I touched the scar on his chin, smiling, remembering the time his foot had slipped on the rungs of the ladder to the tree house. He brought my fingers up to his mouth and kissed them lightly. Goosebumps fired along my arms. I knew I should create some distance between us, but the spell he had me under was strong. We stared at one another, trying to figure out words, life, what was going through each other’s minds in that moment. At least I was. Until his lips brushed mine.
I held my breath. If he full-on kissed me I’d want more, and more wasn’t possible. Not with our past.
A car door slammed in the distance. Kelton edged back, releasing me. One of Dillon’s neighbors was starting her car.
“Kel, what do you want?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Don’t worry. I’m not here to disrupt your life. I just needed to confirm you were really Lizzie. You didn’t give me a chance last night.”
My heart fluttered and sputtered. He sounded sad and happy at the same time.
“Okay. You’ve seen me. Now what?”
“Now I leave you to your life,” Kelton said. “It was good to see you.” He swept his gaze over me as if he was taking pictures with every blink of his eyes. Then he gave me a half smile before dashing off the porch as though I was contagious. He jumped in his Jeep and sped away.
I pushed out all the air in my lungs as I touched my lips. I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted to feel thirteen again. I wanted to go back and erase the day my mom screamed at the top of her lungs when Gracie came into the house with blood splattered on her face and hands. But what I wanted I couldn’t have or change. However, I could shape my future. Kelton and I would be better off staying away from each other.
The front door groaned before Dillon stepped out with a green army coat in his hand. “Is the coast clear?”
I bobbed my head.
“Here, put this on.” He held out the coat. “You have to be freezing. I would’ve brought it out to you earlier, but I didn’t want to interrupt.”
Dillon continued to surprise me. He was definitely a sweet man. I took the coat from him, even though I wasn’t cold. I had on my clothes from the night before, but I’d found a heavy sweater in the bedroom I’d slept in, since the house had a chill to it. “We can go inside.”
“Let’s talk first. It’s a little more private out here.” He sat on the bench underneath the window. “Come.” He patted a spot next to him.
Easing down next to him, I draped the outer garment over my legs. “My conversation wasn’t private,” I said evenly.
“I’m sorry about that. I had to make sure he wasn’t going to hurt you. And after their last squeal, I sent the girls up to get ready for the movies and closed the window. Are you okay?”
Kelton would never hurt me physically. Emotionally was another story. “I’m good.” I was, and I wasn’t. I’d gotten one thing off my chest, and it felt like a load of bricks had been lifted off me. On the other hand, I wanted someone I couldn’t have. I couldn’t build a relationship with Kelton. Our past would never allow it. His family would never allow it. Most of all, his girlfriend would never allow it. “So, you’re not going to chastise me about the Russian mob and all?”
“He’s not going to cause trouble. He wanted to shake my hand, not out me to his future father-in-law.”
Sadly, the last part of that statement drove a stake through my heart.
We both watched his neighbor across the street shovel the sidewalk.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to explore more of our kiss. But I can clearly see you still have feelings for Maxwell. I would like to be friends, and I do want to help you,” Dillon said. “Tell me what the guy stole from you. And who he is. And if it’s Kelton Maxwell, I’ll make his life hell.”
My heart warmed at his big-brother-like gesture. It was too bad he couldn’t help get my heart back from Kelton. “Do you help every girl you meet?”
“Not every girl. I can’t help those who don’t want help.” His voice trailed off as he bent forward, digging his elbows into his jeans-clad thighs.
“Why do you, by the way? I mean, help girls off the streets?” In my mind, Dillon was a walking contradiction. On the one hand, he sold guns, although I hadn’t seen any. Yet he wanted to help girls in distress. My intuition told me the name Grace inked on his arm had something to do with his answer.
“I’d rather not talk about it right now.” He sat up.
“Okay, but why me? I’m not homeless.”
“You know my cousin, and to be honest, I don’t want to see you get swallowed up by the streets of Boston. Again, I’d like to help you.”
It would be so easy to have Dillon and his crew threaten Terrance into giving me my money back. But this wasn’t Dillon’s fight, and while I could use the help, I didn’t want him risking himself. He’d said he didn’t want any trouble. I imagined if the cops came poking around they’d have several questions regarding Bee and Allie since they were runaways, even though they were of legal age. I couldn’t jeopardize their lives either.
“I have to handle this on my own.”
His focus was somewhere out in the yard or on the street. The branches of the oak tree scraped together.