Vérité (25 page)

Seeing me flinch, Tiberius glowered at my dad and warned, “Don’t touch her!”

Through all the chaos, Pierre merely stood there, saying and doing nothing. When I turned to look at him, he was playing with his cufflink, twisting it and examining the stone in the light.

Christ, what did I ever see in that fucking excuse for a man? Better yet, why the hell was he back? But the answer was simple: for the money. Just like my parents. Like my dad always told me: “Rich or poor, it’s good to have money, darling.”

With the comforter still wrapped tight around my slight frame, I stumbled like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man toward everyone, shouting as tears spilled over my lashes, “Get out! All of you get out. Now!”

Chey and Stacy stood in the doorway as reinforcements, yelling, “You heard the chick, out!”

“Mom, Dad, I need you to leave. I have no idea why you thought bringing Pierre back would make me happy, but you need to go. It doesn’t. He doesn’t make me happy! You wouldn’t have the slightest clue as to what would make me happy.” I inhaled deeply and then yelled, “Christ! Get out. I keep saying it. Leave!”

My chest was now drenched with my tears. Tiberius tried repeatedly to put his arm around me, and I kept batting it away. My entire body was shaking under the heavy down comforter like I was naked in the middle of a snowstorm, but my cheeks were burning up as if they’d been scorched with flames.

Through all this, Pierre kept saying, “Tigger,
ma chérie
, please,” fiddling with the damn cufflink the whole time.

I let my venomous gaze fall on him. “Please what, Pierre? Please fuck me? Please screw me? What the hell do you want, a get-rich-quick scheme? Maybe that was all I ever was to you before we got caught doing the nasty. Did you have your sights set on me long before I knew who you were?”

He started rubbing his forefinger over his middle finger, something I knew he did when he was nervous.
Bingo.
“You,
ma chérie
, I want you. I came for you.” He stood still, now wringing his hands. He didn’t even slightly resemble the cocky bastard I’d thought I’d fallen in love with while he fucked me up against the wall.

“Stop it, Pierre. Get out and don’t come back.
Au revoir
. Good-bye.”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I stepped backward and tripped on the blanket. Luckily Tiberius caught my elbow and held me upright, otherwise I’d have tumbled over, which would have put a cherry on top of this fucktastic day.

Totally drained both physically and mentally, I finally whispered, “Please, everyone, leave.” I squeezed my burning eyes shut, the stinging continuing to plague me after they were closed, and I began chanting, “Please, please, get out,” until I finally heard them shuffling out.

“We’ll leave ya’ll,” Chey said to me and Tiberius, who was still holding me steady with his hand. I heard her close my bedroom door before slamming the front door. With her foot, probably.

“Ty, please let go.” I opened my eyes to see a storm brewing in his. Dark clouds of fury shaded his normally pale blue irises. “You should go with Trey to Cleveland. I need time to work this all out in my head. Go.” I tried pushing off his chest, struggling for physical space.

“No, Rex. I’m not running. If you need space to think, I’ll go back to my place and wait for you to call. When you need me, I’m gonna be sprinting back to you.” He kissed my forehead and walked out my bedroom door, shutting it behind him.

W
hen Tiberius left, I collapsed on the bed, too drained to argue with him about Thanksgiving. He should go with his friend and try to enjoy the holiday, which would be his first without his mom. But he was staying to wait for me.

Wait for me to do what? I hadn’t a clue.

Staring at the ceiling with my head throbbing from crying and my eyes burning from tears, I decided that I wasn’t defeated physically. So I threw on long tights and wool socks, added my track jacket over a thermal T-shirt, and laced up my running shoes. I shoved my earbuds into my ears while I sucked down an electrolyte packet, then hit the open road.

I ran for miles and miles, not even keeping track on my pacer watch. In a daze, I looped the Ag building three times, made a half dozen trips around College Avenue, and finally pummeled down the hill toward the townhouses to talk to Ty. But I nearly collapsed in the road when I saw what was happening in front of Ty’s door—he was standing in front of his townhouse in a testosterone-fueled standoff with my dad.

Mortified, I stumbled to a halt and turned to run back up the hill. I didn’t want to witness any of this,
this
being my old excuse for a life converging with what could be my new one—if I wanted. I’d realized on my run that was what Tiberius was waiting for. Me.

“Get over here, missy,” my dad bellowed, his voice pushing past my the music droning in my ears and freezing me in place.

“What, Dad?” I said through uneven breaths, my heart pounding in my chest and my legs shaking like leaves as I leaned forward, bracing myself on them as I tried to catch my breath.

“I’ve offered to help Mr. Jones here move schools. I could meet with the assistant dean and explain I will make a sizeable donation to the department if he assists in finding a transfer. This way, Pierre can be with you. He’s going to stay here and wait for you to finish school.”

“Are you crazy? Have you gone mad?” I screamed at the top of my lungs. The cold air did nothing to chill my fiery inferno of a temper. “I told you—I don’t want Pierre. Should I say it in another language? Two or three languages?”

Tiberius had edged between my father and me, providing a physical buffer, I assumed. I wasn’t sure who he was more worried would become physical—my father or me. I sensed another warm body standing near me and turned to see Jamel was there, his furious eyes locked on my dad.

“Tingly, I’m your father, and for once in your life, you’ll listen to me.” His chest puffed out as he stalked toward me, all five feet eleven inches of him full of attitude. Tiberius took a step to the left and blocked his path. Without any direction, Jamel moved to my dad’s right, further blocking him.

Glaring at my father, I yelled, “You mean like when you offered my virginity to Blane Maxwell? Guess what, Dad. He’s as gay as they come! He’s probably spent more time staring at your ass than mine. We only lied about sleeping together. I’ve never listened to you, and I’m not about to start now.” Tiberius left his foothold and corralled me in his arms.

“What about when you blew Blane’s dad? Sucked my best friend’s cock in broad daylight for everyone to see? Did you do that for me? Or was that all for your own sick enjoyment?” Spittle gathered in the corners of my dad’s mouth, his pale cheeks turning ruddy. “That’s poor character, Tingly. Character not deserving of the trust, if you ask me.”

“It’s always the trust! The trust this and the trust that! You don’t even need it!” My head spun, and I felt myself starting to shiver clear through to my bones. Unsteady on my feet, I drew a long breath to steady myself. The air had started to cool, the clouds heavy with flurries, and goose bumps lined my skin. I ran my hands along my arms to stay warm.

“I don’t hit old men, but you’re forcing me to take a swing,” Jamel barked. “Get outta here, man, and don’t come back. Take that French prick too ’cause if I see him, I’m gonna bloody him.” Jamel looked even taller and more daunting than usual. He was formidable as he loomed over my dad, standing up for me.

“Leave, Dad. They’re right. Don’t come back.”

Completely exhausted, I sagged against Tiberius, my head crashing like a wrecking ball into his chest. There was nothing left. I was bones and skin; my muscles, my heart, and voice box all defeated. A war had been waged and I won, but not without casualties. Tiberius would have questions about my past, and Jamel would have more. I knew they stood up for me, and that meant something, but what would happen when my dad left? Would they toss me out too?

And where was Pierre? Funny how a few months before, I was still in denial about his affections for me. The truth was I’d transformed in his eyes from a quickie fuck to a green card and a job.

“Go,” I whispered to Ty’s chest.

“He’s gone,” he whispered back.

I looked up to see Jamel escorting my dad back up the hill where a town car waited.
Weird
. I was in such a zone when I raced down here, I didn’t notice it.

“Come on, Rex.” Tiberius scooped me up and carried me into the townhouse.

I clung to his broad shoulders and back like a girl being rescued from an inferno. My head shoved deep into his neck, my legs bunched into his arms, I felt us walk over the threshold and heard the door clicking shut behind us. My throat hurt from breathing heavily during my run, then screaming, and now crying again. I sobbed quietly into Ty’s sweatshirt, my nose dripping onto the heavy fabric.

I didn’t even have the strength to look up and see where Tiberius was setting me down, and then I felt something hard underneath my butt.

“Rex, sit still for one second,” he whispered into my ear. His hand went to my shoulder, holding me steady, and I looked up to see him turn on the shower.

The bathroom immediately filled with steam, and my body relaxed in the warmth. Tiberius slowly lifted my shirt off, carefully slid my athletic bra up, and then helped me stand so he could push down my tights. I wrestled my shoes off, one foot at a time, not bothering to untie them. My socks came off with my leggings, and then I was airborne, Tiberius lifting me into the warm spray.

“Hold on to the wall for one sec,” he told me.

Quickly, he shucked his clothes before slipping in next to me. His arms came around me, holding me directly under the water so it drilled into my cold skin, sluicing down my arms and breasts. Without a word, he leaned in and kissed me, our mouths meeting under the waterfall. A moment later he backed me toward the side of the shower, pressing my spine into the tile wall as his arms caged me and he kissed me harder.

I tilted my head, loving how he slid his tongue inside my mouth and pressed his naked body against mine. With all my experience and sexual trysts, I’d never stood naked in the warm water, skin to skin, no barriers or boundaries. And now I’d showered twice with Tiberius. This time, his fingers didn’t roam; he kept his hands on either side of my head, containing me. He was probably afraid I was going to bolt.

When he released my lips, they felt bruised and lonely, helpless without him directing them. Leaning his forehead into mine, he said, “Tingly, look at me.”

I didn’t realize how hard I was squeezing my eyes shut until he spoke. I pried my lids open, drops of water clinging to my lashes, and saw the man before me. Sometimes he looked like such a boy with his dimples and wide grin, but right now he was all man, protective and dominant.

“Means something more now,” he rumbled in a low voice. “You’re mine, and he—Pierre—doesn’t get to mess with that. Your dad’s got nerve, but not enough to win against me. Deep down, I’m a kid off the street, Rex, and I’m gonna protect you.”

I giggled.

“What’s so funny?” Tiberius asked as he leaned closer, caging me tighter.

“Every time you say Pierre’s name it comes out sounding like
pear
, the fruit. It’s funny.” With an apologetic smile, I said, “I’m just wrung out, so I needed a laugh.”

Saying nothing, he moved one hand off the wall and swept the back of his fingers along my cheek. I couldn’t believe he was still standing there with me, naked and in the shower.

Dropping my gaze, I stared at the water swirling down the drain, terrified it represented my life. In a low voice, I asked, “Why are you still with me? I mean, you heard my father. I blew his friend—someone his age, the father of a friend—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. My name was passed around the country club locker room like a good tailor or golf pro. I come from this crazy, fucked-up world where money and all that’s shiny and glittery that comes with it means everything. There’s no truth, only skewed perception and lies, and you, Ty, you’re so honest and good. You come from a place that’s filled with so much bad, but you’re not. You’re better, above it all. Not me, I’m lower than low, and yet you’re still here.”

The water had started to run cool, and Tiberius moved to turn it off without saying a word. He snatched his towel off the rack and threw it around his waist before grabbing another from under the sink. Tenderly, he stroked the towel over my skin to dry me, his gaze on me holding nothing but love. Finally he tucked me snugly inside the worn terrycloth.

Pulling me into his arms as he leaned against the sink, the cheap mirror behind him still fogged up, he spoke. “Rex, there ain’t anything low about you. You’re not bad, you’re lost, and after meeting your sorry excuse for a dad, now I know why.”

When I brought my miserable gaze up to meet his, he breathed out, “Fuck!” then squeezed me tighter to his chest. “I always thought I got shit for a father ’cause he wasn’t around and then he was behind bars, but you the one who got shit. No matter what kinda money he got, that man is shit. And I know it’s your dad, but he’s nothing to me.”

“Me either.” My voice cracked, hoarse from all the yelling and running and crying.