Page 42 of Cherish Me Forever

This conversation has had my heart beating painfully—a terrible, guilty kind of pain. I need my freedom. Clayton Hartley may be my ticket out. He may be powerful, but he isn’t a tool. He’s too good a man to be used like that.

12

CLAYTON

“What’s up with you?” Matty asks when we walk out of the principal’s office.

“Well, pal, it’s me who should ask you that.”

My baby brother is as healthy as an ox. He pretended that he wasn’t feeling well so he could escape his athletics session this afternoon. I’m sure the boy just wanted to stay home playing Minecraft.

“Please don’t tell Rob,” the little mischief begs—putting on his most pitiful expression. His beady eyes remind me ofShrek’s Puss in Boots.

Following our parents’ deaths, Rob has been one hell of a brother, and father, to Matty. After he and Amber got married, Matty has been living with me full time, although the boy spends time with them most weekends. Needless to say, Rob wouldn’t have let Matty get away this easy. I know I’m being soft, but I understand what it’s like with school sometimes.

“Don’t do that again, okay? You can’t just pretend that you’re not feeling well. Sometimes you’ve got to do things that you don’t want to.”

“Athletics is no good for anyone! You run, you jump, then you’re pooped,” Matty justifies. He uses his fingers to comb his light brown hair, which is overdue for a cut.

“It’s good for your stamina.”

“Meh!” He looks out the window, escaping my stare. After sensing that I’m not going to go on about his friskiness, he repeats his earlier question, “So, what’s up with you?”

“Nothing. Why?”

“You look so nervous.”

Luckily we’re stopping at a red light so I can see my brother’s expression. He looks dead serious, as if something is really wrong with me. I reply, “Nervous? No. I was just worried about you.”

“Really?”

“Of course I worry about you, pal. If it was true that you fell sick, it could be anything. I would’ve scrambled to get you to the hospital.”

Matty reaches out his hand, placing it on top of mine. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Now that you skipped class, you have to do something for me.”

“What is that?”

“We’re going to get a healthy lunch.”

“Eww… salad?” He puts on his bunny face, tapping his teeth in quick succession. “I’d rather go back to school!”

“Okay!” I step on the brake, ready to make a U-turn.

“Clay! Nooo!”

I toss him a ‘gotcha’ smile and then drive on. “We’ll get some quesadillas, but with a lot of greens.”

“Fried chicken?”

“Nope. Fish.”

As I promise my brother, I give him lots of vegies for his lunch. He still has the guts to bargain with me. But when I say I’ll tell Rob about what he did, he licks his plate clean.

“Good boy, Matty. That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

“So where are we going?”

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