“I feel the same way,” I answer, even if I am worried about keeping the truth from him. His lips find mine and I open for him immediately. I feel his hand move under my shirt and moan as his hand squeezes my breast. “Reed,” I gasp as we break apart to catch our breath. His thumb swipes slowly back and forth against my nipple, teasing me even through the fabric of my bra. I stare into his beautiful chocolate eyes, my entire body feeling as if I’m on the edge of a cliff and poised to jump.
“I love you, Callie,” he says and there’s so much emotion in his voice that tears sting my eyes.
“I love you, Reed. I promise you, I always will—forever and ever.”
“Forever and ever,” he murmurs. “Now that, I like the sound of.”
“Do you realize you have your hand under my shirt, stroking my nipple in the middle of my driveway in broad daylight?” I ask him, smiling.
“It feels really good, too, Callie.”
“Well, yeah, but….”
“Fine, we’ll go, but I reserve the right to continue this later.”
“Uh, not in my driveway, Romeo,” I respond, shaking my head no.
“How about we go to our special place tonight?” he says, and I bite my lip because I can see the promise in his eyes. I nod my head yes and he kisses me again—although this one is much quicker. Then, his hand slides away from my breast and he guides me toward his bike.
I take a shaky breath, trying to get my emotions—and my hormones—under control.
33 Callie
I look behind me and wave goodbye to Reed. He waves back but makes no move to leave. I know he won’t until I’m inside. That makes me smile. Today didn’t exactly go as planned. The waiting at the clinic took forever and I think it might have been the most uncomfortable I’ve been in my life. I could feel everyone’s eyes on us. Reed said it was mostly in my head, but I’m not sure I believed him. The clinic was holding a “free clinic” day, which didn’t help. It was so crowded in there you could barely turn around. We found a seat in the corner of the room, but instead of that helping me to disappear, it seemed everyone was facing me—including Nigel the mailman. It’s not a question of if it will get around that Reed and I were at the clinic together, it’s just a question of when. From there, it’s not going to be a big jump to having everyone speculate as to why.
Then, the computers all went down. They couldn’t run the tests that they needed to do. They drew blood and sent the tests off to the local lab at the hospital. That means it will be a minimum of two days before we get the results back. It’s definitely frustrating, but Reed is happy and that’s all that matters.
I close the door and hear Reed’s motorcycle start up. I cry out when a hand caps down on my wrist. There’s no way Reed can hear me. Right now, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. My father twists my wrist so harshly that I feel it crack.
“Stop!” I cry, tears stinging my eyes. I barely get the word out before my father takes the back of his hand and slaps me across the face then pushes me with all his might. The hit is so hard and combined with his shove, I spiral backwards crashing into the coffee table. I hear glass break around me and my head slaps hard against the wood, making my instantly woozy. I try to focus, looking up at the face of the man who is my father, but is also a man I hate.
A coppery, bitter taste fills my mouth, telling me my lip is bleeding. I wipe it gingerly, blinking to help me focus. He’s standing over me, undoing his belt. My heart stutters in my chest. The pain I’m feeling in my wrist takes a back seat to panic, because the look on my father’s face is something I’ve never seen before—and I know what it means when he takes his belt off. His last beating is one I’m not about to forget, and there’s no way he was this mad. That doesn’t bode well at all.
“I’m home before nine-thirty, Dad,” I respond, thinking he’s upset because it’s so close to curfew. He doesn’t like being alone with Mom.
“I’m going to ask you a question, Callie, and you’re going to answer me,” he says, his voice calm and dark, despite his obvious anger.
“O—okay,” I stutter.
“What were you doing at the free clinic with that Reed boy?”
I know my face goes white. I can literally feel the color leeching out. This is bad. So bad. I don’t know how he found out so quickly, but I know that I’m going to pay for it.