Betrayal - Chapter 6
Sunday
Despite my dad’s reservations, he and Matt were getting along well.
The three of us were watching the Giants game together.
Matt and I were curled up on the couch and Mr. Pruitt had pulled out my mom’s old couch so that there was enough seating.
It looked weird for my dad to be sitting on it when he was usually so formal.
The floral couch also looked weird against all the pristine white.
The first thing that I’d do once I moved in was paint all the walls yellow.
My mom would have liked that. And I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d been yellow in the first place.
Matt grabbed another slice of pizza. My dad had burned the eggs terribly, but luckily pizza was a perfect back up. Everything about this afternoon just felt…normal.
Except the fact that it wasn’t real. This wasn’t my dad’s real home. I wasn’t his real family. And Matt didn’t know that I’d kissed Miller. The perfection of this afternoon was just a facade. But I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
“Touchdown!” my dad yelled and high-fived me and Matt.
I smiled and rested my head on Matt’s shoulder. Today reminded me of the time Matt met my uncle. We’d all watched a movie together. It had just felt…right. For just a moment everything had been perfect. Right before my whole world had shattered again.
“Are you okay?” Matt whispered.
“Just tired.” I wanted to freeze time. I wanted to stay in this safe little bubble forever.
My dad’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out. “I should take this. I’ll be right back.” He got up off the couch.
“Here, you should lie down,” Matt said. He shifted on the couch and I lay down, resting my head on his lap. But instead of looking at the TV, I stared up at him.
He traced the dark circles under my eyes. Or maybe he was thinking about how he hadn’t been there to wipe my tears away last night. Because the expression on his face was pained.
“I love you,” I said.
He smiled, but it looked forced. “I love you too.” He ran his hand down the side of my neck. “I don’t want you to have to go back to their apartment. I know he’s your dad,” he whispered. “But I don’t trust him. I don’t trust them.”
My stomach churned. All the Pruitts are toxic. That’s what he’d said before. Is that what he saw now when he looked at me?
“Come live with me,” he said.
Whoa, what? “I can’t move in with you.”
“Why not?”
“Well, first of all you still live with your parents.”
“My mom already loves you.”
I laughed. “She doesn’t even know me.”
“She knows that I love you.” His fingers traced my collarbone. “She knows you make me happy.”
“I haven’t been making you happy recently.”
He ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “It’s my own fault that I’ve been unhappy. I didn’t put you first. But I won’t make that mistake again.”
“You said it was because you knew I was strong.”
“You are strong. You’re the strongest person I know.” His hand settled on my cheek. “But I don’t remember saying that.”
I laughed. “You said it last night when you were drunk.”
He laughed. “Well at least I was honest. What else did I say?”
“Oh all sorts of things.” I looked up into his chocolaty brown eyes. “You also told me you were secretly in love with Rob.”
“What?!”
I laughed. “I’m just kidding.” I couldn’t resist messing with him. I reached up and ran my hand along the scruff on his jawline. I liked it. He was usually cleanly shaven.
He shook his head. “What did I really say?”
“You said you loved me. You said you were sorry. You explained what really happened with Rachel. You kept saying I was yours.”
“You are mine.” He lowered his eyebrows as he studied my face. “You’re mine, Brooklyn.”
I nodded. “You had a whole list of reasons why you loved me. I really liked that list.”
“Hmm. I think I remember a few of those things.”
“Just a few?”
“A million things is kind of hard to remember.”
I felt my cheeks blush. “You also really wanted to sing to me again. And you kept making farting noises with your mouth.”
“Well that’s another lie. I definitely didn’t make farting noises with my mouth in front of you when I was trying to win you back.”
“No, all of that was true.”
He laughed. “Well, I guess it worked.”
I smiled up at him. “It did.” I shifted my head and felt him beneath me. I locked eyes with him. “You also said if I wanted to, I could take advantage of you and you wouldn’t press charges.”
He laughed again. “What the hell is wrong with me?”
“It’s probably because of all those naughty dreams you have of me. And all those cold showers you have to take because of me.” I could feel the heat in his gaze at my words.
“Well, that’s true.” His fingers played with the strap of my tank top.
“Yeah?”
“You drive me crazy, Brooklyn. Whenever we’re not together, I’m thinking of you.”
My stomach churned. I needed to tell him about Miller. I’d tried to tell him last night, but Mason interrupted us. “We also promised that there wouldn’t be any more secrets between us,” I said.
“That sounds like a good plan.” He looked over at my dad talking in the kitchen. “Full disclosure…I’m pretty sure Mr. Pruitt hates me.”
“I think it takes him a little while to warm up to people.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
I laughed. “He’s just protective of me.”
“Pretty sure he just hates me. Last night is fuzzy, but I think he said something about how I should go home and send Mason.” He shook his head.
Now I knew what it was like to have an overprotective father. “I don’t want to be with your brother. I want to be with you.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “But I need to tell you something.”
“Please don’t tell me you kissed Mason. I already lost my two best friends. I don’t want to fight with my brother too.” He rubbed his thumb along my cheek. “I love your freckles.”
I smiled underneath his hand. “I didn’t kiss Mason. And I love your 5-o’clock shadow.”
He lifted his hand and ran it across his jaw. “Yeah?”
“It looks good on you.”
“I guess I’ll keep it then.” He smiled down at me.
“So you really don’t remember our conversation at all last night?”
“Just bits and pieces.”
“Do you remember that I kissed James?” I cringed as I said it.
“That’s a little hard to forget.”
This seemed like the best place to start. It was easier to tackle than the Miller thing. I’d gone to James for help. Matt would understand that.
“Did they score again?” my dad asked as he sat back down on the couch.
“Yeah,” Matt said, even though he hadn’t been watching the game. “Mr. Pruitt?” He looked over at him.
“Yes, Matthew?”
“While you’re fixing up the security at your place, could Brooklyn come stay at my house?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
As much as I loved being surrounded by my mom’s old things…
I wanted to go with Matt. Mr. Pruitt didn’t let boys spend the night.
It was one of the only rules I knew. But I had a feeling Matt’s house would be different.
I missed falling asleep in his arms. I didn’t want to have to spend the night here without him. “Please, Dad?”
His eyes softened. “Is that what you want?” he asked.
I nodded.
Mr. Pruitt looked back at Matt. “Do you still have that security system?”
“Yes,” Matt said.
“And you’ll let me send a few of my own people?”
“I’m sure that will be fine.”
“Well, let me call your mother to make sure it’s okay. Separate beds though, yes?”
“Of course, sir,” Matt said.
I hoped he was lying.
“I’m serious about the sleeping arrangements,” Mr. Pruitt said, as if he could read my thoughts.
“As am I,” Matt said.
Mr. Pruitt nodded. “I’ll call your mother then. Maybe we can head over after the game?”
“That would be great,” I said. “And maybe we can swing by Kennedy’s to check on her?”
“She’s resting. How about you wait to chat with her until tomorrow when she’s feeling better?”
“Oh. Okay.” I wanted to press it, but he was already letting me stay with Matt. I had to take that win. I just hoped Kennedy was feeling better soon because I missed her terribly.
My father pulled his phone out of his pocket and stood up. “I’ll be right back.”
“Separate beds?” I whispered up to Matt.
“No. I’m not letting you out of my sight after last night. I just knew your dad wouldn’t approve.”
A little white lie was worth getting to be back in his arms where I belonged.
He ran his fingers across my bottom lip again. “I swear I’m going to protect you, Brooklyn. Nothing bad is ever going to happen to you again. I promise.”
I believed him. He used to lie to me. But there was nothing to lie about now. And as soon as I told him about Miller, we’d have no secrets.
“Miller and Donnelley will be here to drive you over,” my dad said.
Oh God.
“I’ll want them both to secure the perimeter for the night.”
I wasn’t sure which was worse. Miller having to escort me to Matt’s before I’d had a chance to talk to him, or Donnelley because he was freaking in Isabella’s pocket. “But Donnelley…”
“Has been taught a lesson,” my dad said. “He won’t let anything bad happen to you ever again. And he had valuable information about Isabella’s plans. You can trust him. He knows the consequences if he steps out of line again.”
I had no idea what he meant by any of that. But I didn’t like the sound of it. Especially the fact that plans was plural. What else had Isabella been planning?
“You okay?” Matt asked.
“Mhm.” But my voice came out weird and high-pitched. I couldn’t tell Matt about Miller in front of my dad. Or else Miller would get fired. And I wouldn’t get a chance to tell Miller that I was choosing Matt before seeing him. It was a disaster.
***
Oh my God. I stared at Miller who was leaning against the car. His face was barely recognizable. There were so many bruises and cuts. He stared at me like he was dying. And I didn’t know if it was because of his physical pain, or if it was just killing him to see me with Matt.
I looked at Donnelley in the driver seat.
If anything, he looked worse. Is that what it looks like when Mr. Pruitt teaches someone a lesson?
A chill ran down my spine. And why had he done it to Miller?
Or had someone else done that to Miller last night?
He’d disappeared. I’d thought he was mad at me…
but what if he’d been in trouble? He’d needed me and I hadn’t been there.
“You okay?” Matt asked and slipped his hand into mine.
The look on Miller’s face said it all. He was angry and sad and hurt. So freaking hurt.
I looked down at my feet. “Yeah.”
“Miller and Donnelley, check out the Caldwells’ security system,” my dad said.
“If there are any weak points, notify me right away. Otherwise, I expect you to do surveillance for the evening. And Brooklyn needs her rest, so she won’t be going to school tomorrow.
You bring her right back here in the morning. ”
“I’m skipping school tomorrow,” Matt said. “To take care of her.”
My dad nodded and turned back to Miller. “Very well. I’ll have someone switch out with you two in the morning. Got it?”
“Yes sir,” Miller said.
My dad leaned down and hugged me. “If you need anything, call me,” he said. “Anything at all, okay?”
“Okay.” My voice sounded strangled. I wanted to yell at him for what he had done to Donnelley and maybe Miller too. But I didn’t know what to say.
He kissed my cheek and then climbed into his town car.
Matt grabbed the back door and opened it when Miller didn’t move. “After you,” he said with a smile.
I didn’t move. I couldn’t move. “Did my dad do that to you?” I asked Miller.
“Your dad?” He seemed confused by what I’d called Mr. Pruitt. And then he looked down at my hand in Matt’s. He shook his head. For a few seconds, he didn’t say anything at all. But his silence was loud and clear.
“Miller…”
“Miss Pruitt, please get in,” Miller said, cutting me off. “And make sure to buckle your seatbelt.”
Miss Pruitt. The words felt like a knife in my chest.
“Come on, Brooklyn,” Matt said. “I’ll help you.” He lifted me into his arms like the reason I wasn’t moving was because I was in pain.
I was. Just not the way he thought. I blinked away the tears in my eyes.
Miller slammed the door behind us.
Miss Pruitt. Did Miller seriously think I was like them? I was still a Sanders. I was. Right?
I looked at the front seat where Donnelley was sitting. He flinched under my gaze. Was he scared of me?
Matt put his arm around my shoulders, oblivious to how Donnelley and Miller were acting. If this was what it felt like to be elite, I didn’t want anything to do with it.