Page 56 of Redemption in the Dark (The Righteous 5)
“What?”
“I lied years ago to get an ID, and it’s stuck. Everyone thinks I’m older than I am.” He shot off the bed and backed away like she’d just burned him. “Wolf, it’s not that big of a deal.”
Maeve got onto her knees, desperate to hang on to what had started between them, and for once, it wasn’t because of the sex.
“Not a big deal?” Wolf ran his hand through his hair.
His face was a mix of disbelief and horror, and neither expression was giving her any comfort.
“Maeve, you’re not that far shy of statutory rape. I’m thirty-three, and I literally hunt rapists and eat them for breakfast. Not a big deal? Maeve….”
“Wolf, I’m an adult and have been for a long time. I’m nineteen, not eighteen. Besides, what we have between us is as far away from rape that anyone could get.” She’d been raped and didn’t know how to make him understand that this was not even close. “I’ve had lots of sex and different partners. It’s not like I’m some pristine virgin that you need to protect from their sensibilities.”
As soon as the words were out, she knew it had been the wrong route to take. His face morphed from horror into something between disbelief and rage. She wished he would just pick one emotion, trying to read him was hard enough without the mixed expressions.
“Yeah, I saw that for myself in Vegas, but thank you for reminding me of just how many partners you’ve had at such an intimate time between us.”
“Ouch. Are you calling me a slut?”
He rolled his eyes at her. “You would take it that way. No, of course, I’m not. I don’t care if you’ve fucked the entire planet before me. The point is that there’s a time and place to bring it up, and this is not it.” He waved his hand in the air like he was dismissing the argument. “The real issue here is that there is a fourteen-year difference between us.”
“Who cares? Age is just a number. I don’t feel nineteen, and I’m almost twenty anyway. I don’t act nineteen, I….” She stood from the bed, her hands balled into fists. “I have lived through more than most people can even comprehend. I’m more of an adult than most thirty-year-olds out there.” She pointed to the door, her arm shaking with her own anger. “I didn’t have to tell you, but I chose to because I felt it was the right thing to do. Doesn’t that mean something to you?”
“That you did the right thing? That you told me I was about to have sex with a teenager? No. No cookie for you.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Fuck, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that…I’m not angry with you. I’m angry with myself. I told myself that to get involved with you was wrong. Over and over, I drew a line in the sand, yet I didn’t listen to my inner voice warning me this was not a good idea, and here we are.”
“Wolf, please don’t say that.” The tears were starting to build in the back of her eyes as quickly as the panic was building into a painful ball in her chest. “It’s really not a big deal, not in the ways that matter. We have this connection, we….”
“I can’t do this, Maeve,” he said, cutting her off. “No matter how you see yourself, the reality is you’re still a teen, you’re practically a kid, and even if I pretended for just a moment that I could be okay with this—the truth is that there is no long-term future for us. When I turn fifty, you’ll still be in your thirties, in your prime. You should be looking at traveling or having kids or whatever else you want to do, and I’ll want to retire and….” He looked to the ceiling, and the look he gave her stabbed her through the heart. “I just can’t.”
Wolf grabbed his shirt and jeans off the floor, opened the bedroom door, and didn’t stop until she heard the front door open and close. The tears were instant, and she dropped to her knees and slammed her fist off the floor until the pain clawed at parts of her she couldn’t comfort.
Duke was suddenly by her side and nudging her cheek with his nose. She wrapped her arms around the soft fur on his neck and buried her face, sobbing. Wolf had been the first man she’d opened up to, and he’d ripped her heart out. She should’ve never handed over her trust. She should’ve listened to her own voice and never allowed herself to hope that she could have happiness in her life.
“Mom, Dad?” Wolf walked into the house, and no one answered. Wolf went to the kitchen, dropped his backpack on the floor, and opened the fridge. Grabbing a soda, he cracked the top and took a swig of the sweet, fizzy drink.
“Mom,” he called out again.
There was a plate on the counter covered in silver tin foil with a little note on top.
Gone to see Elisi and Eduda.
Will be back in a couple of hours.
Awinita is at a friend’s house and should be home by nine.
Love,
Mom
He was happy that his parents hadn’t been home. They would’ve tried to talk him into going to visit his grandparents as well, and he wasn’t in the mood. He placed the note down, peeled the tinfoil off the meal, and tossed it into the microwave. Grabbing his soda, he flopped in front of the television and turned it on, but there was nothing good to watch. So, he switched the thing off and tossed the remote on the couch.
Why had he asked Samantha out?
Wolf rubbed his eyes as he remembered all too clearly the look she gave him. He couldn’t have felt any lower than the dirt on the bottom of her foot. He’d made the grave mistake on a whim after school because he’d felt brave, and now all he saw was her laughing at him. They only had a couple of weeks left, and this was the first time she’d been single in a long time. Stupid Jimmy talked him into going for it. Course Jimmy would build him up. Jimmy didn’t see him the way everyone else saw him.
“Hey Sam, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Yeah, sure, I have a couple of minutes before practice,” she said and looked at her watch.
