Page 46 of Being Us (Next Generation 4)

I stared at him. “Who are you and what have you done with my father?”

“Ha. Ha.” He shook his head. “Just be careful.” He kissed the top of my head. “That’s all I ask.”

“I will. You know that Sammy would be the first to run to you if something happened. You have to know that.” And that was why I was trying to keep whatever this thing was with Tanner, on the down low.

“True. Maybe I’ll have a talk with him.” He winked.

“You do that.” I stepped out of his embrace and went to my bookshelf standing against the far wall. I was thankful Uncle Greyson was a reader. Most of the books on my shelves used to belong to him. Even though he had always been careful with them, some of the books were read so much, some of the pages were falling out. Those were my favorite. I loved a good well-read book.

“Oh, before I forget. Your friends called.”

I looked at Dad over my shoulder. “Friends?”

“Lori and Heather.” He crossed his arms under his chest. “Apparently you went out last weekend and the twins took you out of the club before your friends wanted you to leave.”

Sometimes Lori and Heather had big mouths.

“Cyrus and Sammy need…” I snapped my mouth shut. If I said too much, it would all go downhill from there. Things would end before I could get to know Tanner like I wanted.

“Just call your friends and tell them that you’re not at home.”

“I will.” I let out a breath of relief. “Thank you.”

There was a moment of silence between us before Dad pushed away from the doorframe. “I’m heading home to your mother. Just wanted to check in on you since I haven’t seen you all week.”

“Give her a hug for me,” I said, trying to ignore how his words forced guilt to rest on my shoulders.

Dad nodded, shutting the door to my room and leaving me to my own thoughts.

Thoughts of Tanner.

Thoughts of how weird it was that he was living at Uncle Greyson’s.

Grandpa’s friend Ricky had shown up once this past week to make sure that Tanner’s shoulder was healing nicely but that had been all I heard about him.

Now it was my turn to make sure he was okay.

My eyes flicked to the plate of food sitting on my dresser. Maybe bringing the food down to him today wouldn’t be such a good idea. But when did I ever listen to the rules? Often. I listened to them often. I huffed, mentally scolding myself and attempted to put on a brave face. It wasn’t like I would run into anyone. Aunt Eve would be cooking breakfast for everyone who lived in the big house and eventually for others as they rolled in. While her cooking was delicious, I needed to bring Tanner his food and to also see him. To find out if I was crazy or imagining these new feelings between us.

I especially wanted him to know that he had a friend here and that we weren’t all his enemy.

***

(Tanner)

I could sense that I was no longer alone in the room. It had been going on for so long now that I knew before it happened, when it was about to start. I would wake up but pretended to still be asleep. The door would open slowly, the air in my bedroom would shift from comfortable to cool, almost like the devil himself was entering my room. And maybe he was.

As hard as I tried to go back to sleep, I never could. Not once he entered the room. Not since I was no longer alone. And especially not when the bed would shift with his weight.

But I still squeezed my eyes shut. I squeezed them so damn tight that pain erupted behind them, giving me a slight headache.

Every time the blankets pulled away from me, I would jump, and he would chuckle. I couldn’t help it. The blankets kept me safe. Or so I liked to think. Even though that was never truly the case, they still gave me a semblance of control. They just prevented him from doing what he wanted to do for half a second longer. Not even that.

When rough knees spread my legs apart, the rest of the night would end in a blur.

Pain.

Agony.

---