Page 102 of Resist Me

She gasped dramatically. “Weston Alexander Densmore, did you let Linc steal your innocence?”

“Alexander,” Linc repeated through a mouthful of popcorn. “You have a long ass name.”

“Why are you ganging up on me?”

“Relax. You’ve been freaking out about Willow for a week. You told me you were going to give her a piece of your mind and, whatelse? Oh, yeah. You’re gonna break Rick’s kicking foot if he continued to hold her hostage.”

I shot him an exasperated look, which matched the one Willow was giving me. She crossed her arms over her chest and took another step into the room.

“Rick is nice. Don’t pull some overprotective brother act.”

It was impossible not to roll my eyes. “I don’t care what or who you do but the moment I have to start asking other people if you’re even alive, we have a problem.”

“Well, you were being overbearing and insufferable.”

I didn’t know if I was more angry or hurt by that statement. Her expression didn’t change at all, so I assumed she’d meant every word.

“How have I been so bad that you’re going out of your way to avoid me? Is it because I care about how you’re doing every day? Or maybe because I didn’t hesitate to stretch my budget to its max so that you could come live out here with us.”

“You don’t get to hang that over my head. I didn’t ask you to.”

“That’s not why I’m saying it,” I sighed. “I care, Willow, and I need you to acknowledge that sometimes. The last week has been hell. It’s like being home again.”

She scoffed and turned around. Linc said something, but I ignored him and headed after Willow. Before her door could close, I stopped it with my hand.

“What is going on with you?”

“I don’t need you micromanaging me,” she snapped.

“Get a job, don’t get a job, I don’t care. You’re only hurting yourself in the long run if you keep relying on Dad’s money, but that’s your decision. All I’m asking is to know that you’re not freaking dead.”

“At least Dad didn’t pester me like this.”

“Because he doesn’t care!”

“Yes, he does,” she shouted in return. “He just sucks at showing it. I know he’s hurt you and I get that you don’t want him in your life. That’s fine, but he checks on me every day. Don’t say he doesn’t care.”

Shoving my hands in my pockets, I tried not to think about the fact that the only time he’d called me since I moved six months ago was toyell at me about Willow coming here. Not a text to see if I’d made it safely, not a question about football or my dorm, not a damn word.

“He doesn’t deserve for you to defend him,” I muttered before turning around.

“He’s trying.”

I came to a stop. My vision blurred slightly and my body trembled with various emotions, all of which pissed me off.

“Trying,” I repeated, nodding slowly. “Was he trying when he broke my nose and told me I was too stupid to be his son in eighth grade because I got a C in biology? Was he trying when he gave me a concussion, then passed out drunk on the couch and I had to freak out about going to sleep because I was scared I wouldn’t wake up? Or when he told me how much our mom would’ve hated me. He said it was a good thing she never got to see me grow up to be a disappointment.” My voice cracked and I couldn’t blink away the emotions that burned in my eyes. “You don’t know everything, Willow.”

“I was there too.”

Whirling around, I leveled her with a look so intense that she dropped her gaze. “No, you weren’t fucking there. Most nights, I was calling everybody we knew and running around to figure out where you were. I barely slept because when I closed my eyes, I saw all the horrible things that could happen to you. I pissed off Dad a little extra every time you did something that would get you in trouble because I was terrified that one of those times, he might turn his anger on you. And if he did that, I would have killed him. I’d take every hit for you. Ihavetaken them for ten years. God forbid I care, Willow. I guess I thought you did too.”

Her own tears made a path down her cheeks. “West.”

Shaking my head, I left the room. I slipped on a pair of slides by the front door before I flung it open. A deep voice called my name, either Linc or Kai, but I couldn’t be around them right now. I was angry and I’d probably lash out. I didn’t want to turn on them. It wasn’t their fault, but I knew that I’d probably do it anyway, unable to stop myself.

That was what scared me, part of why I didn’t want to get close to Linc. One of these days, he’d get tired of how difficult I was, how angry I got, how much I wanted to fight sometimes, to release all ofthis pent up shit that’d been growing for so long. I would hurt him and then, how could I keep denying that I was better than my dad? Maybe his abuse succeeded in turning me into the person I hated the most. And that was a fucked up sort of irony, which made me keep walking with no destination in mind.

*****

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