Off Limits (14 page)

“I really like you
too,” I beamed back, breaking my own rule and leaning up to lock lips with him.
It was impossible to feel bad when Luke and I were like this, bodies fitting
perfectly together as we embraced intimately. The reality always came crashing
back down eventually, but for now, I was just content.

I wanted to be
content all the time and maybe, just maybe, Luke could really offer that.

Maybe Luke and I,
together, for real, could make that happen.

Pulling back with
the biggest grin I’d had in a long time, I squeezed Luke’s hand. “Come on, we
need to get back downstairs, we’re not even supposed to be here in the first
place. Thank you, for following me.”

“I’m definitely
glad I did,” Luke teased, letting me open the bathroom door and both of us
slipping out.

The night might
not have been perfect, but the fact I was coming out of it with even the
smallest of smiles on my face was a miracle.

Being optimistic
wasn’t normally in my nature, but every time I met eyes with Luke across the
room for the rest of the night, I found myself having the urge to grin
uncontrollably. All those years spent crushing on him and he’d been the one who
ended up making all the moves.

By next weekend,
we could be lying on a bed together chatting and watching TV and it would
probably seem completely normal.

Chapter Twelve

It was with
ear-splitting headaches that we all sat around the kitchen table the next
morning. Luke and I kept sending each other guilty, anxious glances that Phoebe
was oblivious to.

This was the day
where things went horribly wrong for everyone.

And I was ashamed
to say that I was almost excited. Phoebe had been my best friend for nearly ten
years, but the thought of finally getting to be with Luke had me giddy in a way
I couldn’t remember being for years. It was like the first New Years’ Eve I’d
been allowed to stay up until midnight all over again.

No doubt it was
going to end almost as soon as it had begun, something was bound to go wrong in
our relationship, but right now I was positively buzzing with excitement. None
of the issues about school rumours or being judged could even bring me down. It
was only when I remembered how crushed my ex best friend was going to be that
the guilt flooded me, both for what I’d done and for letting my excitement
overpower it in the first place.

“What time are you
going to see your dad?” Phoebe inquired. I had no member of telling her about
that, but my memory was hazy about everything that had happened towards the end
of the night.

“Erm,” I checked
my phone and saw that I had a message from him. “He says, ew, any time before
twelve is fine. I guess we’d better hurry up.”

“We? We’re
coming?”

“Oh,” I realised
my mistake. “Luke was going to come with me. Last time I went to see him he was
staying at a really dodgy place and Luke came and so he’s horrified I’m going
to get kidnapped if I go see him by myself again.” She’d know the truth soon
enough, anyway. Coming up with a good excuse was pointless.

Phoebe blinked.
“Huh, so you really did become friends?”

“We learnt to
tolerate,” Luke supplied, grimace covering his face. We were all relatively
grumpy this morning.

“Well, I’ll come
too, I haven’t seen your dad in ages. Going out always makes me feel better
after drinking, anyway.”

Luke and I
exchanged a glance, but there wasn’t any reason I could think of to deny it.
“Sure, if you want. It probably won’t be very interesting, though. Last time it
was just my dad complaining about not having a job.”

“I’m sure my
presence will inspire better conversation,” Phoebe chuckled, pouring herself a
cup of tea and making a noise. “I don’t think I ever want to eat again.”

I, on the other
hand, was in the process of scoffing down my fourth piece of toast. “That’s a
really shitty way to get a hangover,” I told her for the umpteenth time. We had
this conversation after every night out. “But I’m grateful I get to eat what
would have been your breakfast.”

My mind was at
war, deciding on happy or sad, but it couldn’t find a place to settle. Instead,
I got violent mood swings within the space of a few minutes.

I was going to
miss Phoebe.

“Well, I’m going
to get changed,” I dropped my plate into the sink. “I’m glad I decided to
shower first thing now, don’t be too long, either of you.”

Hopefully getting
to my dad’s house wouldn’t be such a fiasco this time around.

***

When we’d gotten a
few minutes away from my dad’s house, Luke sent me a pointed look through the
mirror. The area really didn’t look much nicer than the place on Plant Road, it
was just further away and so cost us more petrol money.

I let him know
that I knew he was right and slumped further down into my seat. For the first
time I pondered who on Earth my dad would actually know that had agreed to let
him live with them. He didn’t have friends, so it must have been someone he met
when he was staying at the last place, which really didn’t bode well.

Nerves began
building in my stomach and my mum’s comments from the last time we’d spoken
about my dad filled my mind. There was something about his past that I’d been
conveniently shielded from until now, that much was obvious.

I’d ask my mum,
not him about it, though. She’d tell me the truth if I asked directly, whereas
I knew my dad wouldn’t mind shame-faced lying to me about it. For now, I’d just
enjoy getting to see my dad.

Pulling into the
driveway of the house my dad had given, I was left feeling a bit more
optimistic. We were just coming out of the rougher area and this place didn’t
seem all too bad. It was semi-detached on a relatively quiet road. Definitely
not boarded up windows, even if the garden had just been tarmacked over to make
way for a driveway.

Taking a deep
breath, I exited the vehicle and put a smile on my face. Now wasn’t the time to
be thinking about mine and Luke and Phoebe’s dilemma. Now was the time to
appreciate seeing my father for the first time in a while.

I knocked on the
door and waited impatiently, wanting to escape what I was sure must have been
an awkward silence between the three of us. Phoebe didn’t know what was wrong,
but she must have sensed that there was
something
amiss.

My dad opened it
and pulled me into a hug, which I returned happily, even if the urge to ask him
about his past was nagging at me. I definitely couldn’t do that whilst Luke and
Phoebe were here, anyway. “Hi dad,” I gave him a squeeze before pulling away
and entering the house. “Do I need to take my shoes off?” I’d brought a change
of clothes to Phoebe’s for going home in and was once again grateful for the ability
to wear trainers to a house party.

“No, they’ll be
fine. It’s laminated all the way through. Luke,” he shook Luke’s hand and then
repeated the gesture with Phoebe. “First door on the left is the living room.
There’s a real sofa in this place, you’ll be pleased to know.”

I collapsed down
onto the thing, but it wasn’t much comfier than his last one. Still, I kept the
smile on my face and pretended it was the comfiest thing I’d ever sat on. “This
place is nice,” I appraised, not feeling so guilty for looking down on his
previous residence anymore. “Whose is it?”

“Just an old
school friend. I ran into him the other day, what a blessing that was. He was
kind enough to let me in, so this is my temporary arrangement for the mean
time.”

“Did mum offer you
the option to move back in? She said she was going to.”

“She did,” my
father pulled a face. “But I left for a reason.”

I could both
understand that and not. If he’d chosen to stay in the other place I would have
questioned him, but this house seemed nice enough. It was, at the very least,
legal.

I swallowed
suddenly, fingers stopping where they’d been drumming on the arm of the sofa.

If my dad was
legal and Phoebe was going to find out anyway, we could tell the police.

Our stalker issue
could be gone, just like that.

Everything really
was turning itself around.

“Sorry, what?” I
blinked when I realised everyone was looking at me and tried desperately not to
let any kind of relief show on my face. Luke obviously hadn’t realised what I
had yet and I couldn’t wait to tell him. Seeing his face brighten with the
knowledge would be perfect. “I zoned out.”

“You had a very
wild party last night, then?” My dad teased, waving his hand in dismissal as to
whatever he’d originally said.

Phoebe grinned.
“It definitely was. Exactly the kind of birthday I wanted.”

“And now you’re an
adult. I’m dreading the day Carmen is wanting to do something similar.”

“Well, my house is
always open for her to have a party at mine and look, we all survived just about
it tact,” she teased, grinning wildly. Phoebe had always thrived off family
interaction.

“Is it okay if I
go and get a drink?” I checked, wanting to escape Phoebe’s happiness and
knowing I should really be getting as much water down me as possible.

“Of course, honey.
The kitchen is just out that door and straight ahead. And I’ll have a cup of
coffee, since you so kindly offered.”

I chuckled and
looked at Luke and Phoebe, who were sat close together on the sofa. “You guys
want anything?”

“Just water for
me, please.”

“Same here.”

Nodding, I escaped
the room and followed my dad’s instructions. It was a small kitchen, but
somehow cosy. I put the kettle on and opened various cupboards until I found
the cheap brand of coffee. Normal coffee was bad enough, but I couldn’t imagine
this being even close to edible.

Shaking my head, I
poured our glasses of water and waited for the kettle to boil. Spotting some
photos on the window sill, I was unable to contain my nosiness. Maybe they’d
give me some idea of the guy who’d miraculously offered my dad a place to stay.

I almost dropped
the first picture I picked up, skin turning cold as I took in a much younger
Angela’s smiling face.

Swallowing, I
closed my eyes for a moment and called to Luke. “Hey, Luke, would you come and
get me something off the top shelf?” My voice hadn’t wavered and I heard the
living door opening. Taking deep breaths, I prepared myself for his reaction.

His temper had
never been good, but when I showed him this he was going to go berserk.

Luke came in and
shut the door. “Sure, which cupbo-”

I thrust the
picture towards him in silence and watched the emotions play over his face.
From shock to disgust to burning anger, I swallowed. “That bastard.”

I took a single
step towards him, but couldn’t bring myself to reach out just yet. “Luke…”
There wasn’t even anything I could say.

“I’m going to kill
him.”

Luke had been
wanting to know where his dad was ever since he’d left and I almost didn’t
doubt that he might seriously hurt the man who’d ruined his and his mum’s
lives. “Luke, calm down.” I really didn’t want him to go to get arrested or
something.

“Please don’t.
I’ve finally found this bastard, no one is going to hold me back from showing
him just how much of a dick he’s been.”

I took another
step forward and gripped his forearm tightly. “I don’t want you to get into
trouble.”

“It would be worth
it, for this.”

I shook my head
insistently. “Kicking him about a bit won’t solve your debt issues, but if you
get put in jail then you won’t be able to get a good job and it won’t have been
worth it.”

Luke took a deep
breath and put his hands on my shoulders. “Carmen, I’m serious, just stop
trying. I know you mean well, but I don’t want to fall out with you. Just stand
back and let me give him what’s coming to him.”

“Luke
please,
you have to listen to me.” I gripped his arms tighter, staring up at him with
wide eyes. He was practically shaking, his fingers gripping into my shoulders
far tighter than was comfortable. “Your mum would be saying the same thing and
she’s just as hurt as you are. You need to calm down.”

“It’s not going to
happen, Carmen, not even for you.”

Luke gave my
shoulders one last squeeze before striding from the room and straight up to my
dad. “When is he back?” He gestured to the man standing beside Angela in the
picture.

“What’s going on?”

Luke took a
calming breath before demanding again, “when is he back?”

When my dad sent a
glance in my direction, I just nodded. There was nothing I could do anymore. If
Luke really wanted to risk everything doing this, I couldn’t say I really
blamed him. “He should be about half an hour. I’d been going to introduce you
anyway.”