WITSEC

Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

The rest of the weekend flew by. My time was mostly occupied getting my window repaired, calling my insurance company, and purchasing a new car. I slept with the twins the first night. Things were kept PG. After being attacked by the sheriff and sharing a little piece of the night my family had been killed, I’d just wanted to be held. I’d spent the night with Keelan last night and the whole night had been deliciously X-rated.

It was now Monday. I had decided to skip school today. I wasn’t ready to return to the drama or see Cassy. I was sitting in my doctor’s lobby, waiting to be called. I couldn’t stop smiling. My thoughts were replaying everything that had happened last night. The things Keelan had done to me…the things Keelan had had me do. One moment in particular was my favorite. Keelan had instructed me to hold onto the headboard and then he’d had me straddle his face. Remembering what his tongue had done to me made me blush. It had been the dirtiest thing I’d ever experienced and I’d loved every minute of it.

“You have the smile of a woman in love,” a little old lady whispered to me as she leaned in close. “You’re glowing.”

“I am?”

She smiled.

The medical assistant came into the waiting room with a chart in her hand. “Shiloh,” she called. I gave the old lady a small smile and let the medical assistant lead me to an exam room.

I left the doctor stitches-free and with a prescription for birth control. After stopping by the pharmacy really quick, I went home. As I pulled up to my house, I spotted Logan sitting on my porch steps. I turned off my new silver 4Runner, hopped out, and ran across the lawn.

Logan stood from the steps, arms already open. I leapt into them. With my feet dangling off the ground, he held me tightly.

“It feels like you’ve been gone for years,” I said into his shoulder.

“Yes, it does,” he said, setting me on my feet. He patted my head. “You changed your hair again.”

I nodded, pulling on a strand. “Yeah, I went with a friend to get it done.”

“A girlfriend?”

I scoffed. “Yes, a friend that is a girl.”

“Did she get Ronald McDonald hair, too?”

I frowned. “I don’t have clown hair.”

“Whatever you say, Pennywise,” he said and I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes.

I went up the porch steps and unlocked the front door. Logan grabbed his suitcase and took it straight back to the spare bedroom. I went to my bathroom. Pulling my birth control from my purse, I put it in the medicine cabinet.

“What are your plans for the rest of the day?” he asked from the hall.

I went into my bedroom and saw him standing in the doorway. “I have that class I help teach with Keelan in a few hours.”

He nodded. “That’s one of the neighbor boys?”

“You already know the answer to that question.”

He smiled. “Ian said you were dating one of them, but couldn’t figure out who. We may or may not have made bets as to who it is.”

“What if I’m not dating any of them? Or what if I’m dating all of them?” I snapped.

He narrowed his eyes as he studied me. “You’re being defensive.”

“I’m not being defensive. I want to know why it’s so important who I’m dating.” I didn’t find it funny that they had placed bets. In fact, it really pissed me off.

“Because I want to make sure my niece is dating someone who is respectful and will treat her right.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “And I’m incapable of making sure of that myself?”

“It’s my responsibility to protect you, Shi,” he said, avoiding my question.

“I may be young, but I wouldn’t give someone my time if they hadn’t earned it. Especially with everything I’ve been through,” I said, walking past him.

I went to the kitchen to make lunch. I pulled things from the fridge and pantry after deciding to make sandwiches. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Logan creep in with his hands in his pockets.

“Ian is looking into the sheriff,” he said.

I grabbed two plates from the cabinet and set them on the island. “Ian’s here?”

Logan took a seat on one of the barstools and watched as I fixed two sandwiches. “He’s around.” That was a vague answer. “Tell me more about the class you help teach.”

Letting go of my irritation, I explained what it was. Once the sandwiches were ready, I handed one to him. As we ate, we sort of caught up. I talked a little about the guys and therapy. I didn’t ask about Mr. X. Right now, I didn’t care to know anything. I couldn’t take it on with everything else.

“Dr. Bolton plans to teach me new ways to handle things that could trigger an episode. I figured I could test out whatever she teaches me with a scary movie,” I said. “She also wants me to continue running. She said that if I use running the right way , it’ll help me.”

I caught him staring at me.

“What?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I’m not used to seeing you excited about therapy. You used to hate it.”

“I want control of my life again. In order to achieve that, I need this to work.”

“Would your sudden change of heart about therapy have to do with the boys next door?” he asked.

“They encouraged me to go back,” I admitted.

“Huh,” he said and finished off his sandwich.

I scooped up my plate and carried it over to the sink. “What?”

He also brought his plate to the sink. “I’d like to see this gym and maybe sit in on your class?”

“It’s for women.”

He leaned a hip against the counter. “I won't participate. I was thinking I could watch from the back.”

I had to clear it with Keelan first, but I didn’t see a reason why it wouldn’t be alright, and if by chance it wasn’t, he could spend the hour working out in the rest of the gym. “Let me text Keelan.”

As we pulled up to Desert Stone, I caught Logan staring at me again. “Cheese and rice, just spit it out and stop being creepy.”

“I’m just surprised you’re not wearing a sweatshirt and you’re wearing something so revealing,” he said.

I parked the car and glanced down at my outfit. I was wearing white athletic leggings with a matching racerback top. I had a tiny bit of cleavage showing, but by revealing , I believed he was talking about my scars. The last time he’d seen me, I’d always worn sweatshirts and made sure I hadn’t left the house unless every scar had been covered. Today, I had pretty much all my scars on display except for the ones on my stomach.

“The scaring doesn’t bother me as much as it used to,” I said, running a finger over the scar on my inner arm. “Some days, I forget they are there. On days like today, when I have a class, I’m very aware I have them. A lot of the women in this class have been through terrible things. By having my scars out for them to see, I think it reassures them they aren’t alone.”

“What about you?” he asked. “Do you get anything out of teaching them?”

“I like that what I help teach them could save them one day.” I looked at the other end of the lot, where I had been attacked by Jacob. “When you made me train in Alaska, for the longest time I didn’t see the point.”

He huffed a laugh. “I remember. You were a huge pain in the ass about it.”

“You weren’t the easiest teacher, either.” My mind drifted to the time he’d dropped me off in the middle of the forest with only a knife. He’d told me he’d give me a ten-minute head start to find my way back home as he had loaded his paintball gun. “If I shoot you in the heart or head, you lose and we’ll do this again tomorrow. You’re allowed four shots anywhere else on the body. If I get you more than four times, you lose and we’re back here tomorrow,” he had said to me. It had taken me four fails to realize the point for that particular training exercise and how to win. I’d made the mistake of trying to outrun him, always heading in the same direction back to the cabin, and because of that, he’d always cut me off. On my fifth try, I’d taken my head start to cover my tracks and hide. After Logan had passed, thinking I was trying to outrun him to the cabin again, I walked back to his truck. When I saw that he’d left the keys inside, I’d realized what he had been trying to teach me. A few hours later, after he’d walked all the way home through the forest, he had come inside and smiled at me. “Good job, Shi,” he had said. “Never take the obvious road. It’s why X caught you every time you tried to escape through the front door. You need to teach your mind to slow down when you’re in danger and think.”

I pointed to the other side of the parking lot. “Jacob attacked me there,” I said. “Because of you, I was able to stop another terrible thing from happening to me.”

He stared in that direction. “I wish that hadn’t happened in the first place, but I see your point. I’m glad I taught you enough to stop that bastard from hurting you worse than he did.”

I turned off the car and Logan followed me into Desert Stone. I caught him looking all around as we approached the front desk.

“Hey, Shiloh,” Derek greeted me with a bright smile as he stood from his chair.

“Hi, Derek,” I greeted back as we walked by.

“How are you doing? I heard you got hurt,” he asked.

I pointed to my hairline next to my temple. “I fell and hit my head.”

He pointed to his lip. “What happened here?”

I still had a tiny cut on my lip and my bruise was covered up with makeup. “It happened when I fell,” I lied.

He grimaced. “Ouch. Take it easy in your class,” he said and sat back down behind the desk.

Before I could say thank you, Logan pulled my attention back to him. “Your boyfriend is walking this way.”

“Which one?” I asked him with a sly smile. He didn’t think I was funny. I looked past him and saw it was Knox. My smile dropped and Logan noticed. When Knox approached us, I said, “Logan, this is Knox. Knox, this is Logan. You two spoke on the phone.”

Knox shook Logan’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Same. Thank you for looking out for Shi. Ian told me you stayed at the hospital with her until he got there,” Logan said and I gaped at him. Why was he suddenly being charming and nice? He saw me and smirked. “What? You’re clearly not dating this one.”

Knox’s brows rose slightly.

I was already regretting bringing Logan. “Are you sure about that?”

“When you saw him, you looked pissed,” Logan pointed out.

“That’s because he pissed me off,” I snapped, feeling really heated.

“Shiloh—” Knox started to say.

I glared at him. “Stay out of it.”

Knox stuffed his hands into his pockets, frowning.

Logan whistled as he stared at Knox. “Maybe you are dating my niece.”

I noticed that Keelan had stepped out from the hall behind the desk. He smiled at me as he made his way over and I couldn’t help but smile back.

Logan cursed as he looked from me to Keelan. “Of course it’s the one with tattoos.”

Cheese and rice. “You have tattoos.”

“You just made my point,” he said. “I’m not boyfriend material.”

“I guess that means I’ll never have any cousins...or I have ones I don’t know about.” I was just as surprised as Logan was when I said that.

Logan grinned down at me. “Watch it, kid, or I’ll embarrass the hell out of you.”

“You’re already embarrassing me,” I shot back and he got this spark in his eye that said, Challenge accepted .

When Keelan approached us and before he could say anything, Logan held out his hand. “By the love in my niece’s eyes, that must mean you’re her boyfriend.”

Keelan looked at me, unsure what to say.

A mean smile stretched across my mouth as I looked at my uncle. “You know, Knox has tattoos, too. You just can’t see them with all his clothes on.”

Keelan’s eyes went wide and Knox’s frown only deepened.

“Really, Shi? Do you not know how that made you sound?” Logan asked, his tone angry.

Finally, I thought. I wanted him pissed off. “I don’t care how it made me sound,” I snapped. “If you don’t like it, then knock it off. You’re using people I care about to get a rise out of me. Why? Because you want to know who I’m in a relationship with? I will tell you when I’m ready and not a minute before.” I yanked my keys from my gym bag and forced them into his hand. “Take yourself home. I don’t want you here.” I was so mad at him. Probably more than this incident called for, and I had to get away from him before I exploded.

I walked away, going around the front desk, and dashed down the hall. I took a seat behind Keelan’s desk in his office and tried to cool down. With my elbows propped up on the desk, I covered my face with my hands.

A hand smoothed over my thigh. “Hey.”

I dropped my hands and looked to my right.

Keelan was kneeling on the ground next to me. He spun the chair I was in so that I was facing him. “You want to tell me what that was about?”

“I’m so angry with him. I was so happy and relieved he was here, but whenever he does something in the slightest to piss me off, I get so mad and I don’t know why.” Then it hit me. I knew exactly why I was so short-fused with him. “It doesn’t matter right now because we have a class to teach.”

“Fuck the class. You’re more important.”

“If I skipped out on things every time something upset me, I’d never get to do anything.” I shook my head. “No. I enjoy teaching the class with you and I don’t want to miss it.”

He rubbed his finger back and forth on my inner thigh. “If you’re sure.”

I leaned forward and kissed him. “I am.” I stood and we walked to the class, holding hands.

Knox and my uncle walked in toward the end of class and stood along the back wall. I had Keelan in a guillotine choke hold. Keelan didn’t even pause as he finished up his explanation about the hold. Then he tapped my hip, his signal for me to release him, and I unlocked my arms from around his neck.

“Alright, that’s it for today. We’ll see you on Wednesday,” Keelan said, dismissing the class.

Logan waited until the last student left before he reached into his gym bag and pulled out hand wraps. As he walked toward me, he tossed a set at me. “Wrap your hands,” he ordered.

I caught them. “I’m not doing this with you. Not here.”

“If you break your hand, I don’t want to hear it,” he said in a cold voice I hadn’t heard since we’d lived in Alaska.

Angry, I unraveled the wraps. I looked from Keelan to Knox. They were watching us, looking a little worried.

“You really want to do this in front of them?” I asked as I began wrapping one of my hands. Logan could be brutal when it came to sparring and to go toe-to-toe with him, I had to be just as brutal.

Logan didn’t look up as he wrapped his own hands. “Scared of what they’ll see when you get violent?”

The door opened then and Creed walked in. Today was his last day suspended from the swim team, which was why he was here and not at practice with Colt. He saw me and Logan, then looked at his brothers with a questioning expression. Knox flicked his fingers, gesturing for him to come stand by him.

I looked from them to Keelan, who stood on the opposite side of the room. “Don’t interfere.”

He frowned.

“Just stay out of it, please,” I asked as I wrapped my other hand.

“Worried I might hurt your boyfriends?” Logan asked.

I glared at him.

“Now that’s a pretty look,” he taunted. “I don’t know why you’re so scared to tell me which one you’re dating.”

“I’m not scared. It’s none of your business.”

He moved toward me when he was done wrapping his hands and I moved away. “You grew an attitude while I was away,” he said. “You sounded just like your sister there for a minute.”

That was a low blow.

He turned his cheek. “Come on. I give you the first hit.”

I didn’t move. “Like I’d give you the upper hand and get within your guard.”

“Fine.”

He charged me, but I was ready for him. I threw my foot out, aiming for his chest. He smacked it out of the way and swung for me. I ducked to the side, grabbed his wrist, and jabbed my elbow toward his face. He caught it, which I was expecting, and I rammed my knee into his side. He let out a grunt and grabbed hold of my hair. He yanked it back, making me scream out. I quickly twisted to get to the far reaches of his guard and dropped to the ground, holding onto his wrist and forearm as I went down. Once I was on my butt, I threw my elbow down on his inner arm, forcing it to bend and him to get closer. When he was within my guard, I punched him.

He let go of my hair and stumbled back a couple of steps, rubbing his jaw. “You must really have your panties in a twist about something.”

I got my feet under me and crawled backward.

“Shiloh,” Keelan said, his voice full of worry.

“Stay out of it!” I ordered.

“Maybe you should accept the help. You can’t take me on your own, Shi. You never could,” Logan taunted.

“Your attempts to get a rise out of me are pathetic,” I snapped. “Sounds to me like you’re just annoyed you can’t figure out why I’m pissed at you. Or is this a tantrum because you still can’t figure out who I’m dating? Poor Logan, the ex-Navy SEAL isn’t as sharp as he used to be.”

He chuckled. “I’m so proud of you right now.”

I pushed to my feet.

“You’re stronger. More confident,” he said.

I fisted my hands at my sides, not liking how things were shifting.

“I know you hit a bump in the road recently, but when we fall, we get back up stronger. You got back up stronger, Shi.”

How dare he use my mother’s words. “You don’t get to do that,” I seethed. “You don’t get to show up and pass judgment on my life based on the few hours you’ve been here. You have no idea how hard it’s been.”

“That’s it, isn’t it?” he asked. “You’re pissed I left.”

I ground my teeth.

“You know why I had to leave,” he said.

That was the lie that broke my control. I charged him. I swung. He ducked. “You didn’t have to do anything!” I screamed at him and swung at him again. He caught my wrist. “You lied to me!” I yanked my wrist free. “You left me when I needed you!” I went to shove him and he let me. He stumbled back a step. “You wanted revenge! Catching X was more important to you than me!” I shoved him again, but he braced for it. So I tried again. He didn’t budge. “You’re all I have left and you left me!” I slammed my fists on his chest and he caught me by my wrists. I choked on a sob. Tears were already pouring down my cheeks. “I needed you.”

Logan tried to wrap his arms around me, but I yanked out of his hold. “No! Don’t fucking touch me!” I stormed toward the door, passing a shocked-looking Creed and Knox.