Page 36 of His Coveted Obsession

Another lie, which I took too far, because he eyes me dubiously. “Why didn’t your school call me?”

“Mom took the call.”

“Did she now?”

I nod, and he lets go of my face.

“She didn’t tell me.”

I tense, realizing my error. Now he’ll talk to her about it, and she’ll come after me for the lie that got her into trouble.

Mom never tells him a thing because if she did, he would know it’s her who hurts me. It’s she who touches me. Deep down, he knows. They all do. But there’s no help for me. No one to turn to. One day, when I’m strong, they’ll all pay.

After years of abuse and neglect, I’m perpetually angry. I bathe in it after living in fear for so long. I hate the fear. Itmakes me feel weak. Anger makes me feel strong and powerful, like I’m in control. I know I’m not, but I will be soon enough. I bide my time.

For some reason, his neglect is worse than her abuse in some ways. Probably because he knows something is wrong. He knows I don’t get hurt at school. But he refuses to acknowledge the abuse or dig deep. He refuses to turn his sights on Mother. I don’t know why, but I’m beyond caring. It doesn’t matter why anymore. I’ve given up trying to find answers.

Every time I see my father, I feel the knife of betrayal in my back.

Mr. Lauder was walking closer toward his house with a teen girl with cropped blond hair walking beside him. She must have been Annie. The last time I checked, their father had an older sedan. I assumed he sold it for his gambling debts.

Annie was waving her arms, yelling at her father, but I couldn’t hear them. He was tense with slouched shoulders, not yelling back.

Once they went inside the house, I got out of the car, shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket, feeling the blade for comfort, and walked toward the house.

When I knocked on the door, Annie answered it.

“Who are you? If you’re here to sell Bibles, you can shove right off.”

She was much more sassy and blunt than Thomas. I preferred his personality, and the way he looked at me as if I rose the sun for him.

With a deep breath, I put on my loathsome mask and a broad smile.

“Hey, you must be Annie. No Bibles here, I’m afraid,” I chuckled.

She raised a blonde brow. “Do I know you?”

“Not yet. I’m Easton. Thomas told me to meet him here, but I’m a little early.”

She smiled in return, grabbed my arm, and dragged me inside. “You’re the boyfriend! It’s nice to meet you. My brother gushes about you all the time. And I must say, I appreciate how you take care of him. He deserves it.”

“Yeah, he really does. I gush about him, too. He’s an amazing guy.”

“So, come on in. You can meet our dad,” she said, but her tone lost inflection, indicating she was still angry.

She let me go and I followed her into the kitchen where Mr. Lauder was pulling food from the refrigerator—food that I had bought.

“Dad…”

“Jesus, Annie. Can you give it a rest? I said I’d get the car back. I just need to win that next race, and we’ll be golden.”

“Wehave a guest,Dad,” she said tightly.

Well, that explained what happened to the car.

He put the chicken breast on the counter and turned to me with a wary and mistrustful look on his face. “Oh, I didn’t see you there.”

“This is Easton, Tommy’s boyfriend.”

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