Untouchable - Chapter 23 #2
“It was crazy when that guy stole the horse,” he said.
“Mhm. So crazy.”
“We were watching Office Space, kiddo. There were no horses.”
I laughed. “I must have zoned out.”
“Right, right.”
“I should probably get to bed.” I stood up.
“Brooklyn?”
I looked down at him. He’d lost weight. His shirt looked a little baggy and his cheeks weren’t as plump. I was good for him. It was good that I was here. Maybe it’s where I was supposed to be. I couldn’t save my mom. But I could still save my uncle.
He smiled. “I may have been a little hard on you the other night. How about you invite Kennedy over after school tomorrow to do homework like usual?”
“Really?”
He nodded.
“Thank you.” I leaned down and hugged him. “Goodnight, Uncle Jim.”
“Night, Kiddo.”
Once I’d washed up, I changed into a comfy old t-shirt and slid under the covers.
I was about to switch my lights off when I remembered Matt’s note.
I pulled open the drawer to my nightstand.
Ignoring the mega box of condoms, I grabbed the stack of notes Matt had given me.
I reread the top one again. Thought you might like this better.
See you tonight. The salad had been delicious.
Better than the ones they made in the cafeteria.
But I hadn’t gotten a chance to thank him.
Both him and Rob hadn’t been in class today.
I’d sat there by myself wondering how much Matt had paid Mr. Hill to put us in the same group.
And I wondered if Mr. Hill was so mean to me because Isabella had slipped him some money too.
I wasn’t going to see Matt tonight. I had no idea why he’d written that.
But tomorrow I’d have to make a choice. My resolve to end things with Felix had faded fast. Would the same thing happen when I saw Matt?
It was easy to tell myself I needed to walk away.
It was another thing entirely to actually do it.
Because I was pretty sure Matt was right.
My face did light up when I was around him.
It was easy to forget about how sad I was when I stared into his eyes. Especially when he stared back.
I looked through the other notes. It had become kind of a nighttime ritual. But it felt different tonight. Like reading his handwriting somehow made me breathe easier. Almost like I was with him.
There was a knock on my door.
I waited for my uncle to say, “Kiddo, can I come in?” like he usually did. But when his words didn’t come, I climbed out of bed.
Another knock made me spin around. I almost screamed but immediately swallowed down the cry.
The knock was coming from my window. Matt was standing on my fire escape.
With a bouquet of red roses and a black eye.
For a second we just stood there staring at each other through the glass.
My gaze lifted from the flowers to his eye again.
What the hell was he doing? What the hell was I doing?
He was hurt. I ran over to my window and lifted it open.
“Why are you so surprised to see me?” he asked and smiled. But the action made him wince. “I told you I was coming over tonight.”
He hadn’t. Not in those words. But I couldn’t focus on that right now. “Jesus, what happened to your face?”
“It’s nothing. These are for you.” He lifted up the flowers, blocking his black eye from my view.
I didn’t care about the flowers. Even though no one had ever bought me flowers before. I grabbed them and pulled them away from him so I could see his face again. “What happened?”
“Nothing. Keep your voice down. Are you trying to get double grounded?” He climbed through the window and into my room.
I swallowed hard. I was definitely not trying to get grounded again. But having a boy my uncle hadn’t met climb through my window wasn’t exactly precedent for not being grounded again. “Matt.”
He turned away from me.
I knew I should have told him he couldn’t be here. But he was hurt. And he’d come to me for help. I walked over to him and put my hands on either side of his face. “Tell me what happened.”
He winced, pulling away from me. “I’m fine.” He looked around my room for a moment as he pulled off his varsity jacket. Then he sat down on the edge of my bed. “Come here.”
Why wasn’t he answering my question? I placed the flowers down on my nightstand. “Let me go get some frozen peas or something…”
He grabbed my waist and pulled me on top of him.
My thighs straddled him, pushing the hem of my baggy t-shirt up.
I froze. I wasn’t wearing any pants. I was straddling Matthew Caldwell on my bed in my underwear.
And not cute lacy underwear. Underwear that came in a pack of five from Target that I’d had for years.
I was pretty sure there was a hole in one of the seams.
“This is all I need,” he whispered. “You.” His hands stayed firmly on my hips as he stared into my eyes.
His left eye was almost swollen shut. The other one was red, almost like he had been crying. But I couldn’t picture that. I couldn’t picture Matt breaking. Everything about him exuded strength. My hands settled on his shoulders. “I can’t help with the swelling.”
He dropped his forehead against mine. Maybe he was worried I could see him. Really see him. Like he claimed he could see me.
“Tell me what happened,” I whispered. “Please.”
“I messed up. I was trying to find another way.”
“Another way for what?”
His hands slid slightly lower, his fingertips resting right above my ass.
It felt like all the air left my lungs. “Matt.”
He spread his fingers, his thumbs running along the top of my thighs, as the rest of his fingers squeezed my hips. “You’re perfect.”
For the first time I realized that the smell of cinnamon wasn’t wafting off of him. I lifted my forehead from his. My heart was beating so loudly that I swore he could hear it. The bloodshot eyes. The way he was acting. “Have you been drinking?”
“No. Just…” He sighed as he blinked faster. “I was trying to fix it.”
“Fix what?” I had no idea what he was talking about.
He didn’t respond.
“What did you mess up?”
His eyes finally met mine again. “I need your help, Brooklyn.”
That wasn’t an answer. Or maybe it was. He’d done something bad. And he was coming here to get me to fix it. “Okay. How can I help?” Matt had all the resources in the world at his fingertips. How on earth could I help him?
“I need you to ask Felix to stop selling to James.”
I stopped breathing. I couldn’t do that.
It was the one thing that I actually couldn’t help him with.
I wasn’t supposed to know what James was doing.
He’d already threatened me. If I asked Felix to stop selling to him…
that would be spreading James’ secret. I could already picture James going to Felix and Felix telling him what I’d said.
But really…what was the worst that could happen?
James probably just knew that I wasn’t a scholarship student.
I didn’t really care if that came out. Or maybe James knew that Matt and I kept hanging out together.
If that came out, Isabella would tell everyone what she had on Matt.
My mind was spinning. What did Isabella have on him?
Matt’s fingers slid down my thighs.
The action made my thoughts come to a halt.
“I hate that he touches you,” Matt said.
Felix. I put my hands on top of Matt’s to stop them from moving.
But not because of my feelings for Felix.
Or because I wanted Matt to stop. It was because I was finally piecing together Matt’s night.
At first I thought he might be high. I was pretty sure it was smoke that I smelled on him.
But by the way he was acting…I knew he wasn’t high.
He was hurting. And it killed me to see him in pain. “Matt.”
He looked back up at me.
If he hadn’t been smoking, it meant he’d been around someone who was. “Did Felix do this to you?”
This time Matt didn’t wince when he smiled. “Do you really think Felix could take me?”
Honestly no. Matt was every bit the football player. He was taller and stronger than Felix. My mind raced back to the only other person Matt had mentioned. James. “You were with James then?”
Matt shook his head. “James certainly feels better when he punches things. But no, he would never hit me. He’s one of my best friends. He would never hurt me.” Matt dropped his forehead back against mine.
I didn’t know what to say to that. James and I weren’t friends. He had no problem threatening me. But maybe he was as loyal to his friends as Matt was. I hoped so. And I wanted to be let in. “You can tell me what happened.”
“I like this,” he said as his fingers played with the hem of my baggy t-shirt. “You’d look even better in one of my shirts though.”
I tried to hide my smile. “Matt, we need to talk about this. If we’re going to work you need to trust me.”
That seemed to get his attention. He sighed. It sounded so labored. “I went to Felix’s dealer. I wanted to go above his head and cut off his supply. I tried to buy it all. Pretty sure they thought I was a rat.”
Oh, Matt. He was trying to take care of his friend. He had a heart of gold to match his golden hair. But this wasn’t the way. James needed more help than a 16-year-old could provide. Just because Matt had a good heart didn’t mean it was enough to get his friend sober. I put my hand on Matt’s chest.
A low groan escaped his lips. Not one like when he kissed me. He sounded like he was in pain.
I looked down at where my hand was on his chest. “Matt?”
“I’m fine.”
“They hurt more than just your eye, didn’t they?”
“I’m fine,” he repeated.
“Take your shirt off.”
He chuckled. “You first.”
I ignored him and pushed up the fabric of his t-shirt. Bruises laced around his abs. I let his shirt drop back into place. “You need ice.” I tried to climb off his lap, but he tightened his grip on my thighs.
“Please. Don’t go.”
“Matt…”