Page 20 of Saving Tracey
Tracey gaped at her. “I—I can't let you do that."
I rolled my eyes. "We have more money than we know what to do with. Trust me, it's not a problem."
She looked up at me, suddenly realizing she still had her hand in mine, and she jerked it away, holding it against her chest as if protecting herself from me. I swallowed hard. I didn’t want her to be afraid of me.
She nodded slowly at my mom. "Okay. I just . . . I want out of here."
My mom nodded. "Would you like to ride with me or Kaleb?"
She looked between us and then sighed, looking at me. "I'm sorry, Kaleb, but I can't ride with you. I'm scared—" I cut her off.
I shook my head at her. I understood—I didn’t want to, but I did. "It's okay, Tracey. I understand."
Though somewhere deep inside of her, she knew she could trust me, I was a guy. Anyone of the male sex would probably terrify her.
No matter how much I wanted her to just trust me, I knew she couldn't allow herself to.
But I would do everything I could to gain her trust and to get her to open up and trust other people, too. I was determined.
Chapter Six
TRACEY
Two weeks. It had been two long weeks since I had been out of the hospital.
A total of three weeks since I last saw my parents.
I thought that being away from them would give me some freedom, but I still felt trapped.
I looked up as Kaleb walked in through the front door, a couple of guys from school following him in. I had definitely seen them around before, but I didn't know their names. One of them had wavy blonde hair with striking blue eyes. He was tall and built well with a strong jawline and high cheekbones. The other guy had black hair and dark eyes. He was leaner with sharp facial features.
Trevor. The dark-haired guy’s name was Trevor.
Everyone knew him to be one of our best linebackers, and he was famous with the girls at our school.
Kaleb looked over at me as he closed the door behind them. He smiled at me. "Hey, Tracey, ready to go back to school Monday?"
I shrugged, looking away from him and turning back to the TV. I continued flicking through Netflix, finally having a hang of how to work the Wii remote. I didn’t want attention, and I could feel Trevor’s and the other guy’s gazes on my back.
Kaleb's mom came into the living room at that moment, wiping her hands on the apron that was tied around her waist. She smiled at the two boys that came in with Kaleb and hugged them both enthusiastically. "Paul, Trevor, I missed seeing your faces around here! Where in the hell have you been?!"
The blonde guy, Paul, grinned at her. "Life has been crazy.” He shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Mom got into a car accident and ended up breaking her leg. I've been helping her out. I finally got to escape today."
Mrs. Brinson pursed her lips. "I heard about that. Is she okay other than that?"
"Oh, yeah. Nothing has changed between his mom and dad.” Paul smacked Trevor, making Trevor snicker.
Miss Brinson laughed and pulled them farther into the living room so that they were both in my view and I in theirs. "Boys, this is Tracey. She's my . . . daughter." I cringed, forcing my gaze to stay on the TV, resisting the urge to bolt out of the room. I felt the couch dip near me, and I quickly glanced over for a split second to see Kaleb sitting down next to me. "You two know Tracey, don't you? She goes to your school."
They both shook their heads. "Actually, no, we don’t.” His eyes ran over me before they met Kaleb’s.
I couldn’t ignore the strange, yet relaxing chill that swept down my spine as his eyes ran over me.
The boys sent Kaleb an accusing glare. "Why haven't you introduced us to this gorgeous girl yet?"
Too much focus on me.
I needed air.
