Red Phoenix's Passion is for Lovers Collection (Boxed Set) (5 page)

Tess stared at her in disbelief. “What are you talking about? He was the only one who stood up for me, Mom!”

“Still, that kid obviously has problems and you don’t need that in your life.”

She looked out the window and mumbled, “You don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Look, Tess, a kid as messed up as that has got to have serious emotional baggage. I see it all the time in court.”

Tessa turned on her and yelled, “Who doesn’t, Mom?”

“Don’t talk to me that way, young lady!”

“I’m practically an adult! You can’t treat me like a kid anymore.”

Her mother’s face got a scary color of burgundy. It built up slowly like a kettle on the stove. When they got to the house, Julie exploded, “Go to your room, now!”

Tessa glared at her. “No.”

“I mean it, young lady. To your room, right now!”

“You’re acting like an idiot, Mother.”

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that,” she screamed. Tess could tell she was winding up for something big. “That’s it! I’m canceling your party.”

Tessa laughed. “Fine. I never wanted it in the first place!” Having no other place to go, Tessa ran to her room and slammed the door. She couldn’t fathom how the day had disintegrated into this. How could her mother possibly dislike Kevin when he was the one who protected her?

Tess wiped her hand across her lips angrily. The feel of Brian’s aggressive kiss still tainted her. How dare Samantha encourage him to do that! How could her ex-friend think that forcing Tess to kiss Brian would make her want him?
Gross!

She lay on her bed and closed her eyes. Her thoughts drifted back to Kevin. She wondered how hurt he was after the brutal attack. Did he regret meeting her? Maybe Kevin was angry with her for being stupid enough to acknowledge him in class. In the end, this was really her fault. Tess wanted to flaunt her relationship with Kevin.

But why?
She wasn’t even sure.

She hoped that Kevin could forgive her. Tess wanted to call him, but her mother had cut off all phone privileges. She lay there and imagined herself lying beside Kevin on her bed, his arms wrapped around her and his body pressed up close. Tess fell asleep pretending she was in his embrace.

Day 8

N
o amount of prodding could get Tessa to go to school the next morning. After a half-hour of heated arguments, her mother finally gave up. “I don’t appreciate this drama when you
know
what a busy week this is for me. I simply don’t have time for your shenanigans, Tessa.”

Tess couldn’t believe her mother was acting so selfish. Instead of responding, Tessa just stared at her mom with her mouth tightly shut.

It threw Julie off, she wasn’t used to her daughter disobeying. “Since I won’t be home until late, I expect you to stay in your room the entire day. Think on your future, Tessa. Nothing and
no one
is worth ruining your life.” Julie adjusted her skirt and brushed back her hair. “I’m not going to let this ruin my success today. You hear that?” She left abruptly. Tess could hear her heels clicking on the tiles in the kitchen before the garage door sounded.

What have I done wrong?
Tessa wondered.
Kevin and I are the victims here.

Instead of demanding justice from Sam and Brian, her mother was punishing her and blaming Kevin. How messed up was that?

Tessa snuck out as soon as nine o’clock rolled around. Without phone privileges, she could claim “obedience” when she didn’t answer her mother’s phone calls. Because of the big trial, there was no chance her mom would surprise her during the day. That meant a whole day to do whatever she wanted—and what Tess wanted was to see Kevin. Would Kevin even answer the door? If he did, would he slam it in her face when he saw who it was?

Tess approached his house with trepidation. She knocked lightly at first, but got no answer. Tessa knocked louder the second time and rang the doorbell several times. After an eternity of waiting, she gave up and turned to leave. That was when Tessa heard the door creak open. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Kevin standing in the doorway, his poor face all bruised and swollen. “Oh, Kevin!” she gasped.

He didn’t say anything, but moved aside so she could walk past him. She gratefully entered his house, whimpering, “I’m sorry…”

“For what?” he asked irritably.

Tessa was thrown off by the sharpness in his voice. “I’m sorry for saying hi to you in class. It was foolish of me.”

“What are you talking about? There’s no need to apologize. That asshole had no right to touch you. There is no excuse for what he did. Get real!”

Even though Kevin was upset, the fact he wasn’t angry with her made Tessa exceedingly happy. “Thank you, Kevin. Thank you for standing up for me.”

“How could I not?”

She grumbled, “Nobody else did.”

“That’s because your school sucks!”

“
Our
school,” she admonished.

The slightest grin played across his face. “You shouldn’t joke, Tesse.”

“I have to. It’s either that or cry.” She threw caution to the wind and ran over to him, burying her face in his chest. He hesitantly embraced her. Tessa closed her eyes and reveled in the closeness.

“Oh, Tesse,” he murmured. His voice was like a second caress. Her whole body reacted to it and she trembled. “Are you okay?”

She looked up, staring directly at his lips. She lifted her chin, not wanting to appear too forward but wanting him to know her desire. Kevin’s lips were close enough she could almost feel their warmth. Tess noticed the scar tissue in the right hand corner of his mouth twitch in anticipation.
Kiss me, Kevin…

He broke the embrace and moved to the kitchen. “You want some water or something?”

Tessa’s heart was still beating a mile a minute.
So close!
“No, I need you to hold me.”

He looked at her and shook his head. “I’m no good for you. I realize that now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Tesse, you never would have been in that situation if it weren’t for me.”

She violently disagreed. “Brian has been hounding me all year! It was bound to happen. Only I wouldn’t have had my knight in shining armor there to protect me.”

Kevin sounded displeased when he replied, “I’m no knight. Don’t even joke about it.”

“You are to me,” she insisted.

“You don’t know anything about me. Don’t be an idiot.”

“Of course I don’t know anything about you. You won’t tell me. Why won’t you let me in?”

“I don’t want to go there,” he warned.

“I think we have to.”

Kevin looked at her with such agony it hurt her heart. “I don’t think I can.”

“Then I will give you my strength.” Tessa walked over and wrapped her thin arms around his waist.

He stroked her hair with his good hand while his right arm pulled her closer. She could tell he was building his courage, so she waited patiently. Kevin could take all day if he needed. Tessa was in his arms again.

Kevin finally took her hand and led her to the couch. He sat down. She joined him, anxious to learn his secret. Kevin gazed into her eyes and his lips twitched, but no words came out. “Tesse, I can’t look at you when I tell you. In fact, I don’t want you to say anything. Just listen.”

“Okay.” Tessa laid her head on his lap and curled her feet up on the couch. Being like this was just like the movies, so romantic and sweet. She felt the rough scars on his fingers touch her arm, his missing fingers obvious but unnecessary. He’d never touched her with his right hand before. It seemed such an intimate gesture.

“I’ve lived in Emporia, Kansas all of my life. It is a good place to grow up. Well… I didn’t have any complaints. My father traveled a lot, so it was pretty much just the three of us, my mom, Randy and me.” Tessa’s ears perked up when she heard there was someone else in his family. “I had a good group of friends and a little brother who suffered from serious hero-worship. Randy followed me everywhere. I didn’t mind though, he made an effective chick magnet. I was fairly talented at baseball and thought I might get a scholarship if I played my cards right. Like I said, I had no complaints.”

He paused and his fingers stopped moving. Tessa’s heart rate sped up as she felt the tension in his body increase. “My da… father changed when I started my first year in high school. I don’t know what happened. Maybe it was a midlife crisis, another woman, or he just fucking went nuts, but when he came home he was abusive to all of us. He yelled at my mom and slapped her around. He even belted me a couple of times, but when he hurt Randy I went ballistic,” Kevin snarled. “I began dreading his return and dreamed of disappearing where he would never find us, but my mom insisted we stay in Emporia. It was all she knew.” He sighed and was silent for several beats of her heart.

“Our lives ended the day that asshole surprised Randy at his birthday party. The neighborhood kids were over to celebrate my kid brother turning eight. As soon as my father entered the house, I felt the air leave. But things seemed okay at first, my father was unusually jovial—until he started drinking. Things got dark real fast. I had to shoo the children out of there while Mom took the verbal abuse he was dishing out. I told Randy to go to his friend’s house…” Kevin stopped. “Why didn’t he listen to me?” Tess remained perfectly still, wanting him to continue.

He started rubbing her arm roughly. “My parents had a huge fight. Randy and I went upstairs at Mom’s insistence. Something was different. Something had changed. I could feel it. I told Randy to hide in the closet if things got bad and then I snuck downstairs to check on my mom. He was beating the crap out of her. I didn’t even think, I jumped on his back and started punching him. He snarled like an insane bear. I was on the ground before I knew it, his hands wrapped tightly around my neck. I could see the rage bulging in his eyes. There was no doubt his intent was to kill. It wasn’t until my mom broke my baseball bat over his head that I could breathe again. My father slumped on top of me and I honestly thought he was dead. I wish she had killed him.”

His fingers began hurting as the rough scars dug into her delicate skin, but Tess didn’t complain—she’d promised to be his strength. “My mom didn’t call the police. No, she made me help stuff the asshole in his truck and we drove to a nearby hotel. She left him there thinking once he sobered up things would be okay. I knew they wouldn’t, but I had no idea…”

Kevin finally stopped stroking her arm. He said nothing for the longest time. When he spoke again, his voice was distant and cool as if he was recounting facts. “We returned home, cleaned up the broken glass and overturned furniture. I went to check on Randy. He was watching TV in his room as if nothing had happened. I went to bed that night with my shattered bat next to my head. I was prepared to stab my father with it if he showed up.” Kevin clutched her arm and started squeezing hard. “I woke up to the smell of smoke. I rushed to Randy’s room. Even though the smoke made it hard to see, I could tell he was already gone. I ran out of the house to check on my mom, but she was screaming that Randy was missing.” His words started falling out of his mouth at a rapid pace. “I ran back in, but had to drop to the floor. The fire had spread quickly and the smoke was thick and black. I crawled up the stairs to his room. I knew exactly where he was, but it was difficult to find the closet. He was hiding in there because of me. I told him to go there if things got bad. It was my fault.”

Tessa opened her mouth to disagree, but he said, “No. Not a word.” She nodded her head on his lap. “It took forever for me to find it. The heat from downstairs was radiating into his room. It felt like a furnace and I couldn’t breathe. If I couldn’t breathe, I knew Randy was suffering. I finally found the door. By then the roar of the fire blocked out any other sound. I felt around for him and finally touched his hand. He rushed into my arms. I can’t describe the relief I felt. I held onto him and started back down the stairs. The hall was catching on fire. I tried to avoid the worst of the heat, but it hurt so fucking bad… I was running on adrenaline and pushed through the pain. We made it down to the first floor, but I was lost. I forced Randy to the floor, trying to grab the last of the oxygen, but I couldn’t see a thing. I had no idea where the front door was. I dragged Randy with me blindly, desperate to get us out of there. Something fell on him. It burned, oh God, it burned! I heard Randy then, above the roar of the fire. He was screaming. I’ll never forget that sound. I pulled at him, but Randy was stuck under the fiery debris… I ripped away at it, but I couldn’t save him.” Kevin choked, “I felt his hand go limp. I knew he was dead. I couldn’t save my little brother from burning to death. Then I felt someone grab at me. I tried to fight them off, but they dragged me out of there, away from Randy. They should have let me die. That’s what I wanted.”