Falling for Hadie (25 page)

For a split second, I thought about taking her to my room and peeling that dress off her, but that wasn’t possible. Not when I had other guests at my house—guests that she wasn’t even aware of.

“You look…amazing,” I said, pulling her into my arms and planting a quick kiss on her lips.

She pulled away, disappointment and uncertainty wringing her features. “Oh, um…thanks. I bought it this afternoon because my wardrobe pretty much sucks. Is it too fancy to wear to dinner? Because I tried to pick something that would work for the bar too. I mean, I’m not sure if a dress would pass for the bar because I’ve never been…”

And there she went, my serial rambler. Laughing, I placed another kiss on her lips to shush her. “Hades, you look great. Stop stressing out about it.”

Something else seemed to be bothering her other than her choice of outfit but she pushed it away as she gave me an artificial smile. “You look better. Are you still sick?”

I’d have to ask her later on what was bothering her. For now, I had other things to worry about.

I shrugged. “I’m okay.”

“So are you going to invite me in?”

“I am…” I hesitated, my hand lingering on the doorknob as I tried to figure out how to tell her what was going on. “But I have to tell you something first. Uh, the thing is…we have company. My…uh…friends are visiting from New York.”

Hadie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh. You never mentioned anything about having your friends over.”

I ran a hand through my hair, certain that there was a sheepish look on my face right about now. “Honestly, I completely forgot about it. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Okay, that was a lie. I did know what was wrong with me, but what I didn’t know was how I was going to tell Hadie. Her standing on my doorstep definitely wasn’t the right moment for me to drop a bombshell on her. The conversation I wanted to have with her would have to wait for another time.

She tilted her head to the side and regarded me with a funny look. “You say that a lot. Is everything okay?”

I nodded, not really sure if she’d want to hear what the real problem was. “Everything is fine. You worry too much, like an annoying second Mom.”

Hadie’s mouth fell open and she whacked me on the arm. “I am so not like a Mom!”

My lips quirked in a half-smile. “Ah, there goes my little pocket rocket, violent as ever.”

Outrage filled Hadie’s face and before she could say anything, I lifted her up into my arms and pressed her against me.

My back muscles strained from her weight even though Hadie didn’t weigh much at all. As my muscles continued to ache, I hastily placed her down and tried to appear unfazed. Fatigue was spreading through my body and settling amongst my bones. All I really wanted to do was sleep, but I’d have to deal with dinner and then the bar and pretend everything was fine—that I was fine.

But I wasn’t fine. Something was very wrong and I hated that I had to wait a little longer to tell Hadie the truth. Until then, I had to keep it together.

Hadie beat at my chest with her small fists. “That’s not fair! I can’t easily pick you up and swing you around to end a disagreement.”

I couldn’t help but smirk. “Was that a disagreement? Is that a euphemism for your outbursts of uncontrollable violence?”

Hadie was about to slap me on the arm again, but I grabbed it before she could land a blow. Instead, I pulled her towards me and pressed my forehead against hers. Her eyes were warm as she drank me in, and I couldn’t help but be saddened by how much I loved her.

Hadie had become my everything.

That doe-eyed look on her face was begging me to kiss her so I leaned in and planted a soft kiss on her lips before pulling away. Any longer and I wouldn’t be able to control myself. The disappointment was clear in Hadie’s eyes but she didn’t complain.

“Come on,” I said, taking her by hand and leading her inside. “Let me introduce you to my family and friends.”

I knew this was something I had to do and there was no delaying it. A proper introduction with my family had been a long time coming.

Everyone was in the kitchen so we went straight there. Mom and Dad were sitting at the kitchen table with Derek, Rick and Sammy. Becky had cornered Neil by the counter and was giving him what I assumed she thought was a “seductive” smile. She’d had a thing for him for ages and couldn’t take the hint that he wasn’t even the least bit interested in her.

“Everyone,” I said, gripping Hadie’s hand as we stood in the doorway, “this is my girlfriend, Hadie Swinton.”

The conversation in the room died and everyone turned simultaneously to look in our direction. My friends gawked at the both of us and I noticed Sammy kick Derek under the table. Damn, this was awkward.

Considering no one else was saying anything, I led Hadie further into the kitchen, wanting to get the rest of the introductions out of the way.

“Hadie, these are my parents. You met my dad at the diner.” I gestured at the kitchen table. “And you already know my sister, Becky.”

Hadie smiled and stepped forward, her hand outstretched. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Bracks. Thank you so much for inviting me to dinner.”

Neither Mom nor Dad stood up, but they both reached over and shook Hadie’s hand in turn.  Other than that, they didn’t acknowledge her in any other way. They didn’t exude warmth and hospitality the way Hadie’s parents had.

Let the rudeness begin.

Mom looked especially angry, but she gave Hadie a tight-lipped smile. “It’s finally nice to meet Lincoln’s elusive girlfriend.”

Hadie didn’t seem fazed by Mom’s direct statement. “I’ve been busy with school and work, but I’m glad we could finally make time to have dinner together.”

“You’ve certainly had plenty of time to see Lincoln.” Mom’s tone was accusing and Hadie faltered, glancing at me uncertainly.

I gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand, but inside my anger was boiling rapidly. Mom had no right to give Hadie the double degree like that. Hadie had done nothing wrong; she was going out of her way to be polite, but Mom couldn’t overlook whatever it was that she had against Hadie.

Well, that was her loss. She would never know how sweet and kind and caring Hadie was—how she could brighten your entire day with something as simple as a smile.

“It’s nice to see you again, Becky.” Hadie’s tone was hesitant as she turned towards my sister.

Becky regarded Hadie with glittering eyes, her expression sour. “It’s
so
nice to see you, too.” Her voice was laced with sarcasm. “Actually, I saw you the other day in the hall. I was going to come up and say hi, but you looked
preoccupied
.”

I glanced over at Hadie to try and figure out what Becky meant by that, but Hadie was staring fixated at the floor. Her body was rigid and she looked incredibly uncomfortable.

What the hell? Did something happen at school while I wasn’t there? What could be so bad to make her shut off like that?

When Hadie didn’t respond, Becky sneered at her. “I don’t blame you for not noticing me, though. Bennett Anderson can be pretty distracting. It looked like you had plenty to talk about judging from how close and intimate you were. So
cute
.”

It didn’t sound like she thought it was cute at all.

I dropped Hadie’s hand to stare at her. She didn’t say anything, but I saw the way she was adamantly avoiding my eyes. Becky obviously wasn’t making this up.

It felt like there was a lump lodged in my throat, and I wanted to ask Hadie about what had happened in my absence but now wasn’t the time for that.

“These are my friends from New York,” I said, swiftly changing the subject. “Derek Woods, Rick Simmons, Samantha Grey and Neil Lawson.” I pointed them each out in turn and they all gave Hadie a wave in return.

Now that Hadie finally had time to focus on my friends better, I could tell that she was a little surprised by their appearances. It was obvious from a glance that at Statlen High my friends would’ve fit into the “popular” crowd with the jocks and the cheerleaders.

Sammy, who actually was a cheerleader, was tall and tanned with long, blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Rick, Neil, Derek, and I had all been on the football team together. Rick and I looked so alike that we could easily be mistaken as brothers. We shared the same shade of brown hair, though his was longer, and almost identical colored blue eyes. Neil, with his shaggy blonde hair, had a surfer look about him, while Derek was big and broad-shouldered with a shock of white-blonde hair.

Back at my old high school in New York we made up the “popular” group of kids. Becky, who was always desperate for attention, resented me for that reason. Honestly, being popular wasn’t all it was cut out to be. My friends and I had been jerks.

Derek and I would keep a tally of all the girls we’d hooked up or slept with. Sammy was hell-bent on being the “Queen Bee” of our school. Rick flaunted his money and his name to get us into clubs. Neil was the only one who’d been mellower than the rest of us. He was popular but didn’t care that much for it.

Things had changed, though. Things always changed.

What happened to me in our junior had changed all of us in some small way. Being popular didn’t matter to me anymore. Not in the slightest. I preferred solitude. It gave me time to think about life—about the things that had defined me as a person up until this point in my life.

My friends had been affected by it too. They had changed a little, but I could see that the distance from me had more or less returned them to their old selves. Maybe that was a good thing. I wasn’t holding them back anymore. They could go on with their lives—live fast, be stupid, play hard. That’s the way they should be.

The only ones who hadn’t changed were my own family. Dad still hid behind Mom like he was a shadow of a person, afraid to make his own decisions or voice his thoughts. Mom still clung to her bigotry, her coldness and her refusal to let anyone in. Becky still wasn’t feeling the weight of what was going on. She resented me from taking the attention away from her, for making us move to a small town. She would never forgive me for that.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Hadie,” Sammy said with a smile. “Lincoln talked about you non-stop today.”

“Yeah, like how you’re the smartest girl in school,” Derek said. “And the prettiest and the nicest…”

Hadie finally relaxed and managed a smile. “Lincoln has this way of only listing my good qualities and conveniently leaving out the bad.”

I noticed Mom scowl at this as she pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. “What would everyone like to eat? Statlen is nothing like New York, so don’t expect many delivery options.”

My friends looked around at each other and shrugged. They didn’t know much about this small town so I doubted they would have any ideas.

“The only place that delivers is the pizzeria,” Hadie spoke up.

“Pizza sounds great,” I said with a tight smile.

“Ugh, what is that on your shoulder?” Mom asked suddenly, pointing at Hadie.

Hadie looked visibly confused as she stared down at where Mom was pointing. I looked around just in time to see Hadie brush some fluff off her shoulder.

“It’s just some fur,” Hadie said with a nervous laugh. “I have a dog.”

“Disgusting animals,” Mom said with a shudder as she reached for the phone.

“I love dogs,” I said, coming to Hadie’s defense.

“Me too,” Samantha said with a bright smile. “What kind of a dog do you have, Hadie?”

Feeling relieved that Sammy had jumped in and saved the situation from going sour, I glanced around the room with that tight smile still lingering on my face as Hadie and Sammy spoke.

I was feeling tense from Hadie’s encounter with my parents and Becky, but at least Hadie seemed to have recovered and was now back to her usual good-natured self. I was going to ask her about Bennett later on when we got a chance to be alone. Maybe that was what had been bothering her earlier on.

Hadie had already told Bennett to stay away from her and there was no way she was harboring any romantic feelings for him. Things between them were over and clearly Bennett was having a hard time accepting him. I knew the type of guy he was. I used to be that guy once—thinking that girls should bend over backwards to be with me, that I could treat them however I wanted, that I could have anyone I wanted.

Bennett was the same person I’d been in New York. He couldn’t handle Hadie’s rejection, but it was something he’d have to deal with. Hadie was my girlfriend; she wasn’t Bennett’s property. She didn’t belong to him.

Sometimes I knew she didn’t belong with me either, but that was something I’d have to face another day.

Hadie

Benny’s
was exactly how I’d pictured it to be.

It reeked of booze, sweat and the inside of a smokeaholic’s mouth, the majority of the patrons were leering drunks and there were girls dressed in short, provocative clothing standing close to the makeshift stage.

I immediately felt like a tadpole out of water.