Page 20 of Unravel You

“How many? I can’t skip school. I have homework.”

Derek cleared his throat. “Well, we were hoping to spend a month in Atlanta. You’ll love the new house. It has a pool and a greenhouse.”

“A month?” Max crossed his arms. “I wasn’t consulted.”

Consulted?Derek mouthed the word to me.

“Maybe you can come visit over the weekend.” I exchanged a look with Derek when Max switched his attention to Pirate.

“Can Ms. Emily stay with me so I can go to school?”

“Of course.” Derek sat up. “Em already said she’d love to hang out with you while we’re away. And your grandparents said they could come over as well. You can come see us every weekend.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“And I have my own plane. You can borrow it anytime.”

“My own plane?” Max’s munchkin voice went up a few octaves. “Can I fly it?”

“Sure. Why not?” Derek chuckled, raising both eyebrows at me.

“It’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait.”

“I know. So Derek and I will leave in the morning and you can come join us next Friday. How’s that?” I talked fast because Max had already moved on. Pirate and his squeaky toy had his full attention now.

“Can I have another cookie?” he asked after a while. He’d already forgotten about the trip. I wished I could do the same.

“You’ve had enough cookies for one day. Why don’t you go brush your teeth and get into your PJs? I’ll come upstairs and tuck you in when you’re ready.”

“Okay.” Max jumped to his feet and hugged my neck tight. Derek practically melted when Max spun around and threw his small arms around him too. “Come on, Pirate. It’s bedtime.” He walked off back into the house.

“And don’t go in the kitchen to ask Em for more cookies.”

“What?” His eyes went wide, as if he’d been caught in a lie. “I wasn’t gonna do that.”

“Just making sure.” I raised an eyebrow at him. One of Mom’s signature moves.

“We totally have this parenting thing down pat.” Derek rubbed the side of his face.

“You think? I never know when something is going to be a mountain or a lump of dirt with him.” I shook my head, relieved Max didn’t think I was abandoning him to please Derek, which was true.

I was really going to miss him. In all the years he’d lived with my parents, I never got used to him being gone. But I really wanted to make sure I could handle Atlanta before I made Max do the same. It wasn’t fair for us to yank him out of his routine and all the things that made him feel safe.

If only this trip to Atlanta was as uneventful as Max thought it was. But Derek’s tense body language said otherwise. To him, thirty days at home with his family was everything. He wanted his family to accept me the way Max had accepted him. What would he do if that didn’t happen? Would he give up on us?

Chapter6

No and Yes

Valentina

The nightmare was always the same. In my dream, I knew it wasn’t real, but there was nothing I could do to stop it other than wait for it to pass. Alex’s fingers wrapped around my neck and cut all oxygen to my lungs. His smirk was always the same, as his stale beer breath puffed out against my face. It would be over soon. The display never lasted too long. Max’s dad only meant to put me in my place quickly.

He was always careful not to leave any marks. I gasped for air, staring down at his hands. When I glanced up, his angry eyes widened, and then he vanished. Nothing more than white smoke in the dead of night.

“You did this to yourself.”His words trailed behind his dark gaze.

I sat up in the bed with the usual ache in my chest, as if I’d actually stopped breathing outside of my dream. Smoothing the hair away from my face, I shifted to my left to curl up next to Derek. Instead, my body fell on empty sheets. I rolled to my right and grabbed my phone off the nightstand. Four in the morning. Had he come to bed at all? I threw my legs over the side of the bed and headed for the door. When I reached it, I turned back.

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