Chapter 3
Glad You’re Back
The sun was blinding, and a surge of panic raced through me. It was morning. Denny was leaving.
Feeling dread circling around me, I rushed to Denny’s bedroom. His door was closed. Was he still asleep? He didn’t answer when I lightly rapped on it, so I knocked harder. “Denny?” When he didn’t respond, I cracked his door open. “Denny?” The room was completely empty, and my voice echoed back to me. He was gone? But I hadn’t said goodbye…
I ran down the stairs, yelling at my parents to wait for me. No one was there though, and nothing but silence answered me. I checked every room in the house, but I was completely alone. In a daze, I stared at the front door. They’d left without me. My parents had stolen my final goodbye to the best friend I’d ever had. Those fucking assholes. Hot tears stung my eyes. That was just like them to steal any moment of happiness from me that they could. I was probably never going to see Denny again.
Just as that thought pounded through my brain, I heard a car pull into the driveway. Overwhelmed with guilt and anger, I screamed at my father when he stepped through the front door. “How could you leave without letting me say goodbye!”
When I stepped within range, the back of Dad’s hand lashed out and bashed my jaw. I tasted blood in my mouth, and it surprised me so much I fell to the ground. I’d gotten used to Dad backing off with Denny around. I’d grown complacent…comfortable. But Denny wasn’t around anymore. I was on my own.
When I peered up at Dad, he had a look on his face that bordered on happiness. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to do that?” he asked, his voice gruff.
Beginning to tremble, I scooted back until my spine was against the wall. “I’m sorry,” I immediately sputtered. How could I forget what he was really like so quickly?
Dad narrowed his eyes, then slowly and methodically removed his belt. I felt like I was going to be sick as I watched him, and knowing that I couldn’t run, that I had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, made tears haze my vision.
While Mom stood behind Dad with apathetic eyes, he calmly said, “It seems to me that you got off easy while we had company. You flaunted our leniency…tested us, abused our kindness. You made us look like fools.” His voice heated and his face darkened. When the belt was free of his slacks, he folded it in two. Grabbing each end, he snapped the leather, making a horrible crack that I knew was going to hurt like hell.
Shaking my head, I murmured, “I’m sorry.”
He ignored me. Stepping right in front of me, he bit out, “Did you think we’d let you get away with that kind of insolence forever? Did you think there wouldn’t be a price to pay for your actions? There’s always a price, Kellan. And it’s high time you learned that.”
I woke up with a start, my chest heaving, my heart racing. With shaking fingers, I raked a hand through my hair. You would think the nightmares would stop once the people who had inspired them were dead, but that wasn’t the case. I frequently had bad dreams, some based on reality, some founded in fantasy. The one that had just startled me to alertness was real. It had happened just like that. My parents had taken Denny away while I’d been sleeping, and when I’d chewed Dad out when they’d returned, Dad had made up for all the times he hadn’t hit me that year. He’d left me bruised and bloody; just breathing had hurt.
That was the day I’d decided to run away the minute I graduated. I’d decided to run away and never look back. Only, I had. I’d looked back, and I’d come back, because in the end, regardless of how they’d treated me while they were alive, they were still my parents, and I couldn’t not say goodbye to them.
Feeling slow and sort of dazed as I shook off the remnants of my dream, I climbed out of bed. I needed water. I pulled open my slightly cracked door, and there in front of me was a sight that made all thoughts of my nightmare evaporate.
Denny’s girlfriend, Kiera, was exiting the bathroom that was tucked between the two bedrooms. She’d apparently just taken a shower, and she had one of my thin, tiny towels wrapped around her body. The scant material didn’t leave a whole lot to the imagination. She had it tight around her chest, but there was a gap between the bottom edges of the towel that ran right up to above her hip bone. And it was quite possibly the sexiest hip bone I’d ever seen.
Scratching a sudden itch on my chest, I let out a lazy yawn and forcefully shoved that thought to the far corners of my mind. Nope, not this girl.
She seemed shocked to see me. Or maybe it was how she was seeing me that was shocking to her. My presence shouldn’t be surprising. I did live here, after all. Her eyes were wide as they took me in, starting at my messy head of sandy-brown hair and lingering on my exposed abs. It took a lot of willpower, but I stopped myself from becoming even the tiniest bit aroused by her inspection. Denny would not like the idea of his girlfriend giving me a woody, although I didn’t think he could fault me for being human.
Now that she was so close to me, I could see she had hazel eyes. Beautiful eyes. I’d never seen a pair quite that color; they seemed alive, shifting and changing in the light. I had the strongest desire to take her outside so I could watch the browns and greens flux and deepen in the sunlight. I supposed that wouldn’t be appropriate at the moment though, especially given the fact that we hadn’t even been introduced yet. Well, that was something I could rectify.
Tilting my head, I said, “You must be Kiera.”
I was about to tell her my name was Kellan when she awkwardly extended her hand, like she wanted me to shake it. “Yes…hi,” she mumbled. Her attempt to be formal while wearing only a towel made me want to laugh, but she seemed really embarrassed about the situation, so I only gave her a small smile as I took her hand. Her palm was warm, soft with moisture from her recent shower. The contact was so pleasant, I could have held on to her for a lot longer, but I let go.
Her chest flushed with color and she shifted her weight like she really wanted to turn around and run. Instead of fleeing, she said, “You’re Kellan?” I could almost see her mentally kicking herself for asking me that. Process of elimination would tell her who I was. She was awkward, shy, adorable, and beautiful. A deadly combination. Denny was a lucky man.
“Mmmm…” I answered her, distracted. There was something about the way she said my name that was mesmerizing. It was the way her lips moved when she spoke. She had amazing lips, full, with a slight curve to the corners that I bet gave her an incredible smile. It was probably inappropriate for me to think it, but I wanted to see a bright, carefree, un-self-conscious smile.
Kiera seemed uncomfortable under my scrutiny, but instead of telling me to go away or stop leering at her, she apologized. “Sorry about the water. I think I used all of the hot side.”
She turned and put her hand on the doorknob of her room, clearly using this moment as a chance to escape. I had to smile at her polite consideration of any potential problems she may have caused. It wasn’t an issue though. A shower wasn’t really what I wanted just now. Although, just by talking to her, the horror attached to the memory of my dream was fading. I should thank her for the distraction.
With genuine sincerity, I told her, “No problem. I’ll just use it tonight, before I leave.”
She mumbled, “See you later then,” before dashing into her room, almost slamming the door in her haste to get away. A small chuckle escaped me. God, she was cute. And sweet. A good match for Denny.
No longer needing water, I made a quick visit to the bathroom and then returned to my room for a few push-ups and crunches to get me going. Lyrics flashed through my brain while I exercised. Not wanting to lose the thoughts floating through my mind, I stopped my routine early and grabbed a notebook from my drawer. I had a ton of them spread throughout my house. It really wasn’t the best way to organize my thoughts, especially since lyrics for one song could be inside four or five books, all in different rooms. If anything ever happened to me, Matt and Evan would have a bitch of a time compiling my thoughts into a coherent song.
I could hear sounds of passion coming from Denny and Kiera’s room while I jotted down some random verses. I paused to listen for a second, then with a shake of my head and a chuckle, I blocked them out and continued working. Hearing people have sex through the walls was nothing new to me. Hell, I’d been at parties before where the couple was getting busy in the same room as me. I didn’t care. People were free to do what they wanted. And really, every morning should start off with a little nookie.
After immortalizing a few surprisingly peppy lines, I pulled on a shirt and some shorts, fixed my messy hair as best I could, and headed downstairs to make some coffee.
While it brewed, I went to the living room to find the newspaper. Thinking Denny might like to know what was going on locally, since he’d been gone for so long, I’d started picking them up. I heard Denny and Kiera walking down the stairs. Folding up the paper, I started heading toward the kitchen to meet them. Maybe they’d like to have coffee with me?
The article on the front page caught my attention, and I was busy reading about the future of Green Lake when I heard Denny’s voice. “Hey, man.”
I looked up, my grin uncontainable. It had been a long time since I’d heard that voice in person, and I’d missed it. And him. I was so happy he was back. “Hey, glad you guys made it!” I clasped Denny’s shoulder in a quick hug. A few steps behind him, Kiera was watching us with a small smile on her face, like she found us cute. Her tiny grin was captivating.
Denny looked back at her once we broke apart. “You already met Kiera, I hear.”
Her smile instantly left her at the memory of our scantily clad encounter. A small pout formed on those perfect lips, and I knew I was not going to be able to resist teasing this woman.
“Yes,” I murmured, imagining all the ways I could potentially make her blush. No, I wouldn’t. “But nice to see you again,” I said, as politely as possible. Resisting a laugh, I moved to the cupboard to get some mugs. “Coffee?”
Denny was making a face when I glanced at him. “Not for me, no. I don’t see how you guys can drink that stuff. Kiera loves it though.”
I looked over at Kiera as I set two cups on the counter. She was giving Denny the full, loving smile that I’d been hoping to see. Just as I’d predicted, she had an incredible smile. Just…beautiful. I could only imagine how it made Denny feel to have that smile directed at him. He must constantly feel like a million bucks.
“Hungry?” he asked her, his voice soft with caring. “I think there’s still some food in the car.”
“Starving,” she replied, biting her lip. She gave him a light kiss, then playfully rapped her fingers against his stomach. It was a quiet yet sensual display of affection. I couldn’t help but grin while I watched them.