Angel of Redemption (19 page)

“
Touch her again, and you and me are
gonna have a problem. Got that?
”

“
Dean.
”
Her voice is calm now, and her fingertips curl up and
around my neck.
“
Babe, you have to let go.
”

I
like hearing her call me
babe
. It rolls off her tongue as though she
means it. I release Brody, but don
’
t take my eyes off him. Reaching up, I take Kayla
’
s hand and bring it to my lips. Her
skin is soft and smells of soap. I know this is only a show, but I need to make
it convincing, right? I press a kiss against her palm. And then another. And
then another. I hear her let out a small whimper.

Brody
is glaring at me, but I don
’
t think he
’
s stupid enough to push it. Just in case, though, I put my
hand on Kayla
’
s
hip and pull her into me, watching her face to make sure it
’
s okay. I can hear her breathe, feel
the warmth of her body against mine. My own body reacts. My dick is not in a
comfortable position to get hard, and I hide my wince by pressing my face into
the side of her head. I
’
m going to have to shift it really fucking soon.

I
’
ve almost forgotten that we have company
when Douchebag Brody huffs and starts to leave. I throw my free arm out,
blocking his path without letting go of Kayla.

“
Do we have an understanding,
Bro
-dy?
”
I enunciate his name condescendingly. His jaw is set, his
eyes blazing. He
’
s
pissed. Good.

“
Yeah, we do.
”
He glances at Kayla, who is tucked up so comfortably
against me that he can
’
t question us again.
“
See you later, Kayla.
”
He walks away and I drop Kayla
’
s hand, making a move to go after him.
I
’
m going to beat the little shit
’
s ass. But Kayla stops me.

“
Don
’
t.
”

“
Why?
”
I ask, looking down at her. Big mistake. Her cheeks are
tinged pink, her lips full. She swipes her tongue over the bottom one, and I
’
m mesmerized. It
’
s her eyes that get me, though. I
’
m afraid if I look into them too long,
I
’
ll get lost. Just thinking that makes
me feel like a pussy. Without answering my question, she pulls me back so that
we
’
re
chest-to-chest. Once again, I
’
m aware that my dick feels like it
’
s being bent in half. I wince.

“
What
’
s the matter?
”
she whispers.

I
’
m not shy. I
’
ve never had an issue letting a girl
know when she turns me on, but I
’
m warring with myself right now. I have no idea where I
stand with her. I have no idea where I
want
to stand with her. I feel
her hand slip slightly under my shirt, brushing my bare skin. My cock twitches,
hardening into a crooked, painful position, and my decision is made. I move my
hand to the crotch of my pants and adjust. Kayla watches me.

“
Problem?
”
she teases.

“
Depends on how you look at it.
”
I smirk.

“
There are so many places I could go
with that,
”
she laughs quietly. I have no idea how
we got in this position, but she
’
s pressed against the wall, one of my hands caging her in.
Our mouths are so close, I can taste the Jack on her breath. There are people
less than ten feet away, and yet we
’
re hidden from view, so it feels like we
’
re the only ones here. I have to stop
this. It takes everything I have to pull away, but I do.

“
Who was that guy?
”
I ask.

Kayla
sighs. Her expression stumps me. She looks confused
—
and kinda angry. I can
’
t
pinpoint all the other things I see. Her eyes shift, her mouth twitches. If I
could bring myself to stare at her, I could probably figure them out, but I
need to put some distance between us, so I focus on a spot on the wall.

“
He
’
s a guy I used to know.
”

“
You dated?
”

She
’
s quiet, and I glance at her briefly.
Her eyes are narrowed.
“
Look. I appreciate you coming to my
rescue, but you didn
’
t really need to. I could have handled Brody all on my own.
”

“
Yeah, sure looked like it,
”
I scoff.
“
Next time I see a guy you
‘
used to know
’
putting his hands on you like that, I
’
ll leave him to it.
”
I instantly regret my words, knowing it was a fucked-up
thing to say. Kayla
’
s shooting daggers at me. I should apologize, but I don
’
t.

“
You know what, Dean?
”
she seethes.
“
…
Never mind. Forget it.
”
She pushes past me, careful to avoid any more physical
contact. Goddammit. This is not one of those pissed-off-Kayla
moments that turns me on. In fact, it
’
s the exact opposite. I
’
m now completely deflated.

“
Fuck,
”
I grumble, leaving the hidden nook and heading back into
the hallway toward the bathrooms.

When I get back to the table after taking a piss,
Emily is fuming.

“
What the hell did you do?
”
she asks accusingly. Kayla
’
s nowhere to be seen. Her new drink
and dinner salad are sitting, untouched, on the table.
“
When I sent you back there to check on her, I didn
’
t mean for you to be a total jerk and
scare her off. She went home.
”

“
Why do you automatically assume it
’
s my fault?
”
I look at my brother for support, but he doesn
’
t say anything. Instead, he takes a
sip of his beer. His hand strokes his wife
’
s shoulder soothingly. She must really be pissed at me.

“
We had a wonderful day just hanging out
together. God! Now I
’
m sorry I even tried to make you look good to her.
”

I
sit down and drink down half my beer in two gulps.
“
You shouldn
’
t be doing that anyway,
”
I mumble.
“
I can
’
t get involved with her.
”

“
Did I say anything about getting
involved
with her? No. I just didn
’
t want her to think you were an
emotionally crippled asshole.
”

“
Emily,
”
Aiden groans.

“
I
’
m done,
”
she says with finality.

We
eat dinner in relative silence. Emily has Kayla
’
s meal wrapped up.

“
I
’
m going to drop this off at Kayla
’
s and apologize.
”
When she fails to get a response out of me, she huffs.
“
I
’
ll see you at home,
”
she says, grabbing her coat and kissing Aiden good-bye.

“
You know,
”
he starts, looking at me with an agitated expression.
“
Every time you piss off my wife, I don
’
t get laid. Her parents have the kids
tonight, D. That
’
s
a big fucking deal.
”

“
I didn
’
t mean to piss anyone off,
”
I say seriously.

“
I know,
”
he sighs.
“
Sometimes you can
’
t help yourself. Let
’
s just pay the bill and get out of
here.
”

Dean

Since I caught a ride with him, Aiden drives me back to the
house. We pull up in front, and I hear him breathe out loudly.

“
Wow.
”

I
look in the direction of his gaze and am a little floored. Matty is standing on
the front porch, leaning over the railing, a cigarette in hand. He makes no
move to stub it out or hide it even though he can clearly see us.

“
Ha. Never expected that one to fuck
the rules. Good luck with that.
”

“
Thanks,
”
I reply sarcastically, climbing out and slamming the door
shut. Damn. I don
’
t
want to have to scold Matty. Not yet. Not before he trusts me.

Matty
still makes no move to hide the fact that he
’
s blatantly breaking the rules, which tells
me that he either doesn
’
t care, or he wants me to confront him about it. He
’
s not the first kid to smoke on the
property, but most of them at least attempt to be discreet.

“
Hey,
”
I say, standing next to him and putting my forearms on the
railing.

“
Hi,
”
he mumbles, taking another drag from the cigarette. I hold
my hand out for it, and he sighs before handing it to me.

“
These things will kill you.
”
I stub the cigarette out and set it in a flowerpot.
“
You know the rules about drugs on the property?
”
Matty glances up at me.

“
That
’
s not a drug,
”
he protests.

“
Yeah, it is. Nicotine. It
’
s a nasty one, too. Those things
’
ll give you cancer.
”

“
One cigarette
’
s not going to give me cancer.
”

“
No, probably not, but is this your
first one?
”

Matty
looks down at his hands and shifts.
“
No.
”

“
Does Kayla know?
”
I almost stumble over her name. What happened at the
restaurant is still fresh in my head.

“
You
’
re not gonna tell her, are you? She
’
ll kick my ass.
”
His voice sounds slightly panicked. It
’
s clear he never thought about this part of his rebellion.

“
I
’
ll have to if I catch you doing it again. Where
’
d you get the cig?
”
I ask.

He
lets out a relieved breath.
“
School. I bummed a few off another
kid.
”

“
Still got
‘
em?
”

“
No.
”

“
Good. Breaking the rules is not a good
idea, Matty. Don
’
t
let me catch you again.
”
We stand in silence for a few more
minutes. The night is cold and absolutely silent. My breath is swirling around
me every time I exhale and my hands are frozen, but I don
’
t move.
“
Your
brother back yet?
”
Matty shakes his head.
“
You know this girl he
’
s out with?
”

He
shakes his head again.
“
No. She doesn
’
t go to our school.
”

I
frown. I know that Caitlynn goes to school with Brayden. I had assumed her
friend did, too.
“
She doesn
’
t? Has he met her before?
”

“
Don
’
t know,
”
Matty shrugs.
“
He
doesn
’
t
tell me anything anymore.
”
I can hear the hurt hidden behind his
words. He
’
s
talking, though, and that
’s
good. This is my chance to show him that I
’
m not his enemy.

“
Why not?
”

“
He just doesn
’
t. Guess he
’
s got better things to do.
”

“
I
’
m
sure that
’
s not true. You
’
re his brother. He loves you.
”

“
How do you know?
”
he snaps, turning his head.
“
You
’
ve only known us for ten days.
”

“
How do I know?
”
I suck air through my teeth.
“
I guess because I
’
ve seen a lot of kids come and go. A
lot of them are as close as brothers.
”

“
It
’
s not the same.
”

“
Okay, fine. It
’
s not. But I do get it. You know Aiden
’
s my older brother, right?
”
I say. He nods.
“
Well,
when we were little, he was my best friend. I followed him everywhere, wanted
to be just like him. He once punched a kid for making me cry.
”
Matty
’
s mouth twitches into a slight smile.
“
And then he discovered girls and got his driver
’
s license and didn
’
t want me to tag along anymore. I was fifteen when he left
for college. For months beforehand, he completely ignored me. The entire
summer, he wanted nothing to do with me. It hurt because I knew he was going away.
I didn
’
t
find out until a year later that he was just trying to make the separation
easier on both of us.
”
This is where I have to stop, because
it was a year later that my whole world fell apart. Time stopped and every
single one of my relationships changed.
“
Your
brother cares more about you than anything else in the world. Trust me.
”
I push back from the railing.
“
Don
’
t stay out here too long. It
’
s cold.
”

“
I won
’
t,
”
he assures.
“
Um, thanks for not telling Kayla about
the, uh
…”

“
Yeah, well, I
’
m not going to tell her if I catch you
again, either.
”

He
wrinkles up his face in confusion.
“
You
’
re not?
”

“
Nope.
”
I shake my head.
“
I
’
m gonna make you do it.
”

Matty
swallows. I swear I can hear the nervous gulp. I want to laugh, but he needs to
know I
’
m
serious, so I just turn around and go inside.

Tracey
’
s sitting in the front room, reading.
I sit down across from her and she gives me the rundown on the evening. Curtis
is sick with a fever and is already fast asleep. Edgar and Eric got into
another fight and spent an hour in their rooms. She busted Jax and Tia getting
a little too hot and heavy in the den and sent Tia home. Now Jax is all pissy
and full of attitude. Matty spent most of his time on the computer. She knew he
’
d gone outside, but didn
’
t realize what he was doing.

“
I
’
m sorry, Dean. I didn
’
t know he was a smoker.
”

“
I don
’
t think he is. I think he
’
s testing the boundaries.
”

She
nods in understanding. We both look up when the front door opens and Matty
comes back in, heading straight upstairs.

Tracey
turns back to me.
“
How was your night? You
’
re home kind of early,
”
she says.

I scowl. Not at Tracey, but at the memory of the
disastrous dinner.

“Wow. What happened?”

“
I don
’
t want to talk about it.
”

Tracey
cups my chin like I
’
m a little boy.
“
You
know you can talk to me, right?
”

I
nod and smile at her.
“
Thanks, T. I
’
m okay.
”

“
All right then, sweetie. I
’
m going to head home. I
’
ve left Bill in charge of a sleepover.
Hopefully I
’
ll
find him still alive and sane when I get there.
”

Once
she
’
s
left, I join Edgar, Eric, and Jax in the den. They
’
re watching one of the Transformers
movies. Jax is still brooding, but Edgar and Eric appear to have dealt with
their issue. Matty eventually joins us. He even trades the occasional playful
insult with Edgar. I send them to bed around eleven o
’
clock and stay up watching reruns
until I hear the front door.

Logan
and Brayden are laughing when I meet them at the door. It
’
s just before their midnight curfew. I
look them over, making sure they
’
re not drunk or high. I send them up before heading to bed
myself, hoping to God I won
’
t have any dreams tonight.

* * *

Emily refuses to talk to me for the next couple days. I
stay out of her way, and she stays out of mine. But eventually we have to
communicate.

“
Em, I need you to do something,
”
I say, walking into her office after lunch. She raises her
eyes at me like I
’
m
crazy, but waits for me to continue. I
’
m still her boss, after all.
“
When
Logan comes home from school, I need you to sit down with him and talk jobs. I
told Kayla you
’
d
help him with that.
”

“
Okay. Anything else?
”
she asks when I don
’
t move. I sort of want to apologize, but I
’
m stubborn, so I don
’
t.

I
shake my head.
“
No.
”

I
spend the rest of the afternoon calling applicants and setting up interviews. I
’
ve got six scheduled for later this
week and seven so far for next. The other two I wasn
’
t able to get ahold of. When the boys
get home, I
’
m
at the front door.

“
Logan?
”

“
Yeah?
”

“
Emily
’
s office,
”
I order.

He
looks a little worried.
“
What
’
d I do?
”

“
Nothing that I know of,
”
I chuckle.
“
You got a guilty conscience about
something?
”

Logan
grins, but doesn
’
t
answer. I follow him in and shut the door.