Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LUKE
T he moment I wake, I will my erection away, not wanting to scare Deidre.
The party last night was interesting, to say the least. It’s not like I haven’t seen weird shit at parties before.
Everything seemed pretty relaxed, and a number of the people were cool to talk to.
I knew she didn’t like being there. It was more of a matter of paying respect because of business.
If we were sitting or standing while she talked to a particular person or group, Dei always introduced and included me in the conversation.
We were together, pretty much inseparable the whole night.
There wasn’t more than ten feet between us.
When she told me she needed to use the bathroom, I kept a close eye on the time and the direction she went.
Parties with substances can have anything happen.
After almost ten minutes, I knew something wasn’t right.
The fucker didn’t even bother to close the door.
It was halfway open when I heard her scream.
I snapped when I saw him smack her. It wasn’t until I heard her faint voice call my name that I realized I had been beating the guy to a bloody pulp.
If her voice didn’t pull me from my actions, I’m sure I would have killed him.
His eyes fluttered as my fist hovered in the air, wanting to smash down into his face regardless.
Dei’s voice kept me from going over the edge.
I punched the guy one more time to knock him out.
Later while watching a movie, I asked Dei about the guy being found and it being in the news.
She said that usually guys are fighting over shit.
One would say something to another and end up getting the crap kicked out of him, but nothing ever reaches the public’s attention.
If something was stolen or the attack happened to the homeowner, then there would be a chance for publicity.
Dei moans and curls into me, pulling me from my thoughts.
I want to put my arm around her, but I refrain.
“Mom…stop,” Dei mumbles.
When she doesn’t settle, I brush my fingers along her arm.
“Mom…please…that hurts,” Dei says softly.
My body turns ridged, wondering if her mother had abused her like the fucker from last night. I knew Alana was strict with Dei when she was in gymnastics. I’m hoping that that’s all she’s dreaming about.
I press my lips to her forehead. “You’re okay, Dei. You’re okay.”
She wakes with a jolt and scans the room. Her worried eyes land on me and then soften a few seconds later. “Hey."
“Hey.” I sit up, carefully moving closer to her. My left hand reaches to cup her cheek where a bruise has already formed. My thumb traces it as I will it to disappear.
Dei jerks away, but places my hand back on her face a second after I start to pull away. “Thanks.”
I nod. “Dei?”
“Yeah?”
“Did…did your mom ever hurt you?”
Her eyes dart away. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean.”
Dei won’t look at me. “Why would you ask?”
“You were just dreaming…saying a few things.”
Her eyes lift to meet mine. There’s a shine to them as if she’s fighting back tears. “She hit me a few times.”
“When?”
She looks away. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
I shift closer, wanting to kiss away all her sorrows and pain, but I can’t bring myself to do it. I can’t risk scaring her. All I want to do is holder her, but I’m worried she’ll have flashes of that fucker or her mom touching her when I do.
“Luke,” her voice calls, pulling me from my internal struggles.
“Yeah?”
“Where were you just now?”
“I’m here,” I reply, forcing a smile.
She looks at me with confusion and pain, knowing that I’m not telling the truth, but she doesn’t push further.
“What did you want to do today?” I ask, wanting to change the subject and the awkwardness between us.
Dei shrugs and looks away.
“Why don’t I take Vix out while you shower?” I offer. “When I get back, you can tell me what you’re in the mood to do.”
“Sure,” she agrees without her usual eagerness.
By the time we have breakfast, we decide to take today at a very relaxed pace. As I drive, we stopped at the local store for some drinks and snacks. Back in the car, Dei directs us to a park where we can hike. It doesn’t take long on the path for Dei to seem to be doing better out in the open.
Her phone rings repeatedly, and it isn’t until the tenth time that she finally answers it. I try to give her space, but I can hear her using only one to three words at a time. She makes a statement, not tonight, to the person on the other end, followed by an excuse I can’t quite make out.
With food in hand, we venture to the zoo.
There are a few times when Dei leans against me or laces her arm through mine.
I don’t mind at all, letting her take the lead on any kind of physical contact until I know where she stands.
A few times, I tentatively wrap my arm or arms around her.
I try to gauge her emotions, but it’s tricky since she’s wearing sunglasses.
When the zoo becomes more crowded, Dei starts to become anxious, so we head over to her place after she puts directions on my phone.
Her attention is drawn to texting on occasion, which makes the ride quiet.
I pull up to her gate and wait until Tony opens it.
He pulled in front of us just before we veered onto the main street her house is in the Hollywood Hills.
I’m guessing he’s been watching us since we left my place this morning.
Dei makes no mention of the party last night to Tony as he escorts us through the two-car garage. I see Dei’s car and an open space which I’m guessing is her roommate’s.
“Where’s Mandy?”
“At work,” Dei informs.
“Cool.”
“We can order food or we can cook,” Dei says as we get to the end of the hall and hit the large kitchen and living room area.
“I’m good with whatever you want to do. I don’t mind cooking.”
Dei smiles and then shows me the rest of her four-bedroom home which has a pool, hot tub, large exterior patio, and three and a half baths. When we get to her room, she’s got a full wall of windows that overlook a view of the hills and city.
“It’s just us tonight,” Dei announces. “Mandy’s going out right after work.”
“Cool,” I reply, placing burgers on the grill.
Dei turns on a few patio lights and some hanging string lights before heading back inside for the rest of the food. The moment makes me hopeful that this could be us for the rest of our lives.
As we get seated at the table, I ask, “How are you feeling?”
“Good,” Dei answers quickly.
I study her for a moment. “You sure?”
“Yeah.”
I know she’s lying, but it’s not worth mentioning.
“Good.”
“Please don’t say anything to anyone…not even Mandy,” Dei requests.
“My lips are sealed.”
A grin forms on her face.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she lies, taking a sip of her drink.
“Come on. You can trust me.”
“I know,” she says bashfully. “It’s me I don’t trust.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We’ve got ice cream,” she says, changing the subject. “And brownies.”
“Either is fine with me,” I say, letting her get away with avoiding my question.
We clean up and grab dessert before getting settled on the couch to watch a movie. Dei had me pick, so I picked one of her favorites from when we were little. The movie starts, and Dei gawks at me.
“What?”
“You want to watch The Princess Bride ?” she asks speculatively.
“I know it’s one of your favorites.”
She gives me a look that means she doesn’t believe me.
“I secretly like it,” I claim.
“Really?”
“Really. I don’t mind watching romance stories.”
She giggles. “Really?”
It’s good to see that she’s bouncing back so quickly. I knew she was tough after the shit she went through when we were younger, but I wasn’t sure how she’d be at almost being raped.
“Just because I’m a guy doesn’t mean I like to watch death, horror, and shit blowing up all the time.”
“Do you read romance, too?” she asks with a smirk.
Laughing, I reply, “No.”
“Hmm.”
“Hmm, what?”
“Nothing.”
I take her bowl of ice cream from her when she puts another bite in her mouth.
“Hey,” Dei whines, crawling over me to get it.
I stretch my arm away and block her. “Tell me and you can have it back.”
Die almost gets the bowl, so I tickle her sides, causing her to jump. We play fight until Dei quickly surrenders, seeming suddenly nervous about what’s happening. I’m quick to return to my spot to also reduce the hard on I’m getting.
“What do you want to know?” she asks.
“Why did you ask me if I read romance? Does it have something to do with what you said to Mike at the bachelor party?”
“A little,” she admits.
I tentatively hand her the bowl. “Why?”
“If men really want to know what a woman wants, then they should read some of the books a woman reads.”
“Why is that?”
“You can learn a lot about a woman from the books she reads,” Dei admits with her cheeks flushing.
“Like what?”
Dei doesn’t comment.
A thought pops into my head. “Should I see what kind of books you read?”
“What? Why?” Dei replies anxiously.
“To see what you want?”
She stuffs a spoonful in her mouth. “Why do you want to know what I want?”
Words fail me as I watch her lick her lips.
“Luke?”
I let out a heavy breath, louder than I expected, to calm the amount of blood flowing to my groin. The fact that she’s so close, smelling as good as she does, is extremely distracting.
“What’s wrong?” Dei asks.
“Nothing.”
Dei’s face becomes serious. “Tell me.”
“No…” I object. “Fuck! Dei….stop!” I barely get each word out as she tickles me.
“Tell me or else you’ll end up dropping your ice cream on yourself,” she threatens playfully.
“Stop,” I command.
“Make me.”
In one swift motion, I manage to get the bowl on the table to my right, keep the spoon in my mouth, and flip her onto her back.
Dei’s laughing as I tickle her in retaliation.
Shock resonates on her face when my hands cease torturing her.
We stare at each other for a few beats as I try to maintain control of myself.
If last night didn’t happen and we were in this very same predicament, I would have kissed her by now.
Maybe we’d be doing more than just kissing.
I remove the spoon from my mouth slowly, but don’t move off of her, trying to gauge the moment.
A noise blurts from the table behind me, allowing me an excuse. Shifting, I see that my dad is calling.
“I’ve got to take this,” I inform her, standing up.
“Okay.”
“Hey, son,” Dad greets as soon as I pick up.
“Hi.”
“I just wanted to check in. See that you’re celebrating,” he says.
“Yeah. I’m with Deidre.”
“Oh, good. Let her know that your mother and I say hello .”
“I will,” I reply.
“You two have anything special planned?” he asks.
“We celebrated a bit,” I share. “Now, we’re just relaxing with a movie.”
“Good. Well, I don’t want to keep you from your date.”
“Okay.”
I’d correct him, but I don’t want Dei knowing what’s being said.
“See you Monday.”
“See you Monday.” I hang up, put the phone back, and sit on the couch, keeping my distance from Deidre.
“How’s your dad?” she asks, breaking the tension between us first.
“Good. He says hello .”
“Make sure you give him a hug for me when you get back,” she requests. “And your mom, too.”
“Of course.”
There’s an awkward silence between the two of us as we sit a few inches apart and the movie continues.
At some point, Dei gets up and takes the dishes into the kitchen.
When she returns, she ends up sitting a little closer to me.
I would be trying to cuddle with her if I weren’t so concerned about scaring her.
My head is so fucked up right now, trying to know what is and isn’t the right thing to do after what happened. I wish she’d just tell me what to do.
When the movie’s over, Dei offers me to stay the night.
I take one of the guest bedrooms. Just as I get under the covers, I hear Vix in the hallway before she comes through the cracked door.
I ask her what she’s doing, picking her up since she’s trying to jump up on the bed with me.
Movement draws my attention to the doorway where Dei is standing.
“Hey,” I greet.
“Hey.”
“Everything okay?”
Dei remains quiet which means something’s bothering her.
“What’s going on?”
She takes a few quick steps in my direction and fidgets with her shirt. “I….I just wanted to say goodnight.” She moves closer, picking up Vix.
I grab her gently by the wrist. “Dei?”
“Hm?”
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” she replies timidly.
“You sure?”
“No,” she mumbles.
“Do you need me to stay with you?”
Her eyes dart to my face and her expression tells me that she does, but is scared to ask.