Naked 2 : BAD (7 page)

She’d received a couple of text messages on her cell phone and that was what the buzzing noise had been coming from.

The texts were from an unknown number with a Boston area code.

The first one said:

Is your light on?

And then, a minute later:

Second window on the left?

Her brow furrowed as she read the texts. It was just after midnight and they’d both come within the last few minutes. Who would have written that? Was it a joke—someone trying to scare her?

She wasn’t sure about writing back. Instead, she went to her window and looked outside. There was a pickup truck parked by the curb in front of her house. She couldn’t tell who was inside, or if they’d seen her looking out.

Probably they had.

She wondered if it was Jayson, or one of his friends.

She quickly stepped back from the window and closed the blinds, her heart racing.

Glancing down at her cell phone, Caelyn saw that another text message had just popped up.

I couldn’t stay away.

She licked her lips, wondering what to do. Should she wake her parents, call the cops, write back and tell the person to leave her alone?

Her fingers froze over the touch screen, not sure what to do. Then yet another message came through.

Come outside. I want to talk to you.

Caelyn swallowed, her mouth dry. There was no way she was going to go outside right now. She was just going to ignore whoever it was, until they left.

It was simple. Eventually, they would leave.

But what if it’s not Jayson or one of his friends—what if it’s Elijah?
She wondered.

She didn’t think so. For one thing, he was probably in jail. And that wasn’t his SUV outside. On top of those factors, Elijah had seemed intent on not contacting her again because of the way she’d treated him on the phone. The last thing he would do was simply show up at her house, especially when he didn’t even know where she lived.

It had to be someone else, someone she didn’t want to talk to or see.

She waited, trembling on her bed, out of sight of her window. Her hands cradled her phone, watching to see if any more texts came through.

Then she heard the slam of a car door, and knew that whoever it was, they’d gotten out of the truck.

Caelyn couldn’t resist getting a glimpse of the person, so she slowly crept to the side of the window and then peaked through the blinds.

He’d come to stand on the front lawn, maybe ten feet from the steps. It was dark, and he was bathed in shadow, but somehow he was familiar to her, even in the darkness.

Caelyn stifled a cry. It was Elijah, she realized. Even though she couldn’t see his face, she just knew. Something about the way he was standing, waiting for her. She knew it had to be him.

Caelyn ran out of her room, pounding down the stairs, not even caring if anyone heard her, and then bolted out the front door of her house.

What if you’re wrong
? A small voice asked.
What if it’s somebody else? You could
be in danger.

But that voice was almost completely drowned out by her need to see him again, hear his voice, feel his presence.

As soon as she got out of the house, she saw that it was Elijah standing on the front lawn. He knew she would be there, knew she would be coming outside. Somehow he’d just known.

For a moment, she wasn’t sure whether to just stand there and awkwardly say hi, or yell at him for freaking her out by showing up out of nowhere like this.

And then she saw his grin, that grin she’d been remembering, the look that had given her strength through all of this mess—and she couldn’t help herself. “Why didn’t you tell me you were here?” she said, throwing her arms around him and hugging him, feeling his warm body against hers.

“I did,” he replied.

“You didn’t say who you were!”

“I figured you’d know. Besides, I like to keep you guessing.”

She hugged him tightly, and the tears came flooding down her cheeks. “Of course, I’m crying again,” she laughed through her tears.

He pulled back a little and looked at her, concerned. “What’s wrong?” he said. He put his thumb on her cheek and wiped some of her tears away. “Tell me what happened.”

“I’m just relieved to see you,” she told him.

He was wearing jeans, a leather coat, and a baseball cap. He looked somehow rougher around the edges than he had when she’d met him a few days ago. Maybe, she thought, it was because he was back home, back to his old ways.

“I’m happy to see you too, kid.”

She didn’t bother giving him crap for calling her kid again. “How did you find where my parents live?”

He chuckled. “It’s not exactly rocket science. Your cell is registered to your dad’s name, and then it’s a pretty simple Google search to get a street address.”

“When did you get out?” she asked him as she stepped away, running a hand through her hair. She was still stunned that he was actually here, in person.

“Just a few hours ago. This is the first place I came when they let me go free.” He grinned.

“But whose car is that?”

“You’ve got a lot of questions, don’t you?” He chuckled. “Come on,” he said, taking her hand. “Let’s talk in the car.”

As they walked to his truck, she reveled in the feeling of Elijah’s hand wrapped around hers. All of the misery she’d been feeling, the weight of the world on her shoulders—it was all gone.

She felt light as a feather, light as air, and the smile she had on her face was totally unrestrained. It was like a dream, and if it was a dream, she was determined not to wake up from it.

Caelyn got in the passenger side and then Elijah walked around to the driver’s side.

When she got in, Caelyn smelled minty gum, a hint of cigarette smoke, and old leather.

The truck was clean, but not as clean as the SUV had been. There were papers and envelopes, a couple of McDonald’s bags on the floor at her feet.

Elijah got inside and turned to look at her. She wanted to touch his face, just to feel his skin, to know he was really real. His dark eyes searched hers, as if questioning the same thing.

And then he smiled back at her. “I know I was acting crazy when we last talked on the phone. I’d been cooped up too long and it was getting to me, picturing the next five years of my life—locked up. Away from everything. Away from…”

She thought he was going to say,
away from you
. But if he was, he didn’t allow himself to finish the sentence.

“I get it,” she said. “I would have freaked out too.”

He looked down for a moment. “I didn’t think I’d be out anytime soon. Leaving the state is one thing, but getting brought up on assault charges is a whole other can of worms. It pretty much guaranteed that I was going back to jail. But then today, out of nowhere, they came and told me I was free to go.”

“Just like that?” she said.

He shrugged, his eyes locking on hers again. “Apparently, that asshole dropped the charges against me. And the state of Florida’s not going to pursue anything, so I was let go.”

She nodded, wondering if it was a good time to tell him what she’d done. But it didn’t feel right to say it, so instead she said, “I’m so happy for you, Elijah.”

“It’s not over yet, though,” he said, his expression turning more serious. “I’m still going to have a hearing about my parole violation for leaving Mass. If they decide that leaving the state and going to Florida is bad enough, they’ll put me away anyhow. This just gives me a chance.”

“Well, it’s something,” she said, her heart sinking a little. “When is your hearing?”

“A week from today.” He sighed and shook his head. “But I don’t want to talk about my hearing.” He was still watching her. “I want to talk about you, Caelyn.”

She felt her breath catch in her chest. Sitting this close to him was unbelievable.

Her entire body was warm, burning up, and she sensed that the energy between them had only gotten stronger even though they’d been away from one another.

“What is there to say about me?” she laughed nervously. “My life sucks.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

“I’m scared,” she admitted. Saying it out loud was difficult, but immediately she felt a weight off her chest. “Everyone seems to hate me right now.”

“Who hates you?” he demanded.

“My family. My roommate at Cambridge.” She thought about Jayson, but didn’t bother saying his name, especially since Jayson was now under the impression that they might be able to rekindle their romance.

An impression that she’d purposely helped to give him.

Elijah’s smirk turned down and he grit his teeth. “I don’t like hearing you say that people hate you. Are these people giving you a hard time?”

“My sister Deena is.”

“I have a brother and a sister,” Elijah said, “so I know what you mean.” He put his hand on her hand. “But why are you letting them get to you?”

Caelyn shrugged. “I’ve been confused ever since…what happened to me at Jayson’s apartment. It’s like all of my confidence is gone.”

“It’ll come back. Give it time.”

She looked at him, amazed. “Sometimes you sound wise, like an old man.”

“Shit, thanks a lot,” he said, sarcastic, but still somehow pleased underneath it all.

“I’m serious. You sound like you’ve been where I am. And it’s comforting.” She allowed herself to feel the warmth of his hand covering hers. That was even more comforting. Having him next to her, real and in person, seemed to make everything instantly better.

“You’re going to be okay, Caelyn.”

“How do you know?”

He adjusted his baseball cap with his free hand. “I just know. I can tell a lot from looking at someone—how they behave, carry themselves, whether they have any backbone.

You’ve got backbone to spare, kid.”

“Okay, you need to stop calling me kid.”

“It’s a term of endearment.”

“It’s weird.”

They looked at one another for a long time, and Caelyn could feel the energy between them intensifying, and her heart speeding up along with it. Suddenly, she was nervous and fidgety. She pulled her hand away from his, not even knowing why.

She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted to feel his arms around her, his chest pressing against her chest. But something frightened her, too. It was so intense and it almost felt overpowering, like she might drown—lose herself completely.

She looked outside the passenger window at her parents’ house.

“I won’t call you kid anymore,” he said softly.

She exhaled slowly. “I don’t care about that.”

“You got all weird,” he said. “It’s like a wall went up.”

She glanced over at him, taking him in. He was lean and relaxed in the driver’s seat, his strong jaw jutting out as he watched her. She felt drawn too him, but terrified all over again. “I’m sorry I’m being weird,” she told him. “The last few days have been so crazy, and I feel like maybe I’m going nuts.”

“You’re not going nuts. You’re just probably tired and mentally exhausted. You need to stop trying to figure everything out,” he told her. “Things will work out.”

Now she did look at him. “What if they don’t?”

“They just do. Everything works itself out, one way or another.” He grinned suddenly. “Shit, look at me. I was in jail and it looked like they were going to throw away the key. A few hours later, I’m out—free as a bird.”

A quick spark of frustration clenched her stomach. “That didn’t
just happen
,” she said.

His expression grew puzzled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, you got out because I did everything I could to get you out.”

Instantly she regretted saying it.

Elijah’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do, Caelyn?”

Her hands clasped one another, fingers twisting as she thought about how to say it without upsetting him. “I did some reading online about parole violations and everything.”

“Yeah…” he wiped a hand across his mouth. “And?”

“And I figured out that if Jayson pressed charges against you, you’d definitely have to stay in jail. So I called Jayson—“

Elijah closed his eyes and pressed his hands against the steering wheel. “You fucking called him?” When he opened his eyes and looked at her again, Caelyn was stunned by the intensity in his dark eyes.

“I had to talk him out of pressing charges,” she said, almost whispering.

“Why? Why would you have anything to say to him?”

“Because. I didn’t want you to go to jail.”

He stared at her, as if totally disbelieving what she was saying. “Caelyn, there’s no way he just dropped the charges to be a nice guy.”

She took a deep breath. “No, he didn’t do it just to be nice. I told him I’d drop the charges against him if he dropped the ones against you.”

Elijah put a hand over his face and moaned. “No, no, no.”

She reached out and touched his shoulder and he suddenly threw open the car door and got out. Before she knew it, Elijah had started walking down the street, away from the truck.

He was walking fast, seemingly trying to get away from her. Caelyn got out and ran after him. “Where are you going?” she cried.

“I can’t believe you fucking did that,” he shouted over his shoulder at her.

“Elijah,” she yelled, breathing heavily as she got close to him. “Stop walking so fast. Hold on.”

“You must want to make me go and kill that scumbag,” he yelled.

She grabbed the back of his coat and he spun on her.

“Elijah—“

He grabbed her by the shoulders, not hard, but his hands felt firm and strong against her. He was staring into her eyes, his lips close to hers. “I would have rather done five years than let you take the fall for me.”

“I didn’t take the fall.”

“You did. You dropped those charges against the guy who raped you.” His face changed to disgust. “Now that animal’s going to get away with hurting you. At least, he thinks he’s going to.” His eyes clouded over, as he seemed to think it all through.

“Elijah, you can’t do anything else to hurt Jayson. I know you’re angry, but it’s over.”

He was still holding her shoulders. His face drew closer, so close that she could smell his breath, his skin, and she could almost fall into his dark eyes. “How can I let him hurt you? I would kill to protect you.”