“That was pretty good,” I said when the movie was over.
“How would you know? You had the blanket over your eyes most of the time.” Brody grinned.
I moved to sit up so he could take care of the video, but his arm tightened around me. I settled back against him.
“I did not.”
“Okay, whatever you say.” Brody pulled the blanket around me. “Are you getting cold?”
Ha! If he only knew how not cold I was. “No.”
“So…” He drummed the thumb of one hand on his knee.
“What?” I pushed the strands of hair that had worked their way out of the knot at the base of my neck behind my ear and looked up at Brody.
“Jaden. He’s quite a piece of work, that one.”
I sighed and pulled away from him. This time, he let me go. “I was hoping we were going to avoid this conversation.”
“What? Just sit, watch the movie, and never bring up the thousand-pound elephant dangling over our heads?”
I glared at him. “I was hoping.”
Brody nodded. “Okay. Sure, if that’s what you want. I just don’t get you. You seem so self-assured in everything you do. So independent… until it comes to him. And then it’s like all your common sense and intelligence flies out the window. You roll over and just let him treat you like dirt. It doesn’t make sense.”
“I know. What time is it?”
“It’s after ten.”
“I need to get home. My curfew is eleven.”
Brody sighed and sat up. We were silent as we folded the blanket and picked up the empty pop cans and popcorn bowl, putting everything back in the bag in the rear of the Jeep.
It wasn’t until we were driving home that Brody spoke. “I overheard you saying to Jenna that you’d tried to break up with Jaden before. What happened?”
“I’ve tried more than once. He made my life a living hell. He’d follow me from class to class when I was at school, and I’d catch him following me even outside of school, at the mall, the movies, and places like that. He threatened any guy who came within ten feet of me. And forget asking me out, no guy would dare do that. They’d barely speak to me. That’s why I sat alone in all my classes before you came along. No one would risk getting on Jaden’s bad side. So they stayed away.”
“So he bullied you into getting back together,” Brody said, his voice hard.
“I guess so.”
“You’re home.” He stopped in front of my neighbor’s house and turned out the lights.
“Thanks so much for tonight. I had a lot of fun.” I looked at Brody and smiled. “It sure beat sitting at home all night.”
Brody grabbed my hand, laced his fingers with mine, and squeezed. “Anytime.”
I slipped out of the Jeep, our fingers sliding slowly away from each other’s. Shutting the door, I walked home. I saw Brody flip on his lights and slowly pull away from the curb as I closed the door behind me.
“You made it home before curfew tonight. There’s a first time for everything, I guess.” I jumped at the sound of Ralph’s voice behind me.
Ralph owned two successful car lots and was on the Cassidy Independent School Board. He was highly respected in the social circles in Middleton. My mother, however, was not. She was white trash from the wrong side of the tracks. Everyone assumed she was nothing more than a gold-digging hussy. If they knew the real Ralph McKenna—not the front he put on when he was around other people—they’d know there were easier ways to dig for gold. They’d also know gold digging went both ways.
Ralph and my mother married just six months after meeting. Six months after my stepdad died in a car accident. She was working as a waitress, trying to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table until the life insurance benefits and the inheritance from my stepdad’s will was finally distributed. She planned to go back to school and finish the degree she started before her surprise pregnancy with me caused her to drop out. But she met Ralph, and it was love at first sight. A whirlwind romance, an elopement in Vegas, and they’ve been happy ever since. Or that was the story they told everyone.
“Yes, sir,” I said, inching my way to the stairs and hoping he’d just let me go up to my bedroom.
“Jaden called looking for you. Didn’t seem too happy that you weren’t home after you told him you would be. He’s on his way over now.”
My heart sank.
Jaden’s coming here? Ralph told him I wasn’t home. Crap.
Breathe. Just breathe.
I’d barely gotten to my bedroom when the doorbell rang. Turning, I went back to the stairs. I could see Ralph and Jaden talking in the foyer below. Ralph laughed at something Jaden said and clapped him on the back. I sighed, forcing my feet to go down the stairs. My heart beat in my ears, the blood whooshing behind them. My hands were slick with sweat and slipped on the bannister.
“Hey,” I said to Jaden, smiling.
He didn’t speak to me. Instead, he looked at Ralph and said, “I know Willow’s curfew is eleven, but do you think we could take a drive? I’ll have her back by midnight.”
“Sure, Jaden, that’s fine,” Ralph said, clapping Jaden on the back again like they were long-lost buddies. Ick.
Jaden gripped my upper arm and guided me out to his car. He didn’t say a word. We’d driven through my subdivision before he pulled into a convenience store parking lot, jammed his Mustang into park, and turned to glare at me.
“Where were you?”
“Out,” I said, raising my chin.
“With?”
“A friend. What difference does it make?”
“I know you weren’t with Jenna like you told your mom and Ralph,” Jaden said quietly. It was almost scarier than if he were yelling at me. “Karen saw you.”
“Should have known your spy was out on patrol.”
He turned toward me so fast I flinched against the car door. “Check the attitude, Willow,” he said, pointing a finger in my face. “Who were you out with?”
“A friend.”
“What friend?” He nearly spat the word friend.
“None of your freakin’ business, Jaden,” I yelled. “You go off and party with Sarah and God only knows who else whenever you want. I think I’m entitled to visit with a friend if I want to.”
“You aren’t entitled to anything—”
“Take me home.”
“We aren’t done.”
“I am. Either take me home or I’ll walk.” I narrowed my eyes at him. When he didn’t start driving, I said, “Now.”
“You’re making this harder than it has to be,” he warned. “You do not want to push me. I don’t want to be the bad guy, but I will be if you don’t play by the rules.”
“No, you’re making things harder, Jaden. You and your rules are full of shit. Things are going to change. I’m not putting up with your possessive bullshit anymore. Get over yourself. I’m going to start doing what I want, when I want to do it, without getting permission from you… and you’re going to keep your mouth shut about what you know. If you don’t like it, then maybe we should break up now and get it over with.”
“I won’t keep my mouth shut. I’ll tell everyone.” Leaning toward me, he whispered, “Everyone.” He planted a quick kiss on the end of my nose. “And you and I both know who people will believe.”
“Well, here’s the deal.” I smoothed out my shirt and adjusted my belt before I looked at him. “You’ve known what happened for… hmm, how long? Weeks? No, longer than that. Months? No, even longer.” I shook my head and tsked. “Gee, I don’t think the police are going to like it when they find out you had this information and didn’t come forward.”
Jaden’s face turned red, and a vein bulged in his neck. It was definitely the wrong thing to say. And he made sure I knew it.
Jamming the car into drive, he squealed out of the parking lot. He didn’t say another word to me on the drive back to my house. When he pulled into my driveway, he looked at me and finally broke the silence. “You seem to have it all figured out. But if you were so sure it would be that easy, you would have done something before now. To me. To Ralph. But you haven’t. So I call BS on your little threat, Willow. Now get the hell out of my car.” I’d barely got out and shut the door when he gunned the engine, peeled out of the drive, and sped down the street.