Love is Blind (24 page)

“Do you want to just come over to my place?
Jared, Jake, Laurel and Amanda will be there, as long as Jake
actually gets released. Liam is going to some party that he’s
throwing for one of his companies, so he won’t be there.”

“Sounds good to me,” he replied. “Will I be
staying the night there?”

“I’m hoping you will. I like falling asleep with
you.”

“Good, because I like falling asleep with you as
well.” He played with my fingers for a moment. “I was thinking
about something earlier.”

“Oh? What?”

“After we’ve graduated, do you want to maybe get
a place together?” he asked, a bit of nervousness evident in his
voice.

“What if I’m sick of you by then?” I asked
teasingly.

“Well, that’ll be too bad for you because I’m
not letting you get away, no matter what.”

I laughed and kissed his cheek. “Well in that
case, I like the sound of getting a place together. Do you know
what you want to do after we graduate?”

“I was thinking of maybe becoming a guitar
teacher or something.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Think you can deal with
students without scaring them off?”

“Ha ha,” he said sarcastically. “Yes, I think I
can do that. I know I won’t make a lot of money doing that, but
it’s not like either of us really needs to worry about that, since
you have your uncle and I have my trust fund. What do you want to
do?”

“Maybe become a teacher,” I said. “I think it
would be fun and I might be able to make a difference by doing
that. I’m not sure what grade I’d want to teach though.”

“Not high school, because all of the boys would
get major crushes on you. They’d be too busy drooling over you to
get any of the work done.”

“Hmm, maybe I want a bunch of boys drooling over
me.”

Blake rolled so that he was on top of me. “I’m
the only one who needs to be drooling over you,” he retorted.

I kissed the tip of his nose. “But I think it’s
cute when you get jealous.”

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t get jealous,” he
muttered.

“Yes you do, and like I said, I think it’s cute.
It makes me feel more desirable.”

He ran his nose up my jawline. “You are very
desirable,” he replied.

I pushed on his chest until he rolled off of me.
“I’m glad you think so.” I pushed myself into a sitting position.
“I have an idea. Since you want to be a guitar teacher, why don’t
you start by teaching me?”

He sat up beside me. “You want to learn to play
the guitar?”

I shrugged. “I do if you’re the one teaching
me.”

He stood up and offered his hand to me. “Let’s
go then. I left my guitar in the music room, so we’ll go in
there.”

An hour later, we were both laughing at my
attempts to learn. Apparently my musical talents did not extend to
the guitar, because I couldn’t produce a single correct note.
“Maybe I should just stick to the piano,” I admitted.

“No, you’ll get it eventually. And if I can
succeed in teaching you, then I’ll know I can teach anyone.”

I stuck my tongue out at him, knowing he
couldn’t see me. “That’s not a very nice thing to say to your
girlfriend,” I told him.

“I’m only speaking the truth. Come on, let’s try
this again.”

A few minutes later, we heard the front door
open, but neither of us paid any attention to it. We figured that
it was either Sophie or her mom that had decided to come home
early. We were sitting on the couch in the music room with our
heads together as Blake positioned my hands properly on the guitar
strings. “Now just try strumming,” he instructed.

I did as he said and let out a little squeak of
excitement as I finally produced the correct note. “I did it!”

He laughed and sat back a little. “And it only
took an hour and a half,” he teased.

“Yeah, yeah, you don’t need to rub it in,” I
grumbled. We both turned our head towards the doorway when we heard
footsteps approaching. A moment later, an older man appeared in the
doorway. I shrank into Blake’s side a little, because I didn’t
recognize him.

“Who’s there?” Blake asked me.

Before I could reply, the man spoke. “Hello
son.”

Chapter twenty-six

I felt Blake’s whole body stiffen and he slowly
turned his body towards the doorway. “What the hell are you doing
here?” he spat.

I was a little shocked at the venom in his
voice. I knew he hated his father, but the anger and resentment
radiating off him was so extreme that I almost flinched away from
him. I leaned forward a little so I could get a better look at
Blake’s father.

He was tall and well built, with brown hair
and hazel eyes. His facial features were similar to Blake’s, but
seemed harder somehow. He didn’t acknowledge me as he gazed
steadily at his son. “I came to see you. Your mother and I are
staying for a couple of days.”

Blake stood up abruptly and took a threatening
step forward. “Like hell you are! I don’t want you anywhere near
me. Just turn around and go back to where you came from.” His body
was shaking in anger.

I stood up as well and laid a gentle hand on his
back. He tensed even more for a moment before relaxing slightly. I
didn’t say anything, just kept my hand on him to give him
support.

His dad’s eyes shifted to me for the first time
and he regarded me emotionlessly. “Who is this?”

Blake shifted so that he was standing in front
of me, blocking his father’s view of me. “That’s none of your
business,” he said harshly. I moved a little so that I could peer
around Blake to see his father.

“You’re my son, of course it’s my business,” the
older man replied.

Blake gave a humourless laugh. “I stopped
being your son the day you sent me to live here. Remember? You
couldn’t handle a disabled person being part of your perfect little
family.”

His father didn’t flinch at the words. “I did
what I thought was best,” he replied.

“Well you’re a complete idiot, but I knew that
already,” Blake said.

“Don’t use that tone with me, boy,” his father
said, showing emotion for the first time.

“I’ll use whatever tone I want to use, old man.
Now get the hell out of here. I don’t want to have to deal with
you, Robert.”

This time, Robert flinched a little. I think the
use of his first name cut him a little, but he quickly composed
himself. “Your mother and I are staying for a few days Blake, so
get used to it.”

Blake suddenly turned to me. “Can I stay at your
place for a few days?” he asked.

“Of course. You know you’re welcome anytime. I
swear Liam would adopt you if he could, what with all the help
you’ve been giving him.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Being adopted by him
would make you my cousin and that’s just weird.”

I laughed. “I agree. That would definitely
present some problems.”

He laughed as well and I felt the rest of the
tension drain from his body as he pressed his face into the side of
my neck. “I knew there was a reason I loved you,” he said quietly.
“You make me laugh even when I’m pissed off.”

A throat cleared from the doorway and just like
that, Blake went instantly rigid again and his face turned to
stone. I cupped his cheek with one hand. “Breathe,” I murmured.

He leant into my hand for a brief moment before
turning to face his father again, once more placing his body in
front of mine. “If you’re staying here, then I’m not.”

Robert sighed. “Fine, but at least stay and talk
to us for a little bit. Your mother misses you.”

Blake snorted. “Like I care.”

I tugged on Blake’s arm a little until he
turned towards me. I stood on tiptoe so I could whisper in his ear.
“Blake, just give them a few minutes. I know how you feel about
them and I don’t blame you at all. But they’re still your
parents.”

His jaw was tense as he thought about it. “I
don’t want to talk to them,” he finally replied.

“I know you don’t, and again I don’t blame you.
But at least you still have your parents.” I hated using the
sympathy card, but I knew it was the only way I might get through
to him right now.

It worked. He blew out a long breath and put his
forehead against mine. “Fine, but only for a few minutes. Then I’m
packing a bag and we’re leaving.”

I smiled and pressed my lips against his
quickly. “Deal.”

Five minutes later, Blake and I were sitting on
a couch across from his parents. His mother had blonde hair and
blue eyes, which is obviously where Blake got his coloring from.
She offered me a tiny smile when we sat down and I returned it,
before making my face go blank.

Robert shifted in his seat a little. “Well, I
didn’t catch your name before, but I’m Robert and this is my wife,
Susan,” he said to me.

I nodded once. “I know. I’m Hailey.”

“So, Hailey, how do you know Blake?” Susan
asked.

I bit my lip. “Um…” I wasn’t sure what Blake
wanted me to say.

He squeezed my hand reassuringly. “She’s my
girlfriend. We go to school together.”

“You have a girlfriend?” Susan asked in
surprise.

Blake tensed. “What, you don’t think someone
could love me just because I’m blind? Not all people are like the
two of you, mother,” he snarled.

Susan looked shocked. “No, that’s not what I
meant! It’s just that I had no clue you were even interested anyone
and yet you have a girlfriend. And you know we love you,
Blake.”

I could see that she genuinely cared, but Blake
just snorted. “Sure you do. That’s why you made me live with Aunt
Carol while the two of you booked it to the other side of the
country.”

“But we want to fix that now. We want you to
come live with us again.”

This time it was me who tensed up as dread
filled me. They wanted to take Blake away?

Luckily, Blake wasn’t interested in the least.
“Why the hell would I come live with you? I’ve found the one person
in this world who loves me unconditionally and there is no way I’m
leaving her. And since I turn eighteen in two weeks, you can’t make
me go.”

I exhaled slowly as relief filled me. But his
father’s next words made me almost stop breathing.

“If you don’t come live with us, we’ll cut
off your trust fund.”

“Robert! We will do no such thing!” Susan
exclaimed. Obviously he hadn’t told her this plan.

“Yes we will. He is refusing to have any part of
this family and if he won’t even live with us, then I refuse to
keep supporting him.”

“You know what? Go ahead,” Blake said. “I don’t
need your money. You may not have noticed, but I haven’t touched
any of the money you’ve been giving me anyways. You seem to have
forgotten that Grandpa left me a large amount of money when he
passed away. I don’t need you.”

Robert’s jaw tensed. “You will come and live
with us!” he shouted.

I knew Blake was about to snap completely, so I
put a hand on his knee. “Blake, could you go get me a drink?”

He turned to me with an incredulous expression
on his face. “You want me to get you a drink right now?”

“Yeah, because I think you need to cool off for
a minute before you do or say something you’ll regret.”

He let out a frustrated breath, but nodded and
stood up. “You’re probably right. I’m about done talking to them
anyways.” He ran a hand lightly over my hair and then left the
room.

Susan was looking at me thoughtfully when I
turned back to her. “You seem to know him very well,” she said.

“I do. It took me a couple of months to get
through to him, but once he opened up we got close pretty
quickly.”

“And why exactly are you with him?” Robert
asked.

I looked at him in confusion. “Huh?”

“Why are you with him? Is it because you’re
hoping to get money out of him somehow?”

My jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”

“Robert, it’s clear that she loves him. Why
would you think that she only wants money from him?” Susan
asked.

“Because no one wants to willingly be with
someone who is defective,” Robert replied easily.

Anger coursed through me and I stood up.
“Defective? If anyone around here is defective, it’s you!” I said.
“Blake is an amazing person and I love him with my whole
heart.”

“And the fact that he’s wealthy has nothing
to do with your feelings?” Robert asked sarcastically.

I had to restrain myself from hitting that
man. I normally was not a violent person, but right now I wanted to
punch him square in the jaw. “Money means nothing to me,” I hissed.
“But just to put your mind at ease, do you by any chance know who
Liam Graham is?” I knew he did but I wanted to make a point.

“Of course I do; everyone knows who he is.”

“Well, he just happens to be my uncle as well
as my guardian. I have absolutely no need for Blake’s money since I
have more than enough of my own. And the fact that you think so
little of your son that you would believe that the only way I would
love him was because of his money shows me what kind of person you
are. A complete and total jackass and you don’t deserve to have
someone like Blake as your son.” I turned to Susan. “It was nice
meeting you and I hope we can see you again sometime.” Then I
walked out of the room.

I was still seething when I walked into the
kitchen and saw Blake sitting at the table, a glass of water in
front of him. It was then that I realized he probably would have
heard all of that. “I’m guessing you heard that?” I asked.

“It was kind of hard not to,” he replied.

I sat beside him and rubbed my hands over my
face. “I actually wanted to hit him,” I said. “I’ve never wanted to
hit someone like that before. Well, aside from Marcus, that
is.”

“He didn’t say anything that wasn’t true,” Blake
stated.

I turned to look at him. “Come again?”

“He was right. I am defective.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You know, I’m not
normally a violent person. But in the space of five minutes, I’ve
now wanted to hit two people very badly.”