Page 40 of Burning Deceptions
Fear had darkened his expression and curled his broad shoulders before I’d barked at him. He’d seemed almost relieved when I told him it was okay, as if no one ever had before.Thatmade me ten fucking feet tall and bulletproof. I didn’t even care I hadn’t gotten off with him. My balls weren’t happy about it, butI could console them later.
Savannah and Morgan were still dancing where I left them. They’d invited me to Aunt Penny’s for the weekend so we could go out for a night before classes started after the break. I’d been a little down that there wouldn’t be a chance to catch Luke in one of his fancy suits at some charity thing, but lo and behold, someone was on my side for a change and dropped him in my lap. Almost literally.
“Where’d you go?” Savannah yelled over the music.
“Let him piss in peace, Savy. You don’t have to know everything,” Morgan said, supplying my lie for me. He nudged my shoulder with his, and I nodded at the save.
We danced and hung around for another hour, but my fun had fled on two feet. I faked it as much as possible, but the need low in my gut only got worse, and I was glad when they were ready to leave.
Savannah and Morgan chattered on the way home while I stayed silent, thoughtful and reminiscent. Damn, but Luke was a dream. All buttoned up but so alive underneath.
Only a few hours after I lay down on the couch, I was up again, whispering my goodbyes to my cousins, gratefully accepting a to-go coffee from Aunt Penny, and dashing off to Hickory Bend before heading back to school.
Not like it was on the way, but I’d promised Jamie and Momma I’d make the time once more since I might not be able to see them until the winter break started.
I stopped at home and had breakfast while I waited on Jamie to let me know when and where to meet him.
As usual, the house was loud with screaming girls, and with Ben being home, he made sure everyone was getting along and getting the attention they needed.
“How’s your daddy?” I asked him from my perch at the dining room table. He had May standing between his knees as he brushed her hair.
“Oh, he’s hanging in there. I’m not sure what for any longer.” Ben was worn-out. It was etched in the new lines on his face and the slow lift of his arm. “Daddy’s had a good run. He knows it’s over, but something is holding him here.”
“And how’re you doin’?”
Ben glanced at me with a tired smile. “I’m okay, Ash. I’m okay. It’s been a long year, but I’m okay.”
“You want me to take the girls for the afternoon? Give you a moment to rest?”
“I can help Daddy rest, Bubba,” May said with a pout.
Ben chuckled. “No, it’s fine. I need to be here. I need my family.” He tucked his face into May’s neck and blew a raspberry. “Even this little one.”
“Daddyyyy,” May squealed before running off.
Ben chased after her, claiming he still needed to brush her hair, but he probably just wanted to make May scream louder and laugh harder. I’d never known a silent home, and even if this one didn’t feel quite the same as it had before I’d moved to the dorms, I relaxed in the constant state of noise.
This was my happy place. Not so much the structure itself, but being under the roof of so much life and love it overflowed into every room.
Just before lunch, Jamie texted me to meet them at Parlo instead of their sad trailer park off Mill Street. They spent as much time as possible not being home to run into their daddy, so this was nothing new. I hated their daddy, and if I never saw that man again, it’d be too soon. If I had gone to their home without a heads-up and run into him, I’d probably have gotten my ass beat for mouthing off to the asshole. Cory Anderson was just as big and mean as Michael. He wasn’t the sort you wanted to be onthe bad side of, but unfortunately for the world, he didn’t have a good side.
Jamie’s dark presence lit up when I got out of my car. He sat on top of a picnic table with Michael beside him on a bench.
“Went to see your momma?” Jamie asked as I neared.
“You know it. She’d have my hide if I came to town and didn’t.”
“Good.”
Momma loved both of them like her own, and I secretly loved it when they spoke fondly of her too.
I sat on the opposite bench from Michael and leaned my shoulder into the table. Chunky clouds dotted the sky, but we sat in the shade of a huge tree hanging on to its browned leaves.
“What’re y’all doin’ today?”
“You’re lookin’ at it,” Michael grumbled.
“Mikey was supposed to have a job today, but the guy canceled. We’ve just been hangin’ around.”
