too long since I’ve heard her voice, even if my name is dripping with venom when she says it. After a decade of doing my best to avoid her, I deserve that.
“Your parents have those corporate retreat things going on, and I felt like I was getting in the way. Mercer told me he asked you. He said you weren’t coming back for the summer, so I’ve been staying here the past couple of months.”
“Oh.” Her eyes dart toward the door, then back to me. Fearand uncertainty fill them. That fear shouldn’t be there, and knowing I caused it makes me sick to my stomach.
“I thought you knew.” Scrubbing both hands down my face, I try to rein in the emotions I have flooding in and out of my system. “I, uh, I’ll head over to Merc’s. Come back for my stuff in the morning.”
“No!” she says.
I crook an eyebrow at her, wondering, for the first time, what the hell she’s doing here in the middle of the night.
“No, sorry…fuck.” She draws her knees up into her chest, pulling her sleeves down and around her thumbs the way she used to when she was younger. “I don’t want them to know I’m here.”
“They’re gonna know you’re here, Len. That’s why your dad wanted you in this cabin, so they can keep an eye on you.”
“No, I know. I’m not an amateur.” She rolls her eyes, huffing in frustration.Fuck she’s cute.“I’ve done it before. I park in the trees, keep the lights off after dark. I just…I need a few days to regroup before they get all up in my business again.”
I highly doubt they don’t know when she’s here. It’s more believable that they realize when she sneaks back home and figures she wants to be left alone.
My fingers itch with the desire to pull her back into me. To feel the weight of her in my arms. I’d do anything if she’d let me kiss her again, just one more time. It’ll never be enough where Leni is concerned, but it would be something. The longer I hesitate, the more restless she becomes, crossing and uncrossing her arms, straightening her legs only to pull them back to her chest. Something’s wrong. Something happened, and I want to fix it. Not that I have any right or that I should even be looking at her like this, but I still want to fix it. Leni inpain will never do.
Ever.
“Right, I—uh. I’ll crash out on the couch until morning and go get a room from the Inn. No big deal.”
She looks aghast, like I told some salacious bit of gossip. “You can’t go to the inn! Then everyone will know.”
“Know what, Leni?”
“Why would you leave here to stay at the inn?”
“I don’t know, because you…”Oh.She rolls her eyes at me again, and I can’t lie, the sass she’s giving me is doing nothing to help the situation that has arisen in my pants. I mean, she was just sitting on me, kissing me. It’s not entirely my fault.
Okay, fuck, it is my fault, and I feel like a fucking creep right now. Drawing one of my legs up, I try to hide the fact that I am sporting a semi-hard dick.
It’s not solely the kiss; it's everything about her. Freckles dust her nose, which still crinkles when she’s annoyed. Her hair’s shorter than I remember, but it looks good. Natural waves hit right below her shoulders. I want to reach forward, run my hands through it again, wrap it around my fist while I—you know what? Nope.Down boy.You are not going there. Not with LenifuckingKane.
The realization of what she hasn’t said hits me like a bucket of ice-cold water. Does she really think we can stay here together? “You want me to stay here with you?”
She’s been back in my life for all of five minutes, and I’ve already had my tongue in her mouth. I have zero control when it comes to this girl. I’ve worked my ass off to stay away from her, so I wouldn’t have to deal with this.
Eleanor is all sunshine and goodness, and she deserves someone who can reflect that back. Not someone dark and twisted like me. I won’t saddle her with my mess when she has her whole life ahead of her.
“Yeah, Clay, that’s the idea.”
“No,” I snap, the words coming out harsher than I mean. Pushing off the floor, I stomp up the stairs. I need to get my shit and get out of here before I do something even more stupid.
Something I can’t take back.
Chapter 2
It Matters a Lot
Leni
Well,shit. That did not go the way I thought it would.
Not even close.
