Page 27 of A Dark Duet

I saw the signs. Brie was right in telling me to be careful because she knew I would feel for him. I realize he is capable of emotion, living alone with no one, broken, and can’t be mended.

Getting my overnight bag ready, I decide I don’t want to take anything he has bought for me. I realize I have to ask Brie to take me to the clinic back home so I can get a morning-after pill and birth control along with some tests. I will forward him proof of everything so he doesn’t wonder and contact me about it. I can’t blame him; I was careless myself.

I text Brie and tell her I want to leave and give her a short rundown of what happened. She says she will wait until Jaden falls asleep, since she had an awkward night after the event.

We decide to order an Uber to wait for us on the road leading to Nate’s house based on the map of our location. I meet her at the door leading to a small, modern sitting area with a French door that leads to the driveway of the house. There is a walkway we can go through that leads to the entrance. We hold hands and walk up the road with only the possessions we came with. Brie and I think alike, not needing flashy dresses or purses to make us feel whole.

The Uber is there to take us to the nearest major airport. We purchase the next flight to Sioux Falls, and thank God we can book it while I tell her everything.

“What an ass. I can’t believe he treated you like that after you just wanted to know.”

“I know. I should have listened to you when you told me to be careful. Lesson learned. I don’t want to see or hear from him again. Can you please take me to the clinic? I’m going to send him the papers with the clinic’s information and results.”

“Of course. Giselle, please don’t cry.”

Sniffing, I try to smile. “It’s because I thought… I don’t know what I thought. I’m just a stupid girl, what did I expect?”

She looks at me with sadness and pain. “Yeah, Jaden was acting weird since we left the event, and I didn’t know how to tell him I was uncomfortable. It was like we were just there to look pretty, like objects. They kept looking at us afraid we would say something that would embarrass them. It was awful. I was so relieved when you called me, but sad at the same time because I knew something was wrong.”

I wipe my face. “Let’s go back to our side of the tracks.”

Nate

What the fuck did I just do? I just kicked her out of my room and treated her no better than a paid whore. Fuck!

I run my fingers through my hair. I wasn’t ready to see the pity in her eyes when she saw the burns my father inflicted on me when I was a kid. It was how he would wake me up to get to school. The pain I would feel every morning, a reminder when she rubbed her soft fingers up my thighs, the pleasure shadowed over the memory of the pain. The marks were a cruel, sick tactic my father would use after my mother died. I couldn’t even get back at him for the years of abuse he put my mother and me through. My mom would just be in another universe when he inflicted the pain every day. When he was drunk, it would get worse.

The look in her eyes when she looked up at me caused me pain, and I’m ashamed of treating the most beautiful girl I have touched and laying my eyes on like shit.

To see the pity in her eyes when she found out my father abused me as a child, was neglected by a heroin-addicted mother, made fun of at school, and bullied because my parents were broke junkies. No one knows except Jaden.

We were both raised in the foster system as teenagers with careless attitudes, destined to be dead or in jail. I couldn’t tell her, open up to her, or let her sleep with me in the same bed. I didn’t want her to see me wake up, screaming from the nightmares.

It scared me when I fell asleep after we had sex. What if I attacked her or hurt her from one of my nightmares? I would die before I hurt her physically. The demons that come for me at night will not spare her, they will consume her, letting her see the darkness that exists inside me. It’s a part of me that no one sees, a part of me I feed in the cage so I can function. Fighting is my life, and it’s all I have to keep me from being consumed by the complete darkness that awaits me every night.

When she told me she never had sex and that she was a virgin with just a nod, I was shocked. Never did I think in my wildest dreams that a girl as beautiful as she hadn’t been touched. I was sure that football jerk, Bresely, had fucked her.

Thinking about it, it’s the fact that he hasn’t that has him sniffing like a lost puppy. The way she dances is so beautiful and sexy because Giselle Monroe is a talented dancer and choreographer.

I overheard her parents died in a car accident and she had to sell everything to settle their debts. It’s probably why she dances with Brie. I know Jaden really likes Brie, but he is guarded, just as I am, not letting anyone in. Guys like us are not use to girls like them. We thought they were like every girl that dances in a club but we were wrong. Very wrong.

In the middle of the night at 3:29 a.m., I wake up in cold sweats, thinking my father is burning my thighs, covering my mouth so I can’t breathe, trying to wake me up, and gasping for air. I place my hands over my sweaty face. I take a shower, thinking about how I’m going to face Giselle after I treated her. I quickly get dressed and walk toward the kitchen to see Jaden sitting alone with his hands over his face, nursing a cup of coffee.

He senses my presence and lowers his hands, and I see a solemn look on his face. “What’s up?” I ask.

“They’re gone.”

I frown, taken aback. “What do you mean, gone? We have to take them back.”

He shakes his head. “They left last night after we fell asleep. They left, Nate. I was a total asshole to her, and I would have done the same.”

I quickly head to the guest bedroom. Sure enough, it’s empty except for everything I bought for her. She left everything neatly in its package as if no one had touched it. I can still smell her sweet scent in the room and I take my phone from my pocket. I decided to call her to at least see if she made it back okay. I am walking back to the kitchen where I left Jaden. He looks up.

“I tried, but she will not answer you,” he says.

I try texting her and it’s marked as delivered but unread. “Fuck!” I close my eyes.

“Look, we have the fight to prepare for and we need to concentrate on the plan. You need to train, and hard. There is another fight after this one and we can’t fuck around. It will give things time to cool down.”

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