Chapter Fourteen

With my hand on Shorty"s lower back, we walk back to the car. I open the door as she slides in the passenger seat. The anticipation of being alone with her feels like a mixture of spine-tingling nerves and long overdue excitement.

As I press the button to start, she places her small soft hand over mine. I pause at the contact and turn to face her. God, she"s beautiful. So fucking beautiful. With her dark chocolate brown eyes brimming with sexy long black lashes that aren"t fake, and her plump lips, not stuffed.

What.the.fuck.

These are not friendship feelings. These are dangerous "don"t fucking go there" types of emotions. But I can"t help it. Every time I look at her, I"m spellbound by her beauty. I"m attracted to her, but it's so much more than physical attraction.

Shorty hasn't said one word on the way home, which is putting me on edge. As much as I want pry at whatever spooked her earlier, I can't risk pushing her away. After Ash and I confronted Mom, we had to get away to process the pile of shit that landed at our feet. The ache in my heart became unbearable. We made a rash decision to disappear to our family"s cabin at the lake in Ash"s Maserati MC20 sports car. Remind me not to get into a car with my brother when he"s pissed off. Fucker was flying down the curvy roads at one hundred miles per hour.

The cabin is our spot to get away from all the bullshit. Over time the place has become our own personal therapy spot and a place to host our epic parties. It is our freedom from all the bad shit. The woods and a thick layer of green grass covering the terrain create a peaceful milieu. Enjoying the simple things in life before life became so fucking complicated.

Sitting in front of the crackling fire, drinking until our thoughts and feelings obliterate into nothing but empty space. The more Shorty invades my thoughts, the more I drink. The more her tears and pain find their way into my shattered heart, the more random objects I blast into the air. The sound of a bullet shooting from my .45 into empty beer cans is gratifying. But at the end of the day, the feelings of pain, regret, fear, and anger all come rushing back. Eventually, we have to face reality.

Face her.

The girl I desperately want to make my present and future. The feelings I've had for her from the first moment we met are so strong they make me choke on my own breath, desperately gasping for air.

The vibration of her cell phone startles us out of our bubble. Shorty fumbles for it. Her body freezes, and panic is etched on her face.

"Everything ok?" I ask with concern as we pull into the school parking lot. When she doesn"t answer, I ask again more directly. "Shorty. What"s wrong?"

She throws her phone in her backpack and runs her hands through her head full of curls. "I"m fine. I have to go. It"s getting late." She leaps out of the car like it"s on fire and slams the door.

Oh, hell no.

"Shorty!" I cry out, bolting out of the car and running after her.

God damn, she"s fast.

I grab her by the elbow and step in front of her. "Hey, what"s going on?"

Jesus. I glance around the parking lot that looks like a scene from The Walking Dead. Completely quiet and eerie.

She doesn"t look at me or respond. She steps around me, but I"m quicker and bigger. I hold out my arm to stop her, pulling her in front of me. "Hey. Did I do something? I"m sorry if—"

"It"s not you, Doni," she snaps. I flinch but keep my eyes on her.

"I"m sorry." She sighs, running her hands through her hair. "I just really need to get home."

"Ok. I"ll take you." She looks over my shoulder with the look of wanting to murder someone.

"Just fucking great."

I follow Shorty"s eyes and notice all her tires are flat. It looks like someone purposely slashed her tires.

What the…

"I"ll call Tia to pick me up. I"ll figure this out tomorrow," she mumbles as she starts to dial Tia"s number.

"What? No. I'll take you home.."

Shorty glances sideways in defeat. "Doni—"

"You are not calling your friend. I will take you home. Please, let me do this for you."

Why does she have to make everything so damn difficult?

"Fine."

Not one word is spoken on the way back to her place. Wes Scantlin from Puddle of Mudd singing "Blurry" is the only sound that fills the silence. Shorty stares out the window, appearing deep in thought while biting her fingernails. I wonder what has her rattled. How can I get her to trust me again? To believe I won"t hurt her or leave her?

"You"re not going to have any fingers left if you keep doing that." I bite back a smirk while driving with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the stick shift as I manually change the gears with ease.

"Huh?" She looks at me, dumbfounded. She"s so freaking cute with her big brown innocent eyes.

"You nervous or something?" I steal glances at her while trying to keep my eyes on the road.

She doesn't answer.

I sigh. "Talk to me. There's something going on with you. I want to know. Please, just talk to me."

Shorty places her hands in her lap and faces the window.

"I"m just drained. It"s not that I don"t want to tell you, but I"m not ready to share those secrets with you yet. So, I need a little time, ok?" She turns to face me, waiting for my response.

"Shorty, I ca—"

"Don"t." She interrupts me by placing her finger on my lips. "If you want us to be friends again, I need you to trust me, ok?"

I nod as she pulls her finger away from my lips.

"You promise?"

No. I don"t want to promise because it"s going to drive me fucking nuts not knowing what or who could be hurting you.But for now, I will do whatever she wants me to do, even if it fucking kills me.

For now, we'll play your game.

"Yeah, I promise." The false assurance softens her smile.

Seems like the old neighborhood hasn"t changed much. The busy main street is divided by older two-story homes. The road has a constant flow of cars whizzing by 24/7. The lawns are unkempt, with weeds growing through the cracks on the pathways. The siding on the homes is chipping away like old crusty paint. Our mothers always kept the inside of our homes clean and presentable, even when many neighboring homes were in unlivable condition. Families who live in this neighborhood are blue-collar folks who work more than one job to support their families. And sometimes that still isn't enough to put food on the table.

Parking the car on the side of the road, I turn off the ignition. We had to park a few houses down from Shorty"s.

Why?

Because the thought of her continuing to be abused after all these years is sickening. It makes me want to pound the living shit out of the useless piece of—

"Thanks for the ride, Doni." I could never get enough of hearing my nickname from her mouth.

"Are you sure I can"t walk you halfway?" I lift my eyes, gesturing toward the sidewalk.

"Yeah, I"m ok." Her face says it all. She"s in pain, and there"s not a damn thing I can do about it because she won"t let me help her.

My heart leaps into my throat. I don"t want to let her go. A million things are going through my head. What will happen if I let her go? Will her ex come back to finish her off? Is he watching us now? Pushing my fear and thoughts aside, I face Shorty. She"s staring straight ahead with fear etched all over her face.

"Shorty. Please, talk to me."

"There"s nothing to talk about." She turns to face me with tears glistening in her eyes.

"Bullshit."

"I"ll be ok," she says, dismissing me. "Thanks for today, really. It was nice, and I had a great time." She gives me a small smile, but I pull her back gently, refusing to let her go.

"Please don"t go. Let me take you home where it"s safe."

"I can"t."

"Why?"

Silence.

I sigh. "Shorty. I don"t like this. I don"t want you back here. Let me call my dad, and he"ll—"

"No! I mean no, you can"t involve anyone."

Before I can argue, she continues, "Just let it go."

I'm sick and tired of hearing those words.

"But—"

"Doni. Stop, please," she pleads.

"How can you expect me not to do anything? Do you know how shitty that makes me feel? I don't want you going back in there." I'm almost yelling.

"Excuse me?" She pulls back as if I slapped her. "You can"t tell me what to do, Doni. This is my life, and I know what I can and cannot handle." She shakes her head in disbelief, like I"m supposed to understand this shit. She stares out the window and breathes out a sigh of frustration.

"I will call the cops, Shorty. If he comes at you again, I'll fucking call the cops," I threaten. It"s a cheap shot, but that"s all I've got.

Shorty slowly turns to face me in a haunting way. When she sees I"m not joking around, her expression turns to pure rage.

"Do you realize the mess you would bring if the cops got involved?"

"Then that"s a risk I"m willing to take if it keeps you safe!" My face heats with anger. Why can't she see how much I'm trying to do everything I can to keep her safe?

She stares straight ahead, not saying anything. I swallow a big lump in my throat, knowing I"m going to fucking lose her again. My heart sinks into my stomach just at the thought of never seeing her again. I couldn't go through that again.

"Unbelievable. Another fucking ultimatum."

Huh?

She turns to face me. "You know...I don"t ask for much. I do what I"m told. I work my ass off to make a better life for myself. All I want is for people to stop telling me what to do and what they think is best for me." Shorty pauses, closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath.

When she speaks again, her eyes are still closed. "I get it. You"re worried because my life is not perfect like yours." When she opens her eyes, I swear she yanks my soul right out of my body.

The pain etched on her face cuts my soul in half.

"Shorty, we"re not a perfect family." I reach for her hand, but she pulls away.

"Well, you got it good. And I am so happy for you and Ash, truly I am. But you don"t know what it"s like to live my life. It"s not a fucking fairytale with a happy ending. It"s real life. I have to stay strong for my family. Ok? I have to do what Ineed to do to keep surviving. Ok, yeah, I grew up in an abusive fucked up home, but we just deal with it."

"You don't really believe that do you?" I ask in shock. This isn"t my Shorty. The one who wanted to fight to get out, not to stay just to survive because she feels there are no other options.

"I have more to lose now. And I know you don"t understand yet, but I promise you, it will make so much more sense once you know the whole story."

"Then tell me," I growled.

I'm frustrated with this back-and-forth bullshit. Again, I reach out for her hand, and this time, she lets me take it. "I want to know everything and not just bits and pieces. You need to trust me to look after you. To care for you. To keep you safe. It"s all I ever wanted, Shorty. To. Keep. You. Safe."

She has to believe that.

Her eyes are glazed over, holding back the tears.

She looks away just for a second, and then back to me. "I know. But I need you to trust me." Her eyes are begging me to let it go, but I can"t. I just fucking can"t, but

I don't want to push her any more than I already have.

So, I lie anyway.

"I"m sorry. I didn"t mean to push.," I whisper. She stares at my tormented face but quickly turns her eyes away, keeping her head down.

She doesn"t respond.

You can hear the crack as my chest splits in two.

But then she finally whispers back, "I know." Shorty"s words slowly fuse together my shattered heart. The compassion, love, and kindness that lured me to her as a kid are still embedded within her.

She puts on a tough fa?ade to hide her vulnerability, but she can"t fool me. Her words are her superpower—the ability to make us do what she desires. Even if she says there is nothing to forgive, I need to hear her say it. I know forgiveness cannot erase the past, but it helps keep my anger in check. Forgiveness from Shorty will set my soul free to remove my fears, pain, and regrets. For now, I"ll take what I can get, as long as I don"t lose her. My heart cannot bear the torturous pain…again.

"So, I"ll call a buddy of mine, and he"ll put new tires on your car tomorrow." I look down at our hands and notice the pad of my thumb is rubbing back and forth on her soft silky skin.

She"s nervous. I can tell because she won"t look me in the eye.

"I"ll text you when your car is done, and I"ll drop it off for you. Then I"ll just have Ash ride with me. He"ll be excited to see you."

"I'll take care of it. You don"t need to do me any favors. Besides, I have a friend who works at a tire shop, so..." She looks at me evasively.

"Really, I don"t mind."

Shorty slants her head with annoyance.

"Fine." I sigh, moving my hands from hers, and steering my eyes away for a second before I steal another look at her. It"s killing me not to comfort her the way I want. To hold her in my arms until we fall asleep. To sing to her when she"s had enough. To lay beside her on the roof staring at the stars when she needs to escape reality. To love her unconditionally. To dry her tears. To keep her safe.

"I meant what I said." My words halt her hand on the door handle. "I want to know all the pieces of your life. I will be here for you no matter what."

"Even the broken pieces?" she whispers, looking over her shoulder.

"Even the broken pieces," I answer. "They're the most beautiful."

She smiles.

"Good night, Doni."

"Good night, Shorty."

And just like that, she"s gone.