Forgiven (Touched Series #2) (5 page)

“You should have your own restaurant, Peaches. You can make anything and it always turns out perfect and delicious.” I laugh as I watch him lick his lips and am memorized by his tongue.

“Oh, my God! Why can’t you find someone else? I’m not good for you, Bo!”
My eyes move around under their lids as another memory claims my mind. It seems like it’s happening right now and I can actually hear his voice.
“I’ll only bring you down, hurt you and I don’t want that.”

“You can’t tell me who to love. Fuck, Stormy! There’s only you. It’s only ever been you.”

“Bo, go back to college. Find someone who deserves you! I don’t!” I start to walk passed him, but his hand grabs my arm. My long hair flies around me as my head turns quickly.

“I can’t love anyone else, Peaches. My heart is full with you.” I squeeze my eyes tight, trying to contain the wetness from leaking out. If he only knew what I’ve done he wouldn’t want me.

“Ungh,” I groan as another memory quickly replaces the other.

“Do what I say, bitch and your mother will continue to live. Cross me and it’ll give me great pleasure ripping her apart.” He’s pinned me against the wall in the alley, his stale breath making me nauseous and I did what any normal stupid idiot would do, I spit in his face. His hand smacks my face quickly, his growl fierce and I see stars. “Damn, whore! What have I told you about defying me? One day. One day you’ll be dead because you don’t give a damn about yourself or anyone else!”

My eyes open quickly, my hands aching from clenching my fists so tightly and my breathing erratic as I look around the room. “I’m safe,” I pant. “But for how long?” After sitting and looking out of the window I jump up and get dressed quickly. I do all my bathroom things and then jog down the stairs, into the kitchen, grab a bottled water and sit at the table.

“You’re up early. Are you excited to get started at the restaurant today?” Jade smiles sweetly as she walks into the kitchen, grabs a cup of coffee and sits down across from me at the table.

I take a drink of my bottled water and gulp. “I didn’t sleep very well last night but yes! It’s a new day and I’m ready to begin.” She continues to smile as I stand. “I’m going for a run on the beach. I’ll see you in a bit.” She nods as she takes another sip of her coffee, and I head outside. Stopping on the deck I pull on my long ponytail, tightening the band and do some stretches. I decided in the early morning hours as I looked out the window at the ocean that I’m not going to let that scumbag run my life. I’ll do whatever I have to, to keep this family safe and live my life. I begin jogging in place and take off down the stairs, across the lawn and then on the path to the beach. I feel invigorated with the salty breeze blowing against my face as I run on the beach. It’s so serene here, so beautiful that I could run for hours or sit here and just look at the ocean. After sweating my ass off, I check my watch and turn around to head back. Time for a shower and get this day started.

Chapter Five

Fuck! What a boring day of classes. Closing my book and stowing it and my pencil into my bag, I stand from the cramped small desk and head outside. I stand there for a minute, just breathing in the fresh air, the sun beating down on my face as I tilt it back and close my eyes. It’s been a long day, and I’m ready to head over to the restaurant to see how things are progressing. I had ridden my motorcycle today since it’s so beautiful out. Stormy had texted me earlier and said she had the alley over halfway cleaned and the crews were making great progress inside. I’m so happy for her and hope that this will be the turning point in her life. She deserves it.

As I start to walk a soft arm stops me from moving. Turning my head, I see it’s one of the girls in my earlier computer science class. Lily? Laura? I can’t remember her name, but she’s very beautiful, long red hair, big blue eyes with long lashes and a killer body. But…. She isn’t Stormy.

“Hey! I kinda zoned out when Mr. Taylor gave the assignment. Do you mind if I jot down your notes?” She winks and smiles with her question. Cute.

“Uh, sure. Let me just….” I open my bag and dig around for my notebook from that class. Finally finding it, I throw the bag over my shoulder and flip through the pages until I find the one with today’s notes. When I look up, I see her biting her index fingernail, painted in bright red, and smiling. “Here.” She takes it from my hands and opens her binder, struggling to hold both. I take mine back and smile. “Let me help.”

“Thank you! The name’s Lydia.” She gets out a pen, her eyes watching what she writes and looks up at me every once in a while. “There!” She puts her pen away, closes her binder as I bring my bag down from my shoulder, open it and put my notebook away. When I look up, she’s biting her fingernail again. “So, you’re new around here. Where are you from?”

I can’t help but chuckle. “You’re welcome, Lydia. Bo. I’m actually from here but have been away at school for the last almost three years. Had some things come up so I decided to finish the last semester here and be close to home.”

“Oh! Well, lucky for you and for me. So, what are you majoring in? I haven’t decided yet, it’s only my first year and well, I keep flipping back and forth. I’m having a hard time with it.” She licks her lips and smiles. Her mouth red with lipstick, matching her polish and I’ve come to realize she’s fresh out of high school.

“Business. Sort of following in my dad’s footsteps, so to speak but I have a basketball scholarship. I decided a long time ago that even though I love playing I didn’t want to make that my career. Don’t worry about having to make a decision now, you’ll figure it out.”

She smiles, her eyes lighting up and sparkling. “Wow! How cool! Then you must be about twenty two or twenty three if this is your last semester.”

My chuckle erupts again. “Uh, twenty two. I filled my days and nights around basketball, with classes and am graduating a little early.”

She walks over, her red fingernail pressing against my chest, moving around in circles. “I’m impressed. Strong, muscular and smart. So, would you like to get coffee sometime?”

My heart races and I do everything I can to keep my eyes from rolling. Here I thought maybe she was just being nice, wanting to be a friend. I’m so stupid. I take a step back and give her my cocky grin. “Sorry, I have to run. It was nice seeing you. I’ll….” I turn and begin walking. “I’ll see you in class.” It never fails. There’s always a girl trying for my affection when I don’t want them to.

I begin walking across campus and cutting through the grass under a big shade tree when I’m suddenly pushed against the trunk, my bag dropping to the ground and a large man’s arm presses against my throat, my hands pulling on it hard.

“Well, if it isn’t the boy who’s friends with my girl. I’m gonna suggest you stay away from her, asshole,” he growls.

“Who the fuck are you, asshat?” I growl, gasping for air.

His arm tightens as he sneers. “I’m your worst nightmare. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave her alone. Might think about your family too. I’d hate to see any accidents come their way.” His arm presses harder and I struggle to break free of his hold.

“Fuck you! You leave my family and Stormy alone. I’ll fucking rip you a new asshole!” I growl back, pulling on his arm harder.

He releases me, laughing and starts to turn away. “Nice funeral yesterday. You both looked really comfortable holding each other.” He starts to walk away as I take some deep breaths, my hands on my knees, but I keep an eye on him. He turns his head, looking at me and stops. “She was a nice lady. Too bad.” He walks again and I close my eyes, sweat beaded on my brow from the heat and struggle, my adrenaline racing. Who the fuck was that and why does he think Stormy is his? Needing some answers to these questions I pick up my bag from the ground, brush it off and jog to my bike.

I park about a block down at the curb, all of the trucks and cars from the crews in front of the building as well as down the street. By the time I get to the alley Stormy is sitting down on a crate, holding a bottled water against her forehead and her eyes are closed. She jumps as I get near, the ground crunchy under my feet alerting her and her eyes open and widen when she sees it’s me. She lowers the bottle and smiles, but it instantly turns into a frown when she sees my eyes glaring. She slowly stands, her eyes squinting from the sun and holds her hand over them. “What’s wrong, Bo? Is it Jade? Your dad? Oh, my God, Pearl?” She backs up against the wall as I finally get in front of her, my hand pressing against the brick, and I get close to her face.

“Who’s the chump who’s after you, Stormy?” Her widened eyes look down the alley and then back at me. “Oh, he’s not here but he was on campus today.” I watch as her throat moves up and down as she swallows. She ducks under my arm and picks up the broom that’s leaning on the wall a few feet down, and she starts sweeping. I turn around and watch her as she tries not to look at me. “Come on, Stormy! Who is he and why did he warn me to stay away from you and threaten my family?” She stops, looks down at the ground and then back up at me. Her shoulders pushed back, and her chin raises.

“Ricco. He’s a pimp.” My eyes close and I take a deep breath then open them again.

The anger flows through my body, overtaking me, controlling me, and I walk right up, getting right in her face. “Fuck, Stormy! What the fuck!? So you just gave it to him. How many others? How many have fucked you? Did you like it? Did they make you happy?” I watch as her body freezes, her face heats in embarrassment, the tears welling in her eyes, but I can’t stop. I’m so damn mad! “Fuck! Did you use protection? Have you been tested for diseases?” I start pacing in front of her, my hands going into my hair and pulling on it. “I can’t believe you’d do that. That you’d give out your body, that you’d…. Fuck!” I stop and look at her and watch as she changes. Right before my eyes she straightens her stance, her arms cross over her waist and her face morphs into anger.

“I did what I had to do. I….” I turn around, disgusted. Flashes of her naked, beneath his filthy body and others. “Bo! Let me explain!” My eyes close and I can’t envision anything that she could tell me. I start to walk to the street, my head pounding and my body fuming in anger. “BO!”

I can’t bear to hear her voice so I quicken my steps until I reach my bike, straddle it, start it and rev it several times. The tires screech as I take off, the wind on my face helping to cool me down a bit. I may have to drive around for hours to burn off my anger or go play some ball to release this energy. Right now, the wind and the loudness of the bikes engine is the only thing that is helping me.

♥    ♥    ♥    ♥

I watch his back as he storms out of the alley and hear his bike rev up. I’ve never in my life seen him this pissed before, but he has good reason. I wish he would have let me explain, make him understand why I did what I had to do. I will not cry. I’ve cried so much the last few days and I won’t give in to it anymore. I can only hope he’ll calm down and we can talk, that he’ll give me the chance to explain and pray he’ll understand. Taking a deep breath I start sweeping again, trying to take my mind off him, trying to keep my heart from breaking in two, when I hear a sound of glass and look down to see something shiny under all the dirt and trash. I bend down, shaking it as I pick it up then blow on it and gasp. Placing the broom handle under my arm, I hold up the object, brushing it off with my fingers and smile. It’s the butterfly comb that Bo gave me when we were younger. I thought I’d lost it so long ago, and my heart was filled with sadness. I used to wear this in my hair all the time. The butterfly is colored in different shades of peach and outlines with a cream color.

“What’s behind your back, Bo? What are ya hiding?” I can’t stop the huge smile on my face. He got me something. I’m so excited. Only Mom gives me presents.

His blue eyes brighten as his arm moves around to the front and my excitement intensifies when I see a small box. “I saw this and it reminded me of you, Peaches.” My head tilts as my face scrunches.

“Peaches? Why’d you call me that?”

He smiles and holds his hand out to me, the box in his palm. “Because. It’s your favorite color and you always smell like peaches.”

Shyly, I take the box. My eyes widen when I pull off the lid. “It’s beautiful!” I whisper. My fingers are shaky when I take out the pretty butterfly comb from the box and I almost drop it but he catches it in his hand. I look up from under my lashes, and he’s staring at me.

“Here. Let me help. You’re gonna go and break it,” he smirks. I giggle and try to stand still as he gets closer, closing my eyes, I can feel him pushing my long hair back and placing the comb in my hair. “Beautiful, just like you.” My eyes open, my heart beating faster as his mouth presses against mine. I don’t understand what I’m feeling, but my entire body is tingling. My lips become cold as his mouth leaves mine, and I open my eyes to see him staring at me again, the corners of his mouth turned up and his face is beaming. “I love you, Peaches. I’m gonna marry you one day.”

A breeze blows into the alley, my long hair flowing back, and I look up at the sky that’s turned dark. I quickly put the comb in my front pocket, walk over by the wall and lean the broom against it. Guess I’ll have to finish the rest later as a storm is brewing. I head to the car, the rain already starting to come down and after buckling up, I begin the drive home. Home. Is it really my home now? Should I even stay there after what’s happened with Bo and me? My head hurts from the memories, the argument and his words. I can barely see through the fast wipers trying to clear the windshield of the pouring rain, but I let out a breath of relief when I drive down the road and get to the gates that lead to the house. The gates are slow to open, but finally, I get to the garage, wait for the door to rise and then drive in. I’m exhausted from the stress of the day and the drive and walk into a quiet house. After drinking an entire bottle of water I head up to my bathroom and take a much needed shower. I throw on some clean undergarments, a tank top and shorts and I get into bed, turn on my side and watch the rain hit the window. It’s not very long when my eyes become heavy and close.

My eyes open quickly when I feel pressure on my body. Bo is on top of me, the stench of alcohol on his breath. “Bo. What are you….?” His strong hands grab my wrists, pinning them up above me and he struggles to hold them in one hand as his other moves down my face. “Bo, stop it. You’re scaring me.”

“Shhh, Peaches. Don’t worry. Mom and Dad went out for the evening. It’s just us here. Isn’t this what you like? Is this what you want?” he slurs. My head shakes as his hand brushes softly down the side of my face, moving down my neck and then covers my breast. I begin to squirm when his mouth crushes mine, his tongue diving in, and I can taste the nasty liquor.

My sounds are muffled by his mouth. The lightning from the storm brightens the room for an instant, and I struggle more. I try to kick in my determination to get free, my body trying to move, but he’s too heavy on top of me and in between my legs. He squeezes my breast, and I panic. Finally able to move one of my legs under him, I bring my knee up as hard as I can except I can’t move it very well against him, but I must have hit his cock just right as he yells and rolls off me.

“Shit, Stormy!” he yells as I jump out of bed, his eyes are closed and his hands are covering his dick. His eyes open and I can see that he’s in pain, but his face grows angry. I jog to the door, open it and run out, down the hall, down the steps and through the kitchen. I fumble with the lock on the French doors as I hear his loud steps running down the stairs, my head turning to the doorway and then back at the lock. Finally, I manage to get it open and run out onto the deck, the rain pelting me. My hair soaked in only seconds. “Stormy!” I take off down the steps and run across the lawn. My body already shivering and I can barely see in front of me. The wet sand is hard under my bare feet. The oceans angry waves are as loud as the rain as I run down the beach not knowing where I’m going. I trip and fall, my knees landing on the scratchy sand, and I turn my head behind me, hardly able to see Bo running towards me. “Stormy wait!” I push up with my hands and feet and start running again, my long, thick hair plastered around my face and heavy on my back as I start to grow tired from the chase. I veer off and head up the small incline into the outlining trees and brush, limbs smacking my arms as my hands try to push them back, the brush and various rocks and twigs scraping my legs, my feet taking a beating. I come to a small clearing and thank God for a little smoother grass when my body is pushed down.

“UNGH!” We land with a thud, his weight on top of me again but this time on my back, my left arm in an awkward position underneath me, and I feel a snap when I land. I can barely breathe. My body hurting all over from scrapes and cuts, and I’m shivering. I can breathe again when he rolls off me. My head turns to him, pressed against the cold and wet grass and see him on his back, breathing as heavy as me, and his arm thrown over his face. I roll over to my side, shaking and sore, and he is by me in an instant, with his hand on my shoulder.

“Damn! I’m sorry, Stormy. I’m so sorry. I was so angry. The thought of you…. Of other guys….” He stumbles with his words but at least not slurring anymore. The running and rain probably sobered him up quickly.

My shoulder snaps back, his hand dropping. My anger heats up my body, but my teeth clench to keep them from clattering. I roll back over and begin to push up to stand when my body falls as pain shoots up through my arm. “Ow!” My body collapses and I feel his hand on my back immediately.

“Shit! Stormy! What have I done? What hurts?” I’m lifted onto my feet quickly, grabbing my arm and cradling it with my hand. I look at him and see his brows furrowed, his eyes showing his worry and concern, but it’s too late for that.

I start to walk back across the wet grass, my feet sliding a bit and almost trip. I yell out when I’m lifted into his muscular arms, the look on his face shows his concern but also annoyance. “So stubborn,” he grumbles as he begins to carry me across the grass and into the brush we had run through what seems like a lifetime ago. “I didn’t mean what I did. I mean, I was angry and drunk. I shouldn’t have run away. I should have stayed and let you explain but something snapped in me. Seeing you with other men in my head, letting them…. I couldn’t take it. I’m sorry I hurt you.” My hand reaches out helping to push the limbs of the trees out of our way as he makes his way through the thick brush, my bare feet, getting hit over and over with them along with my arm. Finally, he walks out onto the beach, the breeze hitting me making my body tremble even worse with no obstruction. “You’re freezing.” My eyes look up at him as my hand returns to holding my arm, and I can’t stop my teeth from chattering.

“Y…. Y…. You have to b…. be cold too.”

He smiles and then quirks his eyebrow. “I’m tougher than you. I can take the cold.” I try not to laugh, but a giggle escapes my quivering mouth. The rain still comes down on us in full force, the thunder loud, and I startle when lightning cracks, brightening our surroundings for a split second but I can see we’re nearing the deck. I have no idea what time it is, but once he manages to get into the back door I look at the clock on the microwave and see its two o’clock in the morning.

“I thought your parents were out for the evening. It’s pretty late for them.” He looks at me and smirks.

“They decided to get a hotel room. Said we could use the privacy. All it did was cause me to take my anger out on you and probably make you break your arm.” Even though my body is still shivering I relax in his strong arms, heat flooding me with his love and tenderness. He continues to walk through the house, bypassing the stairs and out to the garage.