Someone Like You (8 page)

Then his mouth closed over her and she didn’t think anymore.

o0o

“You gotta be kiddin’ me.”

“What’s the matter, big tough jock, scared?”

“No, but, I…I don’t know, this is just different.”

“You told me to pick a fantasy and you’d fulfill it.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know you were into blindfolds and handcuffs.”

“There aren’t any handcuffs. I just asked to cover your eyes and for you to hold onto the bed slats and promise not to let go.”

“Kinky, that’s what you are.”

“If I am, that’s a new side of me.”

How could he resist her as she slathered his chest with the oil, which she’d reheated after they’d slept some. Truth be told, this was kind of fun. And damned exciting.

She took her grand old time, too, working her way down his body. With only touch to go on, each caress, each kiss was more intense. She hovered around his navel, licking him there. He jerked up some at that. But it was nothing compared to what happened when she got to his cock. Oil there, too. Then a massage that started slow quickened fast. Too fast. He was going to go off.

“Brie, baby, get on top of me.”

“Aw, hold on a little longer, Nick. Please.”

Hell.

Her mouth closed over him and he thought he’d die. “You’re torturing me.”

“Poor baby,” she said, then, “Oh, all right.”

She straddled him and the blind sensation of her slowly impaling herself on him did it. He jackknifed up, gripped her hips, and bucked. He came, shouting, swearing, clasping her to him.

Minutes later, after she’d done her own thing, they lay together on one pillow, the sheets pulled up. He brushed his hand down her hair as she nestled into his chest.

“We should shower,” she suggested.

“Oh, God, I can barely move. Besides, I want to hold you for a little while.”

Nick was feeling a well of tenderness so at odds with the undiluted lust he’d experienced a few minutes before that it had him off balance. He couldn’t—or wouldn’t—name the emotions that flooded him, but he knew one thing. They were deeper than he’d ever felt for a woman in bed before. In his whole life.
How has this happened so fast?
he wondered sleepily.

o0o

Matt came home on Sunday night from a party with his teammates to find his mother’s prize possession, the beautiful baby grand piano gone from the living room. His heart caved in on itself and he felt sick to his stomach. Swallowing hard, he couldn’t keep the tears from falling. He sat down on the couch, put his head in his hands and cried like a baby. In some ways, it was like his mom had died all over again.

The sound of the garage door opening drew him out of his grief, then his father walked into the room. Matt looked up. The Mayor Mask was in place.

He said, “I told you I was going to do this. Maybe you’ll see reason now.”

Staring at the man, Matt wanted to die.

o0o

On Monday morning, right before the end of her free period, Brie walked down the hall and caught sight of a boy at his locker, his forehead propped up against the cold steel. He wore a white T-shirt with jeans and held onto a green hoody. He dressed like every other student at school but she recognized him right away. “Matt?”

He stiffened but didn’t turn around.

“Matt, are you all right?”

Still facing away from her, he said, “Yeah, fine.”

Alarm bells went off in Brie’s head. “Matt, do you want to talk to me?”

His shoulders hunched and his body seemed to sink into itself. “No. Please, Mrs. Gorman, go away.”

Gut instinct made her clasp his shoulder and tug him around. His features were taut. “Matt, what’s wrong? Maybe I can help.”

For a moment, he stared at her with the bleakest eyes she’d ever seen. Then he tried to pull away; she held on, but his action made her hand slide lower on his arm.

She felt…a cut. A lot of cuts. When she drew her hand away, she saw angry slashes on the inside of his left bicep. They were of various lengths--an inch, a half inch, some deeper than the others. From how they’d healed, or not, she could tell some were new, some old and faded. It took her a minute to realize what she was witnessing.
No, no, no
. “Oh, Matt. Let’s go down to the counselor’s office.”

His eyes widened with panic.

“Or come to my room and sit with me. It’s open for a few more minutes this period.”

Vehemently he shook his head.

“Then, um, let me walk you down to see Coach Corelli. Maybe you can talk to him about this.”

He was stone still, like a statue, for so long, she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Finally, he eked out, “Okay. I’ll go see coach. You can go back to your room.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Matt. I’m not leaving your side until we deal with this. You don’t have to go through whatever is causing you to cut yourself alone.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Then Coach will.” She reached out for him again. “Come on, I’m--”

The locker slammed and it took her a minute to realize he’d kicked it shut behind him. Grabbing his backpack from the floor, he dodged around her and ran down the hall. She called after him but he didn’t stop.

For one of the first times in her educational career, Brie didn’t know what to do. Call his father? Contact his counselor or Dylan? 

Instead, she headed to the gym. Nick would know what to do. He loved the boy. She trusted Nick’s judgment in this. And she felt so close to him after the weekend…but there was no time for that. They needed to help that poor child.

One of the gym doors was propped open and the kids inside were playing basketball. Nick was refereeing, dressed in black shorts and a muscle shirt. He ran down the court with a natural athlete’s grace and stamina that she wished she could take the time to admire.

Before she could figure out how to interrupt, he blew the whistle and made a call. One of the boys spotted her and said, “Coach, we got a visitor.”

Nick glanced her way. His face bloomed with a smile and he said, “Kenny, ref for me. Keep goin’ guys.”

Jogging to her, he stopped a few feet away. His face was sweaty, flushed, healthy looking. He drawled, “Well, hello, Gabrielle. I didn’t think I was gonna get to see you until lunch.”

“Something’s happened, Nick. It’s bad. I need to talk to you.”

His hand shot out to her arm. “It isn’t Cella, is it?”

“No.”

He glanced at the clock and blew the whistle again. “We’re gonna stop early. Go ahead into the locker room and get changed. And be good.”

Without saying more, Nick led the way to the PE office right across the hall. Thank God it was empty. He shut the door. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“It’s Matt Keller. Oh, Nick, I surprised him in the hall when he was at his locker and he only had a T-shirt on. I pulled him around and saw terrible slashes on his arm. God, Nick, he’s been cutting himself. For a long time, by the appearance of the wounds.” She waited for the horror to come over his face. But instead, his expression remained blank. She didn’t understand.

Until he leaned back against the desk, folded his arms over his chest and said, “I know.”

o0o

The door to the office opened and two other two gym teachers came inside. Nick asked Jenkins to cover his next class and dragged Brie down the hall to an empty room. After he closed the door and turned to her, she said, “You
know
?” Her pretty features were taut with shock.

“Yes.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“Not quite a month. I caught a glimpse of him dressing in the locker room and sat him right down to talk to him.”

“Oh, Nick, his father knows he’s hurting himself and he’s still doing it? Some of those cuts were fresh.”

This was going to be tricky. For one thing, Nick was in unfamiliar territory with how he’d handled Matt but he’d gone on his gut. “The mayor doesn’t know.”

“
What
?”

“Keller doesn’t know. Not that he’d care. Listen, Brie, stuff’s been going on at Matt’s house that’s unhealthy.”

“Is Matt being abused?”

“Yes. But not physically. It’s more psychological abuse.”

“Did you report that? To his counselor? To Dylan?”

“Um, no. Only suspicion of physical abuse has to be reported.”

“So what? If he’s cutting himself, there are real issues in his life. I know you’ve got a soft spot in your heart for Matt, but still…”

“The boy said he’d run away, or worse, if I told anyone.”

She shook her head. “Nick, he’s a child. You can’t give into emotional blackmail like that. He needs help.”

“He’s getting help. He wouldn’t talk to one of the counselors here. So I set him up with a really good therapist, Rich Barton, who has his own practice. He handles cases with our kids when they’re beyond the scope of what we can deal with.”

“I’m totally confused. So his father knows about the counseling but not why he’s getting it?”

“The mayor doesn’t know about any of this.”

“How are the sessions being paid for?”

Nick just stared at her.

“Oh, my God, you’re paying for his therapy so you can keep this quiet.”

That ticked him off. “No, I’m paying for it so Matt can get the help he needs without pushing him over the edge.”

“Nick that’s so generous of you, but the counseling can’t be helping if Matt’s still cutting.”

“You know it doesn’t work that way. Overcoming problems takes time. Matt signed a waiver for Rich to talk to me, and he thinks he sees some improvement in the boy.”

“All right, I get that.” She pushed back her hair. “But he’s still under our care. And his parents have rights.”

“His mother is dead and his father is the cause of most of his problems.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh, I do, Brie.”

“No, he’s a child,” she repeated. “He needs our guidance. He’s not making good choices.”

“Actually, he’s not a child. He turned eighteen before football practice started this summer.”

“Football?”  She slapped a hand over her chest. “Oh, my God, you’re not keeping this quiet so he can play until your undefeated season is over, are you?”

Nick didn’t remember anything knifing his heart like her words did. Searing pain shot through him. He couldn’t speak for a minute, then he cleared his throat and lifted his chin. She was right, Matt’s welfare was at stake. “Damn it, Brie, that’s not why and you should know me better than to think it is. I’m doing what’s right for Matt.”

She stood there as if she didn’t know she’d sliced him to pieces. “We have to go see Dylan now. Tell him. Alert the mayor.”

Nick scowled. “That’s the worst thing we can do. But I’ll call Rich and see what he says.”

“I’m sorry, Nick. I can’t ignore this. I’m telling Dylan.”

Now panic replaced pain. “Please, Brie, trust me on this. I know what I’m doing.”

“I can’t. Too much is at stake.”

“Everything’s at stake.”

“That’s why I’m going to the principal. It will be better if you come with me and explain your side.”

There were sides? “No, I’ll find Matt and get him to see Rich ASAP.” He stared at her, numb with pain and regret. “You do what you have to and so will I.”

o0o

Dylan was in a meeting with his administrative staff when Brie got to his office. She did the unthinkable—marched by his secretary and knocked on the door. When he answered, she insisted she speak with him. He drew her into the conference room and let the other administrators continue the meeting without him.

Stifling the image of the shock and hurt on Nick’s face, Brie said, “Something’s happened that you need to know about.”

He reached over and touched her hand. “I can see how upset you are. Say it outright, Brie.”

When she finished, he sat back in his chair and sighed heavily. “I see. Where’s the boy now?”

“Nick went to find him.”

He picked up the phone on the conference table and pressed a button. “Sheryl, go get Matt Keller out of class and bring him to me.”

“I can’t, Dylan. Nick Corelli is here with me wanting to know if Matt had an early excuse today.
He
went to the boy’s class, then checked the cafe, the library and the senior lounge and can’t find him.”

“Send Nick back to the conference room.”

Moments later, Nick showed up at the door. His face was blank but every muscle in his body was rigid. He didn’t even glance at Brie. “I assume she told you.”

Dylan nodded. “Yes. I wish you had, but that’s not the issue now. We have to find Matt.”

“I called the therapist he’s been seeing. Matt hasn’t contacted him.”

“Then let’s start with his father. I’ll phone him.”

“No, Dylan, don’t do that!”

“I realize you think I’m wrong, Nick. But I’ve been in situations like this before and we have to bring in the family. Meanwhile, you check with your team. Sheryl can call up the roster and find out where each player is. Maybe one of them knows where Matt might have gone.” 

Brie asked, “What can I do?”

“You two spilt up Matt’s friends.” She bit her lip. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

Nick still wouldn’t look at her. He ignored her in the outer office and only spoke when they divvied up the names. Her heart ached for him, for what she’d done to him and possibly his career, and also over the knee jerk reaction of the football comment. But she put all of it aside in order to find a child in trouble. Never once did it occur to her that she was wrong and Nick was right but, still, she regretted more than she could express that she’d hurt him.

o0o

Nick finished canvassing the kids, who claimed not to know Matt’s whereabouts but did say the boy had been acting strange lately. He couldn’t think of where else to search so he returned to the principal’s office. Inside were Dylan, Matt’s guidance counselor and Brie. “No luck?”

“No.” Dylan’s face was grim. “You?”

“None. But I checked the student parking lot and didn’t see Matt’s truck. He has an orange jeep that stands out.”

A rap on the door, then Sheryl showed the mayor inside. Calm, John Keller took a chair and nodded to them. “I came as soon as I could. What do you mean, Matt can’t be found? Isn’t he in class?”

“No,” Dylan said. “He apparently left school after a talk with Mrs. Gorman. He was quite upset.”