WILD (Naked, Book 3) (5 page)

Caelyn’s mouth snapped shut and she felt her eyes prickling. She looked to Elijah for answers.

He was still staring at Hayley. “You can leave those when you go,” he said calmly.

Hayley shrugged and dropped the keys at her feet. “Fine. Whatever.”

Elijah took a deep breath. “Listen, Hayley. Things didn’t work out between us.

I’m…I’m moving on.”

She giggled, her eyes flicking to Caelyn. “He sounds so grown up and mature now. Is this to impress you? Are you one of those good girls that Elijah always thought were too good for him?”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Caelyn said, but her voice shook.

“I think I get it,” Hayley said. “But from one girl to another, be careful. He’s finicky. One day you’ve got the keys to his place and the next you’re finding out by text message that he’s leaving town and not coming back. Until he does. With some other girl.” Hayley turned and walked to the door.

Elijah sighed deeply. “There’s nothing I can say.” It was as if he was telling himself more than talking to either of them.

Hayley giggled again. “No, there really isn’t anything you can say. Bye bye!”

She opened the door and walked out, slamming it shut behind her.

Caelyn felt disgusted and small and suddenly very tired. Elijah turned and looked at her. His expression was tired, too, and he seemed guarded once more.

“Hayley’s a complicated girl,” he said.

“She had the key,” Caelyn said softly, as the reality of it hit her. And the note on the wall in the kitchen—that had been from Hayley too, Caelyn realized.

“Yeah, she had my key.”

“Did you really just break up with her when you left? That was only a few days ago.”

“I broke up with her about a week before I left Boston.” He went and locked the top lock on the door. “Anyway, we were never that serious.”

“Serious enough for her to have keys.”

Elijah strode to the keys on the floor and picked them up, hefting them in his hand. “That didn’t mean as much as you seem to think.”

“Well it obviously meant something to her.”

Elijah looked up at Caelyn. “What’s the problem, exactly?”

“Are you kidding?”

“No, I’m not kidding. I didn’t realize that I was a bad guy because I had a girlfriend before you and I met.”

Caelyn shook her head. “You know it’s not that.”

“Then tell me what it is.”

Caelyn thought about it, tried to put it into words. “I don’t know, Elijah. I guess I think maybe you should have told me. About Hayley.”

He walked towards her. “You’re right. I should have. But it never came up.”

“I feel weird, now. I feel like…”

“Like what?” he said. “I broke up with her before I left. I wasn’t with her when you and I met.”

“You broke up with her by text?”

He threw his hands in the air. “Now you’re upset at how I broke up with my ex?”

“I’m just—“

“You’re just trying to pick a fight with me. And I’m not interested in that.” He put Haley’s set of keys on the living room table. “I’m going out for some air.”

And then he turned and left.

Caelyn was too stunned to even say anything.

***

When Elijah returned a little while later, Caelyn was waiting for him.

“What’s up?” he said, barely looking at her as he came inside.

“I need you to drive me home.”

Now he did look at her, his eyes widening in surprise. “You’re going home because we had one argument?”

Caelyn shook her head. “I’m not going home to stay. I need to get my purse with all my IDs and everything.”

“Oh.” He grinned sheepishly.

“But I really don’t like the way you left the apartment the way you did.”

His grin faded. “I don’t like it when people try and pick fights with me.”

“I wasn’t picking a fight, Elijah. I was upset. There’s a difference.”

He sighed. “Let’s talk about it in the car on the way, okay?”

She hesitated. Was he just trying to shut her up and hope she’d let it go once they were on the road?

Well, maybe he was smart, because as they got in the truck and started driving, Caelyn started to think that maybe there wasn’t anything worth talking about after all.

So Elijah had dated a girl in the past. Everybody had a past.

He’d never lied about it.

He hadn’t tried to hide something from her.

They got on the highway and he glanced over at her. “You’re deep in thought, kid. It’s making me nervous.”

She smiled at him. “I’m sorry I got weird about Hayley. It was just kind of shocking.”

“I don’t blame you for being freaked out. I mean, when I ran into that Jayson dude I beat his head in. So I guess how you reacted isn’t so bad.”

Caelyn laughed. “No, not when you put it that way.”

He sighed. “But I know that I should have told you about her. The thing is, I don’t like thinking about Hayley. She’s kind of messed up in the head.”

“How so?”

He shrugged. “Hard to say exactly what’s wrong with her. She was super cool when we first started seeing each other, and then she just got moody and strange. I gave her those keys before she started acting all weird.”

“How long were you dating her for?”

“On and off for maybe six months.”

Caelyn felt a knot form in her stomach. Six months sounded pretty long. She felt like there was more to the story. “I still don’t understand what happened.”

“She likes chaos. She thrives on drama and stuff like tonight, where she gets to rile people up and act like it’s no big deal. I just got tired of her, tired of that whole scene. She’s not like you, Caelyn—I could never make you understand someone like Hayley.”

The rest of the drive was easier, more relaxed between them. Although, slowly, as they got closer to her parents’ house, Caelyn started getting anxious. Granted, she was pretty certain that her parents wouldn’t be home, but Deena would be home.

Dealing with Deena was almost as bad as dealing with her mother and father.

Almost—but still not as bad. Caelyn felt confident that she could find a way to get her purse if she could get inside the house and keep Deena talking long enough.

They pulled up in front of the house and Caelyn was relieved to see Deena’s car was, in fact, parked in the driveway.

“I should probably wait here,” Elijah said.

“Yeah, good idea.” Caelyn opened the car door. “Wish me luck.”

“You’ll be fine. Just don’t take any shit.”

She laughed and started for the house. She didn’t even knock at first, just tried the handle, but it was locked. Then she rang the doorbell.

Footsteps approached from inside, and then Deena’s distinctive voice called out.

“I’ve been told not to let you in. So go away, Caelyn.”

“I need to talk to you,” she said, hoping this didn’t prove to be the one time that her little sister was able to restrain herself from arguing.

“What do I have to talk to you about?” Deena snickered but it was muffled.

“You’re a loser. And you’re crazy. Mom doesn’t want me to have anything to do with you.”

“Just open up, Deena. Seriously. Are you really that afraid of me?”

There was a lengthy pause and Caelyn became concerned that she’d really and truly blown it. If Deena called their mother, it was over. She’d never get inside.

But then she heard the lock clicking and the handle turned, as the door was opened from the inside.

Deena glared at her. “What?” she said.

“Can’t I even come in?”

“No.” Deena arched an eyebrow, peering over Caelyn’s shoulder. “Is that the boy I heard Mom and Dad talking about? They say he’s really bad news.”

Caelyn looked back. Elijah was hardly visible sitting in the truck. She turned to Deena again. “Don’t worry about him. He’s waiting in the car.”

“I know you want your purse, Caelyn. But you can’t have it, it’s hidden.”

“That’s my stuff, Dee.”

“Don’t call me Dee.”

“Stop being such a baby, then.”

“Fuck you.” Deena’s cheeks were turning red and her eyes had that look that Caelyn was familiar with—the look where she was about to lose it.

Caelyn opened the screen door and Deena pushed on her shoulders.

“Don’t touch me, Deena—“

“Stay out, you stupid bitch!” Deena shrieked.

But Caelyn was still bigger and stronger than her younger sister. She pushed her way into the house and started up the stairs to her room, having little hope that her purse would still be there. Deena followed after her, insulting her and calling her stupid.

“You’ll never find it. Never. You’re so screwed,” Deena said.

Caelyn ignored her, but once she’d looked around her room in the usual locations, she knew that it might be impossible to find her things. She didn’t have hours and hours to search for it.

She spun on Deena. “What do you want?” she asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I want you to leave—leave me alone.

Leave us alone. We don’t need you.”

“Give me my things and I’ll leave you alone. Easy.” Caelyn smiled at her sweetly.

Deena shook her head. “Mom and Dad specifically said that if you came home, to call them and tell them and not to even let you in the house.”

“So you already screwed up. You’ve never been good at following instructions.”

Deena’s eyes squinted up. “I screwed up? That’s really good coming from you.

I heard them talking about how you accused Jayson Reynolds of raping you. They didn’t even believe you—your own parents think you’re such a slutty whore—“

Caelyn took a step forward, her eyes flashing with anger. “Say one more word about Jayson and watch what I do to you.”

Deena stepped back, her face registering uncertainty for the first time. “Don’t touch me!” she whined.

“I’m warning you,” Caelyn said. “I don’t care what else you say, whatever nasty filth you spew at me—but if you talk about Jayson Reynolds again, I’ll hit you so hard you’ll forget your own name.”

Deena’s lips drew back from her teeth like a frightened dog, and she stepped backwards again. “Don’t touch me.”

“Tell me where my things are so I can leave. It’s my stuff. If you really want me out of your life so badly, that’s the quickest way.”

Her younger sister’s eyes suddenly gleamed, as she looked out the window to the truck parked out front. “Fine,” Deena said, pointing at it. “I just want to meet him.”

“What?”

“I want to meet the bad boy that you’re ruining your whole life for. And if you let me, I promise I’ll tell you where your purse is.”

“Don’t mess with me, Deena.”

“I swear to God.” She held up her right hand.

Caelyn stared at her, wondering what the little shit was trying to pull. There was always an angle, but she couldn’t figure this one out. Maybe it really was just curiosity, or perhaps Deena planned on saying something mean to make Elijah have doubts about Caelyn.

Whatever it was, Caelyn needed to play the game. She nodded. “Fine, come on.”

“No, I don’t want to go outside. Invite him in.”

“Why?”

“Because, I want to say hi and really talk to this boy. Not just make chitchat while he sits in his truck. I want to get a good look at him.” She smiled.

“Whatever, Caelyn replied, sighing. Being around Deena for even a few minutes was totally exhausting. She didn’t know how the girl lived with herself.

Obviously, she’s driven herself insane, Caelyn thought, as she walked downstairs again and waved to Elijah from the front door.

He got out of his truck and walked to the front yard cautiously.

“Oh, he’s cute,” Deena said from behind her. “No, he’s way beyond cute, actually. He’s hot. I can’t believe he’s with you. There must be something horribly wrong with him.”

“Shut up,” Caelyn replied casually, as she waved him towards her.

Elijah looked around, as if he was expecting a SWAT team to descend at any moment, and then headed to the house. When he got to the door, Caelyn let him in. “My sister really wanted to meet you,” she said, shrugging.

Elijah glanced at Deena. “I’m Elijah. Pleased to meet you,” he said.

Deena batted her eyelashes at him. “I’m Caelyn’s sister, Deena. And I’ve heard
so
much about you.”

Elijah looked at Caelyn. “She’s being really mean and weird,” Caelyn said, “but she promised me that if I let her meet you, she’d tell me where my purse is.”

“Why’d you want to meet me?” Elijah asked, looking down at Deena as if she was a strange new kind of animal that he’d never seen before.

“I don’t know,” she said, suddenly playing shy. “Maybe because you’re sort of a mystery man, and my parents are afraid of you.”

“Afraid of me?” he looked at Caelyn. “Is she joking?”

“I don’t know what she’s doing.”

Deena was watching Elijah closely. “So, like—how did you meet my sister?”

He crossed his arms. “She was on her way to Florida and had car trouble so I picked her up.”

“That’s so romantic,” Deena, said, sounding like she was an old grandmother approving of the two teenagers in love.

“I’m glad you think so,” Caelyn told her. “Now it’s your turn to give me my stuff.”

Deena giggled. “Fine.” She looked at Elijah once more and then ran upstairs.

“Be right back!” she called.

Caelyn shook her head. “She’s up to something. I should have gone with her.”

“Just relax. She’ll get your purse.”

“Yeah, and probably take something of mine in the process.”

Not very long after, Deena appeared at the top of the stairs again, holding Caelyn’s purse. “Got it,” she said, holding it up and acting like she was going to drop it.

“Give it to me, Deena.”

“Chill,” Deena said. “You’re such a drama queen.”

She walked down the stairs and handed the purse over. Caelyn opened it and immediately searched through it for all her important stuff. Her school ID and drivers license were there, as were her credit cards, dorm keys, everything seemed to be in place.

Except for the rest of her cash.

She hadn’t had much left, but there had been more than nothing. “Did you take the money out of my purse?” Caelyn said, looking up.

Deena shook her head as if Caelyn was being crazy just suggesting it. “No, Mom and Dad had your purse. Maybe they took it.”