“Kitten…” Braxton’s voice had me gasping and sitting upright on the edge of my bed, my heart throbbing as a fresh wave of tears flooded down my face. Just the sound of his voice had calmed my anxiety and the nightmare that lived in my head, blocking everything else but what happened, making it disappear for the first time since it took place. “Are you okay?”
I pressed the palm of my free hand into my forehead, wondering if I was hallucinating hearing his voice instead of Mia’s. But he’d called me “kitten.” Only one person had ever called me that. Braxton.
“Nevaeh?” his deep voice rasped my name when I didn’t answer him.
“I-I’m here.” I finally found my voice to reply. “Why are you calling me?”
“Mia’s mom said something happened last weekend. I just wanted to make sure you are okay.” He blew out what sounded like a frustrated sigh. “Are you?”
“Am I what?” I muttered, still trying to wrap my head around the object of my every fantasy actually calling me.
“Okay,” he growled. “Are you okay, Kitten?”
“I’m fine,” I gritted out, more than a little frustrated myself as the nightmare flooded back into my mind, pushing out everything else. Everyone kept asking if I was okay, and the truth was I didn’t know if I was or not. But they all seemed to want to hear that I was fine, so that was what I told them every time.
“Liar,” he muttered so quietly, I almost didn’t hear him. “Do you… I don’t know, maybe you want to talk about what happened?”
I clamped my mouth shut before the words could escape. I wanted to tell him everything, and I didn’t understand why. I hadn’t told anyone the complete details of the incident. All my parents knew was what PopPop had told them, and even he didn’t know the full extent of it. Just that he’d found some guy kissing me and knocked him on his ass.
They didn’t know I felt ashamed that I had let some guy even touch me, let alone kiss me. I hated that I couldn’t stop him myself, that I was so weak and trapped I couldn’t even cry for help. I felt violated and used, and I didn’t understand why when a kiss was all he’d taken from me.
And not understanding something just wasn’t acceptable to me.
“Mia and Barrick made up, so if you’re still up for it, you can move in with us when you come to school out here next semester,” he informed me, changing the subject when I remained silent.
That definitely caught my attention. “I’ll be living with you?”
Oh shit. How was I going to handle living under the same roof with him when all I wanted was to give him every single one of my other firsts? And despite Dax stealing my first kiss, I still had plenty of other firsts to give away to whomever I wanted.
“Yeah, we were just talking about it at dinner. Mia’s parents are on board with it and said they would discuss it with your mom and dad.”
“And I’m sure you’re thrilled about that,” I said with a roll of my eyes, realizing the true reason he was calling. “Look, I’ll talk to them and figure something out. You won’t even have to see me once I start school.”
“What? No,” he grumbled. “It was my idea for you to live with us, Kitten. Ask Mia if you don’t believe me.”
“Maybe I’m the one who should be asking ‘are you okay?’” A laugh escaped me, and for a moment, it sounded foreign to my ears because I hadn’t laughed in over a week. “You seemed like you couldn’t even stand to be around me the other day, Braxton. Why would you want me living under the same roof with you for months at a time?”
“I don’t understand it myself, if I’m being honest. But I would feel better about you and Mia living with us than in some apartment with poor security, or in the dorms where who knows what could happen.”
“So, this is more about protecting Mia,” I said, disappointment hitting me squarely in the chest. “This has nothing to do with me.”
“It’s not like that,” he tried to tell me, frustration thick in his voice. “I want to protect you too.”
“It’s okay. I get it. You don’t have to defend yourself to me.” I lay back, picking up the teddy bear I’d slept with most of my life and squeezed him to my chest. “I’m going to get off here. I have some work to do,” I lied.
“Nevaeh…” Something in his voice stopped me from hanging up. “If you ever need to talk, you can call me. No matter what time or what it’s about, I’ll always answer. Okay?”
“I don’t have your number,” I reminded him.
“I’ll text it to you from Mia’s phone. I mean it, Kitten. Call me anytime.”
“Yeah, okay,” I told him, knowing I would never tell him about Dax, but the idea of talking to him whenever I wanted had my lips lifting in the beginning of a smile.
“Call me later.” It sounded more like a command than a question, but I still found myself agreeing. “Bye, Kitten.”
“Bye, Braxton,” I whispered, clenching my arms around the teddy bear.
Chapter 1