Page 41 of Quiet Confessions: Part Two

“I've missed you so much. Don't ever get sick again,” Hana blubbers and I give her a quick squeeze. Brad takes her arm and pulls her off of me.

I give him a nod and he gives me that boyish smile that once had my panties dropping.

“Good to see you're back, James,” he says and I shake my head at the weird nickname.

“Yeah, it's good to be back,” I say and surprisingly I actually mean it.

Rooke and Cal come around the corner to join our little group and I smile at the PDA they are showing. Someone starts to comment on them holding hands and I'm about to whoop some asses but Nate shakes his head at me.

I want Cal to be allowed to show affection and love, but some people just suck. I can’t protect him from everything. People will need time to get used to this.

“It's been so long I can't remember my locker combination,” I tell Hana as we head that way. I don't even know what's in there but I'd like to dump my backpack before we go to class.

“If you can’t figure it out, we’ll just have the janitor help you break into it,” she says with a grin. “Don’t stress. I’m just so glad you’re back.”

Relaxing, I decide to just roll with it. It just feels so surreal to be here. History drones on and on, and my eyes droop during it. This reminds me why school and I aren’t the best of friends. It’s really fucking boring.

Sighing as I walk out of the first half of classes, I’m already wondering why I’m here. What’s the point? I survived being kidnapped into a sex ring and then sold to cannibals to go back to a normal life? It feels so anticlimactic. I want to yell at my grandfather for lying about loving me, and take Nixen down for being a mafioso piece of shit.

Cal is on the phone as I drop my books off, and I sigh in relief as I remember my locker combination. The janitor had to come save me this morning, because I couldn’t remember the numbers. He tried to give me a side eye as he pulled up the numbers, but then I explained that I’ve been sick for months.

Mr. Riley mumbled that he hoped I felt better now and went back about his day. He’s a grumpy man, but fair for the most part.

Cal’s face is turning red. Shit. I wonder who he’s talking to?

Shoving my books into the locker, I shut it before running over to see what our next catastrophe is. I wish life would slow down a little, but we had a few nice moments before returning to school.

Rooke is watching Cal nervously, and when he starts yelling, he pushes him toward the exit so he doesn’t draw a crowd.

“Move,” he hisses, and I follow them both outside. It’s lunch time, so people are traveling through the halls to get to food or leave campus. Nate is watching Cal nervously, his fingers running through his brown hair.

His piercings glint in the overhead lights as we walk, and I’m surprised that administrators haven’t said anything to him yet. I know usually he’ll just ignore them though.

Once outside, Cal starts to scream.

“Dad, how are you feeding me this bullshit right now? She didn’t just decide to fuck off for a few months and take a tour of the world. Patience was missing!” Cal rolls his eyes, putting Nixen on speakerphone and muting himself.

I roll my lips in to keep quiet, my heart pounding. This man makes me irrationally angry.

“You’re allowing your emotions to take control of you, son,” Nixen says in a bored tone.

“You’ll never get very far in this world if you spend it in this constant state of anger and impulsivity. Take a step back. Is she hurt? Nothing bad happened to her on her little vacation, and now is the perfect time to plan your wedding to her. Who knows what she was doing or who she was fucking. You need an heir. Do you even know if she came back pregnant or not?”

I shake my head because it’s not possible. The only person I had sex with is Rooke, but I’m not pregnant. It’s almost impossible since I have an IUD.

“I know, Pay,” he mutters since the phone is muted. “Your uterus is none of his damned business anyway.”

My heart pinches because he’s going to bat for me. Even with what’s on the line for both of us with the company, Cal is defying his dad.

Hitting unmute, Cal scoffs loudly so his father can hear him. It’s a blatant sign of disrespect. “Patience isn’t pregnant, she didn’t go on vacation, and you’re clearly up to something. Why the rush?”

“I’m your father, boy. You should do as I say. I’m making an appointment to meet with the wedding planner, and we are moving up the wedding. I’m not negotiating with you,” Nixen sneers. If I could reach through the phone and beat the shit out of him I would. I’m feeling very violent at the moment.

“Dad, see reason—” Nixen hangs up, and Cal growls in annoyance. “Motherfucker!”

“Dad’s never going to be someone who will see reason,” Nate sighs. “I don’t understand how he just thinks we can go back to normal.”

“What, like I was on fucking vacation or something?” I snap and Nate flinches. Cal looks off at the wall. “I was taken by him and his little goons.” I am fuming and Rooke moves closer to me and grabs my hand.

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