Page 24 of Return to You

“So? What does that have to do with anything?”

“I don’t think he dates his students’ family members.”

“Doll, we live in a town the size of a postage stamp. If he excludes people related to his students, then he’s going to be a single man for a very long time.”

Ali turned her attention back to Grey’s in an effort to deflect attention off of her. Coach Savage liked her? Did that matter?

Ali hadn’t even considered dating since they lost Patrick. Her life was a zoo and she didn’t want to invite another animal to the party.

But she had been lonely for a long time. Suddenly, Kade’s face popped up in her mind. She tried her best to erase it. Kade had always seen her as Patrick’s little sister. He loved her, but not the way she wanted him to love her. She hated him but she loved him equally as much. And she had a sneaking suspicion that by the time he left that ratio would be weighted in favor of love.

A flash of the naughty dream she’d had that morning went through her head and her body responded with a tingle that erupted deep in her belly. Maybe dating again wasn’t such a bad idea.

Yep. That settled it. If she was getting hot and bothered from the mere memory of a dream that at best was R-rated while sitting on her best friend’s couch, eating Ben & Jerry’s, watching Grey’s, it was time to fill up her masturbation rotation with some new material. ASAP.

8

The tires ate up the gravel as Kade turned onto the unmarked road that was all but hidden off the highway. An uneasy feeling settled low in his stomach as he drove down the narrow path lined on both sides by weeping willow trees. As a kid, it reminded him of a horror movie. As an adult though, he could see the beauty in the drooping branches and lush green leaves. Maybe his early impression had more to do with what awaited him at the end of the drive than the ominous vegetation.

Heat from the sun beating down through his windshield warmed his hands as he rolled into the desolate clearing. A lone double-wide sat in the middle of a dirt area against a backdrop of trees and junk. The piles of debris had doubled since the last time he’d been there. He stared at the landscape of his childhood. The rusted broken-down truck sat off to the left. Beside it was a picnic table that was tipped on its side. A tire pyramid covered in spider webs lined the right side of the property and in front of it sat the faded, plaid couch that had never managed to make it in the trailer.

Ah. Home sweet home.

As much as he was dreading this visit, Kade knew it was a necessary evil. It had been a good ten years since he’d seen the man that had given him fifty percent of his DNA. It had been easy to avoid him when he only came to town for a few days at a time, but now that he was going to be living here it wouldn’t be so easy. The last thing he’d want to happen was to run into George when he was with the twins or Ali.

Depending on the day and level of inebriation, his old man could make a scene like no other.

His heart pounded hard in his chest as he got out of the truck. Adrenaline raced through his veins. He reminded himself that he wasn’t his dad’s punching bag anymore. He was a grown-ass man and the last fight that George McKnight had picked with his son had landed the old man in the hospital. Kade had been sixteen at the time and his father had wanted to press charges against him. The only problem with that was in his statement George admitted to hitting Kade first and the police officer informed him that Kade’s actions were self-defense.

While his father had lain in that hospital bed, Kade promised him that if he ever hit him again, he would either end up in a grave or in jail. George must’ve believed him because they never had another altercation.

It hadn’t always been as bad as it got. George had always been a firm believer that sparing the rod spoiled the child. Kade had always been scared of his dad, the man was built like a brick wall and was intimidating. As a kid Kade got spanked when his dad thought he stepped out of line. But as he got older his punishments stopped being about his behavior and started being more about his dad’s violent outbursts.

The worst part was, Kade never knew when they were coming or what would trigger them. Sometimes it would be months between incidents, and sometimes it would be only days or weeks. By the time he was a rebellious teen he purposely provoked his dad just so he wouldn’t have to live with the sinking feeling of uncertainty of not knowing when the next time would be. It was like he lived with a ticking time bomb and sometimes he would light the fuse so it would blow.

Kade rolled his shoulders back and lifted his hand to knock on the fiberglass door with the diamond-shaped window in the center when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He looked to his right and saw a gorgeous, gray dog chained up lifting his leg and pissing on the side of the trailer. He had a stocky build and wide head, a pit mix of some kind. His long tongue flopped out of his mouth and his breaths were labored.

“Hey bud.” Kade approached him with caution.

His tail wagged rapidly in the dirt and the closer Kade got, the faster it went. He had a collar but no tag. Kade stopped in front of him and held out the back of his hand. The dog tentatively inched forward and sniffed it briefly before giving it a good lick and then flopping on his back to expose his belly.

He bent down and gave him a good belly rub and that’s when he noticed the steel bowl turned over beside him. He picked it up and turned it upright. It had been in the nineties all day and the dog’s water bowl was dry as a bone.

How could anyone have a living animal, chained up in this heat, and not have water or shade for them?

“Asshole.” Kade muttered as he stood and grabbed the hose that was in a pile a few feet away. “Not you,” he clarified to the dog, who seemed to miss his belly-rubber.

The same tension that knotted in his shoulders when he was about to enter the cage curled in his muscles as he bent down and twisted the four-pronged knob on the spout. He tried to relax as he heard the swish of the water flowing from the faucet through the green tubing. This conversation, or confrontation depending on George’s demeanor was going to be difficult enough as it was, he didn’t need to go into it primed for a fight.

He filled the bowl to the top and placed it back on the ground as he patted the dog on the head. “I’ll be back,” he promised as the pup lapped up the water.

He only had an hour before the boys got out of school and he wanted to be there to pick them up. If he showed up late he was sure they would call Ali, and he didn’t want her to be bothered. Jess had filled him in on some of what KJ had been up to the past few months—after she’d threatened to castrate him if he “pulled another Houdini and hurt Ali”—and he didn’t want to leave any room for him to get into trouble and wreck Ali’s day.

Ali.

Just thinking about her had his body relaxing. She’d always been the bright spot in his life. Even before he’d realized that he had feelings for her, she’d always been able to make him smile, laugh, and forget about any bad shit that was going on. She and Patrick were the only constants he could depend on in his chaotic life. And now he only had Ali.

He knew no matter what he did she’d always be there for him, even if “being there” meant telling him he was being an idiot, which she had no problem doing. She was his safe place.

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