Chapter 29 Taryn
Taryn
“What the fuck are you doing?”
The question is sudden and unexpected and happens right as I’m reaching too far for it to be a good idea, and I immediately slip on the stool I’ve been using to reach the higher shelves.
My ankle gives and the stool scoots out from under me, and the next thing I know there’s nothing under my feet and I’m falling sideways.
Strong arms grab me before I can fall, though, and set me gently on the ground, and I take a moment to get my feet under me—literally—and then punch the man who caused the situation in the first place.
“Ow!” Gabe shouts, grabbing at the arm I just hit. “What was that for? I just kept you from falling on your ass!”
“You caused me to nearly fall on my ass!” I retort. “Don’t you know better than to sneak up on someone who’s obviously doing something?”
“Well, what are you doing, anyhow? Why are you in here?”
His face tells me that he thinks I just proved his point, and I nearly punch him again. Then I decide that punching him won’t do me any good, because he won’t admit that he did anything wrong and will just think he can keep going around scaring people.
Besides, it’s more fun to make him pay for his mistakes another way.
“I’m cataloging the food we have,” I say, gesturing at the shelves of the pantry. I kick the stool out of the way, grab him, and yank him toward me. “And as long as you’re here, you can help. Get everything off the top shelf and put it on a lower shelf, so I can reach it.”
He stares at me, shocked at the demand, and I see the moment he realizes he’s been tricked. His eyes blink rapidly and he opens his mouth to argue, but I’m ready. I bat my eyelashes at him and twist a bit, looking up at him like I’ve never seen anyone so handsome in my entire life.
“Please, Gabe? It’ll keep me from having to climb on that stool again.”
He narrows his gaze, seeing right through me. “That’s cheating.”
I put on my most innocent look. “Cheating? I’m just asking you to save me from a potentially dangerous situation. Unless you’d rather I fall.”
I stoop and start to drag the stool back over, making sure to demonstrate how wobbly it is, but before I can take a step onto it he’s kicked it out of the way again. He gives me another narrow-eyed stare, his feelings written all over his face, and starts pulling things down off the top shelf.
“Cheater,” he mutters.
I shrug. “All’s fair in love and war, my friend. Use that spot that I cleared out right there.”
Within ten minutes he’s removed everything from the top shelf, which I can’t reach, and put it on a shelf that’s within range of my shorter frame. I start going through the food there, checking expiration dates and throwing out anything that’s too old.
“You asked me to get food down so you can throw it out?” he asks, scandalized.
“No, but a lot of this stuff is from—” I glance at the crackers in my hand. “—Five years ago! Jesus Christ, these have been here since I lived here! I might have bought these!”
He snatches them out of his hand and looks down. “Doubtful. I don’t remember you doing much shopping when you were here. I don’t remember you doing anything helpful, actually.”
I snatch the box back. “Probably because you were too busy flirting with Sally Hennings to notice what I was doing.”
Now he really does look scandalized. And offended. And something I can’t put my finger on. Sally Hennings was the girl he quasi-dated in high school, though, and I can’t understand what he has against me mentioning her.
“I did not flirt with Sally Hennings so much that I didn’t notice what you were doing,” he mutters.
“Um, you did. You two were always out here making eyes at each other. Or up in your room making—”
I don’t get to finish the sentence because something flashes across his face and he moves, pinning me against the shelves behind me in a single move.
“Making what?” he breathes, like I just insulted his mother and he’s challenging me to a duel at dawn.
I forget how to breathe. True, a couple nights ago Gabe and I were lying in his closet, his head on my chest and his nightmares surrounding us, but I don’t think I’ve seen him this intense since.
.. ever. I’ve never seen him this intense.
His eyes are blue fire, his skin so hot it feels like it would burn me if I got close enough to touch it.
I don’t have any skin-to-skin contact with him, but I can feel his heat seeping through the fabric of my shirt, and I suddenly realize that every inch of him is hard as rock.
I’ve seen him without his shirt on and know that he’s all muscle these days, but feeling that muscle pressed against me suddenly feels overwhelming.
Dangerous.
“Making out,” I whisper. I don’t know if it’s the right answer or the wrong one—if he’s going to kiss me or shove away from me and walk out—and I still can’t understand why he’s taking this so personally.
He and Sally were always together. Everyone knew that.
They never tried to hide it, and they sure as well weren’t quiet about what they did together.
I know, because it broke me a little bit every time I saw them. I was his best friend, but I was also just his stepsister.
No matter how much I wanted to be more.
His eyes suddenly soften and snap back and forth between mine, his gaze searching for something I don’t understand, and when he does push away it’s a slow movement, like he can’t stand to be parted from me.
I want to reach out and pull him back. Tell him to stay. Remind him how good it felt when we were in the darkness of the kitchen when we were sixteen, me on his lap and his hands on my hips. I want to tell him that whatever he’s feeling right now, he can tell me.
That seeing him keep secrets from me feels like he’s tearing out a piece of my soul.
Instead, I keep my mouth shut as his presence draws away, and then turn back to the food. “So I’m planning dinners. What’s your favorite thing to eat these days? Still macaroni and cheese with hot dogs?”
That brings a laugh from his side of the pantry, and I feel the tension drain out of the space.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve never liked macaroni and cheese.”
This has me snorting with laughter, because nothing could be further from the truth. “Are you serious? You went through a phase where you made us eat it for a week!”
He throws a bag of pasta at me. “That’s because it was the only thing I could cook!”
I grab a can of something off the shelf and throw it back at him. “And whose fault is that? I was always trying to teach you how to do more than boil water!”
He catches the can neatly and stares at me like I’ve just tried to actually murder him.
With a can of soup. Then he launches himself at me like we’re actually at war.
I dodge him, shrieking, and run right into the wall, sending more cans clattering to the ground and a vase flying.
I bounce off the wall, though, and run for the other end of the pantry, breathless with laughter.
“You never even made the cheese right!” I toss over my shoulder. “Always added too much water!”
He comes pounding after me. “That’s because I hated doing it!”
“Or because you were too distracted by Sally Hennings!”
I swerve and duck, already knowing what’s coming, and hear him laughing behind me.
“That’s it,” he mutters. “That’s the last time you’re bringing up her name around me.”
Seconds later his hands are wrapped around my waist and he’s whirling me around, the walls of the pantry spinning past with my speed. I wriggle out of his grip and make for the door of the pantry, intent on getting away, but Gunner appears in the opening before I can get out.
And there are thunder clouds in his expression.
“What the fuck are you two doing in here?” he snaps. His eyes go to the food on the floor and the shattered vase and then turn directly to Gabe. “You thought you needed to get in here and destroy half our food? What are you, ten?”
I don’t have to see Gabe’s face to know the look he’s wearing right now. He’s never liked getting in trouble, and Gunner seems intent on seeing the worst in my stepbrother these days. If I know Gabe, his face is going from betrayal and confusion straight to anger at the unfair assumption.
“We’re throwing away food that’s expired, actually,” I say quickly. “Making room for new stuff. Stuff that’s not stale. Or spoiled.”
That’s not how all those cans ended up on the ground, but Gunner doesn’t need to know that. Besides, it’s mostly the truth. I was checking expiration dates when Gabe came in.
Gunner scowls at us both but shakes his head and turns away instead of saying anything else, and I feel the tension in Gabe as we watch his father walk through the kitchen and back outside.
“What did he do, come in just to yell at us?” Gabe asks sharply.
“Seems like overkill,” I reply.
Though given what I’ve seen of Gunner’s relationship with Gabe, I can’t say I’m surprised.
My phone rings then, cutting off the thought, and I glance at it to see it’s my mom.
Calling.
Shit.
I put the call through to voicemail, not wanting to hear anything she says, but then can’t leave it alone once she leaves a message. I’ve always been incapable of letting bad news sit. It just eats at me until I deal with it, and that ends up stretching the misery out.
Better to deal with it immediately, if I can. Besides, I’m pretty sure I already know what she’s going to say.
I hit the button to play the message and hold it up to my ear.
“Taryn,” she snaps. “I know where you are. I know what you’re doing. And it’s not going to work. Your place is here in the city with Johnny and me, and you know it. We’re a family now. You owe us your allegiance.”
Allegiance. Ha. That’s not what she’s after.
“I’m not going to let you stay up there, little girl,” the message continues.
“I’m sure you think you’re safe with Gunner, but you have another thing coming.
I’m on my way. And unless you come willingly, it’s not going to be pretty.
He doesn’t have any right to keep you, and if he tries, there are going to be consequences.
Do you want him to pay the price for your bad behavior?
Maybe you need to think about someone else, for once. ”
The message ends, and I stare at my phone like it’s just tried to kill me.
I know what she wants, and I know why. I also know I’m not willing to give in to her. But I never thought that coming here to escape her would put Gunner and Gabe in danger.
Maybe she’s bluffing. Maybe she’s just trying to use that threat to get me to capitulate. I can only hope so. Because if it’s more than that... If her threat against Gunner is real...
If anything happens to him because of me, I’ll never forgive myself.
“Taryn,” Gabe asks suddenly, reaching for me. “You look like someone just walked over your grave. Are you okay? Who was that?”
I glance up at him, already knowing that I can’t tell him. I don’t want to talk about it, and I don’t need his help. I’m not going to burden him with my problems, because that will just make everything worse.
Christ, at this point I don’t even know if I can stay. I’m sure as hell not going to ask for his help when I might have to abandon him again.
I looked through the kitchen out the window, and realize I can see more green than I did earlier. The snow is melting, just like Gunner said it would. And that means the vehicles might be an option.
“The snow is melting,” I say, instead of answering. “Can we go into town? Start replacing some of this food?”
He gives me a long, considering look, like he knows full well that I’m avoiding the thing I don’t want to talk about, but then brushes his fingertips over my cheek and nods. “I’ll do anything if it makes you smile again,” he whispers. “Let’s go.”