Denying the Wrong (11 page)

I dropped her arm and began walking backwards toward the other exit. “You let him back here?”

Scott nodded.

“You knew about this?” Alissa nodded, looking down instead of at me.

“We need to talk. He's changed, Kat, I promise. Look at him. He's been working out and taking care of himself,” she said raising her voice, getting defensive.

My mouth dropped open a little, but I quickly composed myself. I didn't want to show fear in front of Walt even though I couldn’t look at him. “After what he did, you just forgave him? I bet your boyfriend here talked you into it, right? Knowing how I would feel about this, you still agreed to it?”

“Kat, don't overreact. Let's just go talk,” Alissa said.

I have every right to overreact, you stupid bitch!

I held up my hand and she stopped moving towards me. “No. Do. Not. Follow. Me.” I turned around and walked out the door with as much grace as I could muster up. Once the door shut behind me, I ran as fast as I could. I ran to the next bus stop in case she came out looking for me. My run quickly turned into a fast-paced walk.
Damn it, why did I let myself get so out of shape?

Luck was on my side. The bus came about five minutes later and I was safely in a seat. I pulled out my phone and texted Dillon to meet me at my apartment. I stared out the window the remainder of the ride. When did Alissa get so screwed up? The Alissa I knew wouldn't even give Walt a second glance. What in the hell is going on?

~*~

“Besides lying to me, what in the hell were you thinking going there alone? You said yourself you thought he was dangerous, and then you went and sat in a room alone with him?” I had never seen Dillon this mad before. He was yelling, and I just let him until he was done.

“I know I shouldn’t have lied, but you wouldn’t have let me go alone, and I didn’t want Alissa to be around when I talked to Scott. Then Walt showed up and I panicked. Not that any of my plan turned out the way I had expected it to, but please don’t be mad!” I bit my bottom lip, hoping it would serve as a distraction. He didn’t even notice.

“What do you mean Walt showed up?” he yelled.

“I didn’t let Alissa explain why he was back. I couldn’t breathe. I ran out and jumped on the bus.”

“Have you lied to me about anything else?” Dillon sat on the couch opposite of me. He looked more sad than angry.

“No!” I said, shocked he would even ask me that. “I know it won’t make what I did better, but he didn’t tell me anything that raised any serious flags. I know I should trust Alissa to make her own decisions, but she’s in a daze and can’t see straight because Mr. Sexy has taken over her brain!”

I turned around to run to my room, but Dillon grabbed me and pulled me onto his lap. “Did you just call him Mr. Sexy?”

Oh, no. “He isn’t sexy to me, I meant Alissa thinks he’s sexy.”

“You better not think he’s sexy.” He pulled me in for a kiss and I relaxed a little.

“We need to do something. She’s going to get in trouble hanging around him and all those other people. I don’t care if he justifies what’s been happening, and I don’t believe it’s all happened because of Karma,” I said, hugging him, curled up on his lap like a child.

“I’ll try to talk to her, but you have to remember, Alissa is very hard-headed.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. He was completely right. “I don’t think she’s in a place where she can take care of herself. We need to do something. I’m really afraid for her.”

“Now, there is one more issue we need to talk about.”

My head felt light. What else could we possibly have to talk about. “What?”

“Remember when I told you that I love you?”

Panic set in. “Yes, why? Are you taking it back? Was it too soon?”

“No.”

I jumped up from his lap ready to bolt into the bathroom. “No?”

He stood up, grabbing my hands. “No. I meant every word. But, you didn’t say it back. It’s been eating at me.”

I threw myself into his arms, relief flushing over my body. “I love you. I love you so much.”

Dillon stepped back, still not smiling. “And I love you, so please promise me we stick together?”

I took two slow steps towards him, reaching my hand out in front of me. “Deal.”

He looked down at my hand and smirked.

“What? Would you rather pinky promise?”

He pulled me in, kissing me hard. We stumbled over to the couch. His arms kept me close and I crawled on top of him.

“I’m not squishing you, am I?”

His laugh shook me. “No, you aren’t but could you move your knee before I’m unable to have kids?”

We kissed for a while, a welcome distraction. Later, the darkness in my room as I tried to sleep bothered me more than usual. I tried to hold onto the thoughts of love but Alissa’s deception won. I had nightmares of Walt again.

Alissa

Watching Kat walk away without running after her was painful. Scott told me I needed to give her time to cool down. I knew he was right, but it still made me anxious.
I
didn't even like seeing Walt last week when he was “officially” back, so I couldn't imagine how she’d felt when he’d walked into the room.

I put my things in the corner and began stretching. I didn't even know what our group was doing today but I immediately began thinking of ways to get out of here. I needed to go home and call Kat. Scott walked up to me and pulled me into his office without saying anything.

“You okay?” Scott hugged me.

“Yeah, I just don't like seeing Kat upset.” Being close to him made me feel better. I didn't like having to share him with other people. I wanted to cling to him and run away, just the two of us.

“You do realize that friends sometimes go their separate ways? I know that's hard to hear after you've been friends for so long, but it's just the way it goes.” He shrugged his shoulders.

I pulled away, crossing my arms. “I don't think we'll ever go our separate ways. She's like my sister.”

“Sometimes you need to choose what's important in your life and that doesn't always coexist with the people you love.” He let me go and sat down behind his desk. I sat across from him and felt like I was talking to my boss, not someone I was intimate with.

“What about us?”

He drew out a long breath. “What about us?”

“Is there an us? What are we doing here?” My heart was beating so hard, it almost hurt. I wasn’t confident in how I felt about him at this point, but I certainly wasn’t ready for a rejection.

His eyes got wide. He opened his mouth as thought he was ready to speak but nothing came out.

“How about you think about it and let me know,” I said, getting up and leaving before the tears fell.

I walked with confidence to the corner of the room where my things were on the ground. Everyone seemed to be distracted enough to not notice my face was down and my lip was quivering.

I ran to my car the moment the door closed behind me. Thankfully, the tears didn’t spring until the car door was shut and doors locked. I peeled out of the parking lot and took a right. My eyes were so cloudy, I couldn’t see. Pulling into a grocery store parking lot, I felt foolish, which made the tears fall harder.

I pissed off my best friend and now the man that turned my world up-side down doesn’t know how he feels about me. Could I possibly screw anything else up?

~*~

I greeted my parents as I passed through the kitchen on my way to my room, feeling a little guilty for ditching out on family dinners. If they had noticed me acting differently, they hadn’t said anything to me. I’d hoped Dillon would keep his mouth shut so I wouldn't have to explain anything to my parents. I wasn't even sure how to explain anything to myself at this point.

I hadn't been in bed very long when Dillon came bursting into my room, his face twisted in anger. I knew before he said anything what this conversation would be about and I wasn’t in the mood.

“You have hit an all-time low, you know that?” He stood by the bed with his fists clenched. Had it been anyone else, I would have been intimidated by the body language, but I knew Dillon would never lay a hand on me.

I sat up and pulled the covers down. “Look, I already know what you're going to say, so save your breath and leave it alone. I'll make everything right with Kat and then you two can go on living your precious little lovebird lives together.”

“This isn't just about you and Katherine, or you and me.” He started pacing between me and the door. “If Scott is up to something and you know about it, that makes you just as guilty. So cut the shit and just tell me what the hell is going on!”

I stood up and looked him in the eyes. “There is nothing going on. Scott is trying to help people, and I don't understand why that is so hard for you or Kat to understand.”

“What about Walt?” He seethed through his teeth.

“Everyone deserves a second chance.” I really hadn't planned on sticking up for Walt but I didn't want to explain to Dillon what was going on, so it seemed the easier thing to do.

“Not when they hurt someone you love.” He left me in my room with those words. He was right, but I wasn’t ready to admit that.

I checked my phone before climbing back into bed. No messages.

~*~

I woke up early the next morning without hope of going back to sleep, since I’d gone to bed early. My stomach rumbled, forcing me to go find some food. Raindrops hit my window. The weather matched my mood.

My parents and Dillon were sitting at the kitchen table, talking and drinking coffee. They all looked surprised when I walked around the corner. I just smiled and poured myself a cup.

“What's going on? Did I miss anything?” I leaned against the counter instead of sitting down, just in case they grilled me and I had to make a quick escape.

Dillon stood up without saying anything, poured the rest of his coffee down the sink and left the room.

“I don't know what's going on between you two, but you’d better fix it, young lady,” my dad said, raising his eyebrow.

Deciding to stay a while now that Dillon had left, I sat down next to my mom, who was reading the paper. She looked up at me with a glare. “And if you think you'll lose weight by skipping meals, you’d better cut that out right now.”

I smiled at her because she always assumed the craziest things. “I'm not trying to lose weight, Mom. I was just tired and wanted to go to bed.” I'm not sure she believed me, but she didn't continue that conversation.

“So, what’s going on this weekend? Anything fun?”

“Your brother is going with Kat and her mom to visit the Doctor at his lake house.”

“What lake house?”

My mom looked back up at me and rolled her eyes. “Do you not listen to any of the gossip anymore? Kat's mom has been dating a doctor now for a couple months, and he’s got a lake house. I haven't talked to Kat about him, but Dillon seems to approve.”

I didn't remember Kat telling me about any of this - or Dillon, for that matter. I decided not to call her later since she would be busy.
Maybe tomorrow after she lets loose a little.

I had homework to do. If nothing else in my life was going to work out, the least I could do was try harder in school.

~*~

Scott messaged me later that evening, asking me to come by the gym. I looked at my phone for fifteen minutes before responding. Part of me hoped he wanted to finish our conversation. The other part of me hoped he didn't mean for a workout, because my body felt too tired, even after all the sleep I got last night. I didn't want to ask, though, just in case he was still angry I’d skipped out on our conversation without saying “goodbye”. That look on his face still plagued me.

I went around to the back door, thankful it was unlocked. No one was in the big room, making me feel confident he didn't ask me here for a workout session. I knocked on his office door just in case someone else was in there. Any other time I would have just walked in, but I didn't want to give Scott any other reason to be upset with me.

Scott opened the door right away with an annoyed look on his face, until he realized it was me. He pulled me in for a hug, squeezing me so tight, I couldn't move at all. Once he let go, I walked over to the couch. He stood in the middle of the room, neither of us saying anything. I wasn't going to be the one to break the silence.

He leaned up against the desk and crossed his arms. “I'm sorry you felt like you needed to make a rude exit yesterday.” He remained calm.

Relief washed over me, knowing he was no longer mad. “I just don't understand what's going on. Not that you have to tell me, but it feels like something is up. With us and with L.S.A.B.” I hoped he didn’t think I was pushing him.

“I'm using the L.S.A.B. group to accomplish something important to me. It's a work in progress, but with the right team, I hope it becomes big someday.” He stood as still as a rock.

“That's good, right?”

“Yes, it's good, but it's a lot of work.” He stood up straight and looked me right in the eyes. “I need you to trust me.”

If he was trying to insinuate something, I wasn’t clear on what it was. Instead of saying the wrong thing, I didn’t say anything at all. I held his stare, not moving.

“I know it's hard to understand, but you have to trust me. Your friend, Kat, doesn't.” He walked to the couch and sat down next to me.

I couldn't help but smile. “That's an understatement,” I laughed uneasily.

“She won't be able to understand my mission.” His jaw clenched up. I needed to soothe him.

“What makes you think I'll understand?” I reached out for his hand and he looked at it a couple seconds before taking it in his.

“Because you're special. I knew it the first day we met. We have a connection. You care about the people in the group and you can relate to them because you see the evil, too.”

“Tell me more. What has your ‘team’ been up to?”

“Not to brag,” his face lighting up like a kid’s at Christmas, “but one of my guys intercepted a bully giving someone a hard time. This asshole tripped up my guy. The team cornered him behind the school and left him with a couple broken ribs. I don’t think he’ll be tripping anyone anytime soon.”

“How do you know he didn’t trip him by accident?”

“Are you questioning me?”

“No. I just want you guys to be careful. I don’t want anything bad to happen, and now some guy has broken ribs?” The thought of him facing danger was, in truth, turning me on. I’d never known a real life macho-man. True, he wasn’t doing any of the protecting himself, but he was leading those who were. The excitement and confidence radiating off him was intriguing.

“I like that you’re worried about me.”

I squeezed his hand and moved in to kiss his cheek, but he stopped me with his lips. The kiss was soft, but the electricity burned. I had to pull back or I would have climbed onto his lap.

“If you trust me, I will protect you. Always.” He ran his hand down my cheek.

“So, what you’re doing, it’s to protect me?”

“Not just you. Me and anyone else who sees how much evil is out there.”

“Whatever it is you're doing, if it's important to you, it's important to me.” I really meant that.
Maybe he’s telling me not to worry about the group or about us? Was this his way of saying he cares about me but can’t express it?

“I'm happy to hear you say that.” He pulled me closer and began kissing my neck. “I want you so bad.”

His words started a fire in my stomach. “Then take me.”

“Oh, I will.” His eyes traveled down to my chest. He pulled my shirt off, forcefully, then his. He stood up and pulled down his pants. Standing me up, he pulled mine down, too.

I kicked my shoes off and threw my clothes on the floor. Before I could reach my arms around his neck, he pulled back and turned me around.

“I want you here,” he said, guiding me down to the couch, on my knees. He lifted my butt in the air and pushed his finger deep into me.

I arched my back, letting his finger go deeper.

“You’re so wet for me,” he said, smacking my ass.

I groaned, moving my hips to the rhythm of his finger. He pulled out his finger just as I was about to climax. “Don’t stop,” I cried.

“I have something better for you,” he said, putting a condom on and pushing himself deep inside me. He held onto my ass, thrust after thrust. We came undone together, both of us sweating and breathing fast.

He pulled out and grabbed a couple towels off the shelf. Handing me one, he turned around without kissing me to pick up his clothes. “You better get going. I have a session.”

I felt used, but quickly distracted myself by thinking how wonderful my body felt. “Okay.” I cleaned up, got dressed, and left without saying anything else.