Page 79 of Wrecked
He took me in as family. He took Emmy in as a little sister. Emmy got a home away from home, a friend in his little sister.
And her first crush.
I cringe at the thought. I still tease her about how her eyes light up when Ash walks into a room. Her voice turns all squeaky and her cheeks get really pink. It’s adorable. It’s sweet. It’s terrifying. I’m not ready for a dating Emmy. I’ll probably have to kill any boy that goes near her. I know Asher feels the same.
She just finished her sophomore year of high school and was able to keep tabs on Ellie for me while I was away. She said shetried to talk to her a couple times, but it was like talking to a wall. Ellie isn’t herself. She moves like a ghost through the hallways, going to class, eating lunch alone, returning home. The friends she had her sophomore year had moved on. It breaks my heart to hear how alone she is. But she is safe.That’sthe most important thing.
Emmy was pissed at me for a long time after prom night. Even with my explanation, she told me what a “dumb dickhead” I was. She said Ellie deserved the truth, but Emmy doesn’t understand the complexities of our relationship. I couldn’t let Ellie risk her safety for me, and she would have. She would have thrown herself into the crossfire and I wouldn’t have been able to do anything to save her. Lying to her made her safe. It protected her in my absence.
The love I feel for Ellie hasn’t waned at all with time. I’ve had a lot of opportunities to move on, but I can’t. Nor do I want to. My heart is no longer mine to give away, and it hasn’t been for years.
Nathaniel was livid that I never came home from school, but he found a way to spin it for his adoring fans. Emmy was “overseas for the summer.” She was becoming a “well-rounded young lady.” I was interning, ensuring I lived up to the beloved Westin name. Both explanations were a crock of shit, but his supporters ate it up.
I couldn’t care less, though. His life no longer impacts mine. I’m only home for the summer. Long enough to explain myself to Ellie and get us the hell out of there.
I made sure to find out where she applied to college. I won’t lie and say my heart didn’t beat a little faster when I found out the only school she applied to was OSU. Maybe that means something. Maybe it doesn’t. Regardless, it gets us back on track for the future we had planned.
I pull onto the long, winding driveway of my family home. The large house gleams in the sunlight and makes me sick to mystomach. I hate it here. I park my Porsche—a graduation gift I fully intend to sell—and I step out of the car.
The front door swings open.
“Nate!” Emmy cries out. She looks thinner than normal, her bright blue eyes hazy. We will have to talk later so I can find out what’s going on.
“Jesus Ems, you’re practically an adult.” I take a long look at my baby sister. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was twenty.
“I’m sixteen now, you know,” she states proudly.
“God. Don’t remind me.” I exaggerate a shiver before asking, “Is the devil home?”
“He’s hiding in his lair. Probably sacrificing virgins.”
“You’re not supposed to know what a virgin is.” I cringe, hating that word coming from my baby sister’s mouth.Whendid she become a teenager?
Skipping ahead to the front door, she shouts over her shoulder, “Knowwhat a virgin is? Funny you assume Iam one.” She lets out a loud cackle, running through the living room and toward the back deck. I run after her, ready to throw her over my shoulder and dunk her in the pool.
I hear a throat clear behind me and stop mid-run.
“Nathan.”
“Nathaniel,” I reply. Not bothering to turn around.
“Glad to see you’ve decided to come home this summer.” His cold response sends a chill down my back. I hate that he can still get to me. That he still has power over me.
“Not for long,” I mutter.
“I got a call from Dean Winters. He told me you requested your transcripts, and that you would be transferring schools your junior year.” His words are coated in darkness, like a malevolent demon has taken over his body. There is no emotion in his statement, there are no accusations, yet somehow, he can still invoke fear with his words.
I finally turn around to face him. To face this monster frommy past. The one I’ve gotten away from the last two years of my life. He seems smaller now. Weaker, almost.
“What of it?” I keep my voice hard. I won’t let him see the effect he still has on me.
Quicker than I can even react, Nathaniel has me by the throat, pinning my body against the wall behind me. I struggle to breathe as I try to remove his hand. Clawing at his fingers like they’re a metal vice, tightening by the second. The bastard smiles. He’s enjoying this power play.
“Careful, Nathaniel. Election year is a big deal. You wouldn’t want your son to expose his injuries to the media,” I gasp out. His surprise gives me the leverage I need. I escape his hold, twisting his arm around his back and slamming his face and chest into the wall. “Touch me again, motherfucker. Idareyou.”
He laughs.
Spittle flies from his mouth as his laugh turns to hysterics.
