But he was already striding away, the visions of that horrific night coming back. Back then, he’d let Tessa go because he couldn’t face her after what happened. Yes, she’d turned away from him, rejected him in front of everyone, but he’d seen in her eyes that it was killing her. He could’ve stayed in school and given her time, tried to convince her again. But after that night, he didn’t want to think about her or anything related to that night. He couldn’t even look in the mirror until the visible scars had faded. Everything would cause a flashback, a spiral into darkness. So he’d slammed the door shut.
All this time she thought she’d abandoned him for Doug. But in truth, he’d abandoned her. He’d been broken and full of rage and couldn’t get past it. He’d left her there with him even knowing who Doug was, praying she’d move on when she heard Doug had beaten Kade. But he hadn’t done anything to protect her from that sick fuck. He’d run and protected himself instead. He’d given up.
1996
Kaden’s chest pulled tight as he headed up to the brightly lit house in a cul-de-sac of one of the nicer neighborhoods in town. The music could be heard drifting on the breeze, but not enough to make a neighbor call in a noise complaint. Toby Wallace was a professional party giver. He’d cover all the bases to make sure they didn’t get a visit from the cops. At least that’s what Kaden had heard. He’d never actually been to one of his parties. But Tessa was here. So this is where he needed to be.
Maybe if things were different. Tessa had said those magic words, and the statement hadn’t stopped running through his head since he’d left her house the night before. But when he’d tried to set up a time to talk to her tonight, she’d told him that she had to go to a party.
With Doug.
She hadn’t said the last part, but he’d known it. She wouldn’t have gone to a house party solo. But this couldn’t wait. He needed to talk to her tonight.
He loved her. He knew without a doubt and was ready to do anything to show her why she should be with him. He only hoped he could get her alone to talk and that it was enough. He checked to make sure no one was around to see and slipped through the gate into the backyard. He hadn’t been invited to this party. Hell, he wasn’t invited to any of the parties. But he hoped he could blend in well enough if the crowd was from a few different schools.
Kids were crowded around the pool, most had beer in their hands. There was laughing and guys shoving each other, joking around. Girls stood nearby, giggling at their antics. To Kaden it was like turning on the National Geographic channel and observing a society he wasn’t a member of. He stayed in the shadows for a good while, watching the crowd, picking out who he recognized and who was from another school. If he could latch on to a group going inside, he may be able to slip in unnoticed.
But before he had the chance, he saw Tessa step out into the backyard with a few of her girlfriends. Unlike her friends who had wine coolers in their hands, she was carrying a Dr Pepper. Probably because she knew she’d have to drive Doug’s drunk ass home. She smiled at something one of the girls said, but she looked bored, distant.
He waited for her to go off on her own, but the girls were traveling in a pack just like at school. He sighed, knowing he was going to have to suck it up and risk being seen because they weren’t going to leave her side. But what did he have to lose? At worst, she’d ignore him or laugh for the sake of her friends. With one last deep breath, he moved out of the shadow of the hedges and headed her way.
One of her friends, Lexi, noticed him before Tess did. She curled her lip. “What is he doing here?”
Tessa turned, her eyes going wide, her expression panicked. “I don’t know.”
He walked over to the lounge chair she was sitting on. “Hey, y’all know where the d-d-drinks are?”
“Oh my God. Are you even invited?” Lexi asked. “No way Toby invited you.”
“Here, I’ll get you another drink, Tessa. This one looks like it isn’t c-c-cold anymore.”
She sucked in a breath when he wrapped his hand around the soda she was holding. The note he’d tucked in his hand slid into hers. She immediately closed her fist.
“Get the hell away from her,” said a voice from behind him. Doug, of fucking course.
Kaden lifted his hands in a surrender motion and turned toward Doug with a snide smile. “No problem. J-j-just trying to be helpful to the homecoming queen. Don’t want her drink getting hot.”
“Well, j-j-just get the f-f-fuck out of here,” he said, spitting with the stuttered words. “I’ll take care of her drinks. You don’t belong here, freak.”
“Leave him alone, Doug,” Tessa cut in. “He was trying to be nice.”
“Yeah, sure he was.” Doug said, sitting down next to Tessa and draping his arm around her like some gorilla marking his territory. “It has nothing to do with the fact that when he leaned forward to get your drink, he could probably see straight down that top you’re wearing. I told you it was too low cut. You’re bringing out the perverts, babe.”
Kaden’s teeth ground against each other. This guy was such a freaking asshole. Kaden tossed the drink on the ground and turned to head out of the yard. “This party’s l-l-lame anyway.”
The group laughed behind him. But he didn’t give a shit. All he cared about was Tess reading that note.
Fifteen minutes later, Tessa met him at the corner of the neighborhood’s kiddie park. She wrung her hands and kept looking over her shoulder, the moonlight making her look even more drawn and worried. Finally, she pinned him with a stare and wrapped her arms around herself. “What are you doing here? And we need to get out from under the streetlight.”
He took her arm and guided her to a darker spot over by the swing set. She sat on one of the swings and dragged her feet through the mulch.
“Where’s Doug?” he asked, even though it hurt to say the shithead’s name.
“Distracted with his friends.”
“I guess you didn’t tell him anything about what happened last n-n-night.”
She rolled her lips inward and shook her head. “I can’t, Kaden. You know that. I told you.”