Only Between Us (13 page)

As I pass Katie’s room, I remember that I need to close her window in case it starts to rain before she comes home. Last time this happened, the rain ruined two of her library books, and she was so upset. I twist the doorknob and open—

Katie shrieks. She’s on the bed. On her back. There’s a man on top of her, his naked ass flashing white as she clutches at him in her surprise.
No no no no he’s supposed to be in California no I will not let this happen
. Just like that, I lose ten years. With nothing in my head but raw, red hatred, I grab the guy by the shoulder and slam my fist into his jaw. He flips backward off the bed and crashes into her closet door. Katie leaps from the bed, screeching, “No! Leave him alone!”

“Don’t you touch her!” I roar at my stepfather. “Keep your goddamn hands off her or I’ll kill you.” I take a step forward, my heart pounding at my temples, my fists clenched and ready. This time, he won’t get away with it. This time, I’m really going to do it. I’m going to destroy him. Katie throws all her weight against me, and I stagger away from the dazed, naked guy who’s pushing himself to his feet. I do a double-take. He—he’s young. Not middle-aged. I blink at him.

He’s not Phil.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” my sister screams, slapping my arms and chest and face, driving me back into the hallway, the comforter loosely draped around her naked body. The smells, the sight of her pale flesh, I shake my head, unable to get my breathing under control. She lands a solid
smack
against my cheek and my head bonks against the wall. “I fucking
hate
you, do you hear me?”

She whirls around and goes back into her room, then slams the door. Muffled voices reach me as I brace my hands on my knees and try to figure out what just happened. Before I get the chance, Katie storms out of her room, tugging the guy by the hand. He’s now wearing jeans and a t-shirt bearing the logo of one of Katie’s favorite bands. He’s got thick, reddish hair and a freckled face and I don’t know how I could have ever mistaken him for my mom’s balding, paunchy loser husband. I’ve never met this guy before. I have no idea who he is, and my sister’s about to leave with him.

I straighten up as Katie lifts a stuffed overnight bag onto her shoulder, sleeves and pantlegs hanging over the sides. “Katie, no, no, I’m sorry. Wait.”

She ignores me.

“Katie, please,” I call after her. “I’m sorry.” I grab her fuck-buddy’s shoulder. “Hey, man. I’m sorry. You guys don’t have to leave.” I’d like nothing better than to throw this asshole out of my home, but now that my common sense is returning—Katie’s an adult. She can have guests. She’s got every right to be mad. But if she leaves, I can’t keep her safe.

The guy wrenches himself away from me as Katie swings around and gets between us. “Touch Evan again and I’ll call the police,” she hisses, then barrels into the bathroom and comes out shoving her hairdryer and toothbrush into her bag.

Shit
. “Katie, please, let’s talk about this. I think it’s better if you stay here, and we could—”

“Are you kidding? It was a mistake to even try to live with you.” Her voice trembles and squeaks. Her round cheeks are bright red. “A huge mistake. Come on, Evan.”

Seeing that she’s not even slowing down, I jog to the kitchen and grab her pill organizer, then sprint to the door, making it just before they reach it. “Take this with you if you’ve got to go. There could be side effects if you —”

She hits my hand, hard, and the dispenser flies across the room and collides with one of the cabinets. A few of the compartments pop open and pills scatter across the kitchen floor. I clench my jaw and brace my hands against the doorframe. “Evan, listen to me, man, she’s got some medical needs.” I’m trying to look him in the eye, but he won’t cooperate. “She needs—”

“How dare you,” Katie growls, a tear slipping from her eye. She grabs her keys from the table. “How dare you humiliate me like this.”

“I didn’t mean to! Katie, take a breath. Give me a chance to—”

This time, she’s got a fistful of keys when she hits me. My head jerks to the side, and I taste blood. When I put my hand to my cheek, she shoves by me, and so does Evan.

I follow them down the hall, but Katie looks over her shoulder at me. “You know you don’t have any right to stop me,” she says quietly, her voice trembling with rage. “So don’t even try. Evan could press assault charges. If you don’t leave me alone, that’s what we’ll do.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, my hands up, helpless. “Please don’t go.”

The corner of her mouth twitches. Her eyes gloss over with tears. “Too little, too late.”

She takes Evan by the hand and disappears into the stairwell.

Chapter Thirteen: Romy

The rain pelts the windowpanes of the classroom, nearly drowning out Caleb’s voice as he discusses scumbling and demonstrates the technique on a paper at the front of the room, using a dry brush to apply a thin layer of gray over a dark green base. None of the wealthy wives are here tonight, maybe because of the risk that the rain would frizz their perfect hair or something. I’ve watched them stare hungrily at Caleb for the last few classes. I’ve stared hungrily at him, too, but only when he’s not looking.

He’s having some sort of affair with Claudia. I think. I can’t tell, actually. He barely looks at her. It shouldn’t matter to me at all, but … it does.

Jude can tell. He’s seen me staring. Or “pining,” as he calls it. He told me this afternoon that I need to give up and talk to Caleb, but I think I missed my chance. Caleb hasn’t tried to speak to me since I gave him the coldest of cold shoulders a few weeks ago. At this point, I would feel stupid if I were to walk up to him and try to start a conversation.

Maybe I will tonight, though. Jude said he had to catch up on studying and begged off, so I don’t have the pressure of an audience if I get shot down. But as I sneak peeks at Caleb while he goes around to each student and comments on their technique, I notice how miserable and hollow-eyed he looks. I swipe some crimson red onto my paper and then grab an old brush and dip it in the cadmium yellow. I’m scumbling away when he reaches me. “Hey,” he says quietly, keeping his eyes on my painting instead of looking at my face. “It looks like you know what you’re doing. I’ll leave you to it.”

He turns away before I can say anything, but not before I notice the red mark on his cheek. I frown as he makes his way to the front of the class and continues teaching. I glance at the clock on the wall. Class is over in ten minutes. Should I wait around after and see if he’s okay?

Why on earth would I think that my presence would be helpful? I jab my painting with my brush, remembering what happened last time. I groped him, I used him, and then I ran from him. I assumed he wouldn’t care. If he did care, then I’m a jerk. If he didn’t, then he’s not going to be interested in talking to me anyway.

Besides, maybe he’s in a bad mood because Claudia’s not here tonight.

Daniel comes down the steps and stares at Caleb’s back for a few seconds. “Headed out,” he calls.

Caleb waves without turning around. Daniel waits a few moments—for what I have no idea— then glances at me and disappears into the hallway. The front door opens and slams shut. I walk my brushes to the sink to wash up. Several times, I look over to see if Caleb’s watching me, but he doesn’t seem aware of my existence. He’s talking with a white-haired lady in the second row about how to use scumbling technique on her leaf painting.

I pack up, locking up my toolbox and putting on my rain coat. I pull up my hood and leave while the other students are still washing their brushes. Happy I wore my rubber boots, I slosh through ankle-deep puddles on my way to my car, which is parked at the end of the block. I look up as I get close, and my breath whooshes from my lungs. My mouth drops open to scream as the dark figure pushes himself off my car and comes toward me.
Alex
. Looking bigger and scarier than I remember, if that’s even possible. How did he know where I’d be?

He comes to a stop beneath a street lamp. “Romy.”

I make a squeaking, hoarse sound, my whole body filling with relief. It’s not Alex. “Hi, Daniel.” Rain drips through his blond hair. He’s soaked. “What are you doing out here?”

“On my way home. I live only two blocks from here. But I wanted to talk to you.”

“About?”

“Caleb.”

“Oh.”

He shoves his hair out of his face. Raindrops glisten on the ends of his eyelashes. “He’s my best friend.” He chuckles. “Which should be obvious, because I waited in the rain to say this to you. I think you should give him a chance, Romy. He’s the nicest guy, and that’s pretty amazing, considering some of the things he’s been through. He deserves a shot.”

I frown. “Has he said something to you?”

“Caleb isn’t the biggest talker. But trust me, you’re on his mind.”

I look back at the lit windows of the co-op classroom. “We haven’t spoken to each other in a few weeks, Daniel. I mean—”

“You shouldn’t judge him for being with Claudia.” His blue eyes are on mine, challenging. “He’s trying to survive. But it didn’t mean anything.”

He says it like it’s in the past, and I can’t help it, a spark of hope glitters in some corner of my brain. “Why are you saying this to me now?”

“Because he’s had a rough day, Romy. It would be nice if one thing could go right for him.”

I squint at him, trying to read the words beneath his words, waiting for him to say more. “I’m not his friend, not like you are.”

“You could be. He could use more of them, that’s for sure.” He glances over my shoulder at the co-op. “Anyway, it’s up to you. I just needed to say it.” He flashes a brilliant smile. “It’s my good deed for today. I’ll see you around.” He turns on his heel and walks up the street.

I stare after him for a moment, then tuck my toolbox into the trunk of my car and get behind the wheel. I sit there for a minute, turning Daniel’s words over in my head. I lean my head against the seat and remember Caleb’s expression tonight. It looked like someone had slammed him in the face with something. Did he get in a fight? Did he get in a fight with
Daniel
? Is that why Daniel’s telling me that
I
should talk to Caleb?

In the rearview mirror, I watch the other students scurry out into the rain, their umbrellas blossoming beneath the silvery drops. Headlights wink on and pull away from the curb. The street is empty within a few minutes. Did Caleb leave already, or is he still in there? If I showed up at his studio stall again, would he be glad to see me, or would it be a huge mistake?

Should I try, even if he pushes me away? Does he deserve that?

“Of course he does,” I hiss at myself. He’s never been anything but nice to me. He didn’t owe me anything, even after what happened between us. I never even gave him the chance to be a jerk; I was so focused on myself. On what I wanted. “You’re acting like a selfish bitch, Romy.”

I throw my car door open, and someone who had been jogging along the sidewalk crashes against it and stumbles backward, cursing. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” I yelp. I leap out of my car and see Caleb straightening up, clutching at his middle.

“I didn’t see you coming,” I say, walking toward him. I don’t know how to understand what I’m feeling. Relief and protectiveness and giddiness all at once. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he says quietly, rubbing at his ribs. “Fine.” He’s staring at the pavement. “I’ll see you next week.” He steps around me.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

He looks down at me, rain dripping from the hood of his coat. “Home.”

“Is it far?”

He shrugs. “Less than a mile.”

“Want a ride?”

For the first time in two weeks, our eyes meet, and there’s this odd, swooping feeling in my chest. “You don’t have to,” he says.

“I know.”

The corner of his mouth lifts for a fraction of a second. “You sure?”

“Come on.” I gesture toward my car and he walks around to get in on the passenger side. My heart is racing as he opens the door and sits next to me. It’s so strange, being in this tiny space with him. His coat smells like turpentine.

He fastens his seatbelt. “It’s the Academy Hills complex on the south end of campus.”

“I live about five blocks from you,” I say with a laugh.

A shadow of a smile crosses his face. “I’m glad it’s not far out of your way.”

“I take it your truck is still in the shop?” Has he really been walking back and forth for the past two weeks? He’s wrong about the distance—it’s actually almost two miles away.

Caleb gives me the strangest look as I pull onto the street. “How did you know I have a truck, let alone that it’s in the shop?”

Oh. Oops. “I … heard some of the other students talking about it.”

He lets out a huff of dry laughter and pushes his hood away from his angular face. “Let me guess. Claudia?”

There’s no point in lying. “I heard her mention it, yeah.”

“She mention anything else?” he asks, an edge creeping into his voice.

“Caleb, I’m not sure what’s going on with you, but we don’t have to play games. It sounds like that’s the last thing you need tonight.”

“What does that mean?” he asks quietly.

I touch his arm. “It means you don’t have to worry about what I heard. It doesn’t matter right now.”

I stop at a red light and look over to see him staring at my fingers on the sleeve of his coat. “You haven’t even looked at me for two weeks. I thought you …” He rubs both his hands over his face, pulling the elastic out of his hair. He tugs it loose and jams it in his pocket. “I don’t know what I thought.”

“I didn’t know what to say to you,” I murmur, glad for the distraction of the road, the need to keep my eyes on traffic as I steer through downtown, past the movie theater, past the turn off to Lake Park.

“I get that. I didn’t know what to say to you, either.” He shifts in his seat. “I wanted to say something, though.”

My fingers tighten on the wheel. “Do you want to say it now?”

“I don’t know yet.” He’s leaning against the window, staring at the side of my face.

“Fair enough,” I breathe, turning into his complex. “Here we are.”