Page 23 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

She interrupted my thoughts with a whisper. “You’re not like the others.”

Ah fuck. “Are you sure about that?” I gave her my best intense gaze. The kind I used to the guys when I needed to show them I wouldn’t be fucked with.

She blinked at me. “Yes.” The alcohol was making her brave. “I don’t think you’d hurt me.”

Oh God, was I that easy to read? I opened my mouth to respond, but was cut off by a voice down the street.

“Kaeli?”

We both turned at the sound of the voice. A boy, about the same age as Kaeli was walking towards us. Kaeli didn’t attempt to move away from me, so I didn’t think he was her boyfriend. He was tall, although not quite as tall as me, and was solid for a high schooler. He had medium length blonde hair and brown eyes that flickered nervously between us. The confidence he showed by approaching us in this situation proved he was probably one of the popular guys at school.

His gaze zeroed in on Kaeli. “Are you okay?” he asked, unable to stop himself from glancing at me when he said it.

She inhaled deeply, then dropped her hands from my hips and turned to face him. “Yeah. I started to feel sick so I thought I’d go home.”

The confusion in his gaze told me it wasn’t the answer he was looking for. “Do you want me to walk you?” he asked hopefully.

Her eyes darted to me for a second before returning back to him. “No, I’ll be alright. Thanks though.”

He pursed his lips together as he decided what to do. After a few seconds, he simply nodded and turned to walk away. What a dick. There was no way known I’d just leave her with someone who looked like me.

Chapter 19

Kaeli

It was strange having Mitch walk me home. It felt like such a gentlemanly thing to do, and that just didn’t match up with the whole drug dealing criminal thing he had going on.

Then when we were about half way home, the tequila caught up with me and I had to run for the bushes to be sick. Mitch stayed with me the entire time, softly rubbing my back and holding my hair for me. I was so confused. He was one big contradiction, and every minute I spent in his presence, I grew to trust him a little more. I had no idea why. It went against all common sense.

We didn’t talk. At all. My mind was too full to verbalize anything anyway. By the time we’d reached my house, I’d analyzed the kiss I’d shared with Corey, both kisses Mitch had forced on me, as well as the strange sense of protection I felt from him. The end result was a headache with no answers.

Before he turned to leave he looked at me. “Kaeli, be careful. Whether you like it not, from now on, you’re probably being watched.” And with that he disappeared, leaving me wondering what the hell he was talking about.

I didn’t know what it was with him. It was almost like I was beginning to forget what he was, and what he stood for. It was crazy. So many things were starting to become clear – or fuzzier if I really thought about it, because none of it gave me answers. Only more questions.

I thought about the way he’d asked me if I wanted him to fuck me down in the living room so everyone could watch. Why did he say that only to take me upstairs and do nothing but kiss me? It didn’t make any sense. Unless he was only saying it for TJ’s benefit..? But why would he want TJ to think he was, ‘fucking me’, when he wasn’t?

My mind immediately went to Pock and I felt the blood drain from my face. I had a feeling I knew exactly what he’d do if he thought Mitch wasn’t using me like he thought I should be used.

I stopped breathing. Surely he couldn’t be pretending to be with me just to stop the others from taking advantage of me? It seemed stupid to think, but what other explanation could there be? I searched my brain. Maybe he was gay and had to hide the fact from the guys…

I remembered the hardness I’d felt against my stomach earlier that night. No, he definitely wasn’t gay.

I groaned. My head hurt. God, if I thought about it any more, I was going to have a mental breakdown.

Pulling out my keys, I fumbled with the lock, grumbling. It seemed finding the hole in the dark was more difficult than I thought. Just when it finally found its mark and I thought to cheer my success, I heard footsteps behind me.

Mitch’s warning had me turning in a panic, but when I saw Aaron striding up the path towards me, I exhaled with relief.

Aaron eyed me suspiciously. “Who was that?” he asked, jerking his head back towards the street. I narrowed my eyes at his beat up face. It looked so much worse than it had earlier in the night.

Glancing out into the darkness, I tried to see if Mitch was still there. When I couldn’t see anything, I returned my glare to Aaron. “Just one of your BFF’s, making sure I’m not spilling any deep dark secrets.”

His eyes widened a fraction and he turned to squint in the direction Mitch had gone. “That was one of TJ’s guys?”

I threw him any icy stare. “Yes. They’re quite charming, aren’t they?”

He stared me down for a while, his eyes beginning to narrow more with each passing second. “Are you drunk, Kaeli?”

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