Giving It to the Bad Boy (12 page)

“I don’t celebrate my birthday, never have, and everyone I hang out with knows that.” He

smiled, but it was sad and distant. He may try to act like this hard, uncaring guy, but she could see that he hurt deep down inside, whether he wanted to acknowledge that or not. His words had her chest

constricting. He had never celebrated his birthday? What kind of parents did that to their child? He had been alone for so long, and all she wanted to do was make sure that didn’t happen ever again.

Her thoughts of realization startled her by how intense they were, but she didn’t fear them. Instead, she felt happiness at the idea of being there for Reese.

“Would you have really done that for me?” She looked into his blue eyes, ones that seemed so

much paler with the glow from the moon slashing across his face. He didn’t give her time to question what he meant. “Would you really have baked me a cake for my birthday?”

God, he was so heartbreaking. Before her tears fell she buried her head in his neck and inhaled

deeply. How could she become so attached to someone in such a short amount of time? Was she

crazy, or was the connection she felt for him something that meant so much more?

Gripping his shirt in her hand, she murmured against his neck, “Yes, Reese, I would have, and

so much more.” Did he know she meant she would have made him feel wanted and cared for as well?

He tightened his arms around her back, and they lay there for so long her eyes started to drift closed as exhaustion suddenly took root inside of her. She could have stayed there all night, wrapped in

Reese’s embrace on some old man’s property. It was perfect in every way, but all too soon Reese

was helping her up and leading her back to the car. The entire time he was always touching her,

always keeping his hand on her and making her never feel alone in the dark. She wanted to make him

feel the same way.

Kiera’s phone buzzed with an incoming text, and she reached for it and saw it was from Molly.

Molly:
You up?

Yeah. What’s up?

Molly:
Can I come over in about an hour?

Sure. Everything OK?

Molly:
Yeah. I just want to talk about Ian.

Kiera set her cell down on the kitchen table and finished her bowl of cereal. She had been

thinking about Rese ever since he dropped her off last night. Even hours later she had lain in bed,

staring at her ceiling, and running her fingers over her lips that still tingled from his kiss. Of course that wasn’t the only thing that tingled from his touch. When she had finally fallen asleep it was to be woken up by the banging of cupboards slamming in the kitchen at seven in the morning. Kiera didn’t

sleep in a lot of the time, but she hadn’t fallen asleep until well after two in the morning. So here she sat, running on a few hours of sleep, and feeling like the dead reincarnate.

“You came home pretty late, Kiera,” her mother said without turning her attention away from

the sink full of dishes.

“Yeah, sorry. I did text though, so that has to count for something,” Kiera said, but kept her head

lowered and moved her spoon around her Cheerios.

“No, it’s all right. We were just surprised you stayed out so late. Did you have fun?” Her mom

looked over her shoulder. Kiera could hear the unspoken statement clear as day, though.
You never go
out, Kiera. You should spend more time with your friends. Before you know it you’ll be old like us
and working for the rest of your life.
It was the same thing they had said to her on more than one occasion as they worried about her being a social leper. Apparently hanging out with only two people on a steady basis wasn’t much of a social life to them. “So, tell me about this new boy.”

Kiera groaned internally and lifted her eyes to her mom. She really didn’t want to talk about

this, but if she didn’t tell her mother something she wouldn’t let it rest.

“It’s just a boy from school. His name is Reese Trenton, and he’s a senior, too.” A flicker of

emotion passed over her mom’s face.

“His last name is Trenton you said?” The way her mom asked the question was filled with a

little apprehension.

“Yeah. Why?” Her mother’s reaction was a bit off.

“Is this Reese boy the son of Hugo and Carolyn Trenton?”

Kiera shrugged and furrowed her brow. “He didn’t tell me his parents’ names. Why?”

Her mother sat in the chair across from her and brought her coffee cup to her lips and drank

slowly, her gaze out the kitchen window. “Nothing, it’s just if those are his parents I’m a bit

worried.”

Kiera asked for a third time, “Why?” When her mom didn’t answer right away Kiera said, “You

can’t just say something like that and not say … something.”

She sighed heavily and set her coffee cup down. “Kiera, it’s just that Hugo is bad news all

around, and he brought Carolyn down with him. Hugo is a drunk who gambles away any money they

have, and he has brought Carolyn down to his level. They live on the outskirts of town, just over the train tracks on McKinley and Harrison.”

Kiera stayed quiet, not really knowing what to say. Was this family her mother spoke of

Reese’s? If so, then he wasn’t joking around when he said he lived on the wrong side of the tracks.

She had thought he was being funny, reminding her of “Pretty in Pink”, but that had not been the case at all. He was being honest and literal.

“They keep to themselves, and they haven’t really caused any problems in years.”

Kiera grew more and more uncomfortable with each word her mother said. “What do you mean

problems?”

“Nothing, honey, really. Besides, the odds that this is the son of Hugo and Carolyn are pretty

slim. I mean no one has heard from them in years.”

“No, Mom. Tell me, please.”

He mom gripped the coffee cup in both of her hands. “Well, Carolyn used to be clean and

sober. She worked over at Cookies House, but that little diner has since shut down. In fact, we went to school together and were friends at one time, but I went off to college while she stayed here. When I came back she had a brand new baby and was married to Hugo. Long story short, Hugo was a rotten

man, had been in high school, too. Very abusive, mentally and physically. Then she kind of

disappeared and would only surface every once in a while.” She picked up her cup and finished her

coffee before standing. “That was years ago, though. I haven’t heard or seen them in a long time, but I know they still live over there.”

“You never heard anything more about their son?”

“She brought him around at first.”

“No one ever tried to get her any help?” Worry that this Carolyn woman was left to deal with a

man as horrible as Hugo left a bad taste in Kiera’s mouth.

Her mother watched her from across the kitchen. “Kiera, several of us tried many times to get

her to see the man he really was. She knew him in high school, too, and knew how dirty and rotten he was. That’s why it was such a shock to find out she was with him. We told her he would only bring

her down in the end. She wouldn’t listen, and pushed us all away.” A sadness passed over her mom’s

face, but she covered it up quickly. “It’s a sad situation, but sometimes people don’t want to see

what’s right in front of them, and they refuse the help of the people that care about them. I didn’t want to give up on her, none of us did, but what were we supposed to do after she pushed us away

countless times? There was only so much we could do. You can try and try with your last breath to

make them see reason, but they will do what they want in the end.”

“What about the police? No one ever thought about the little boy?” Sadness engulfed Kiera

because she knew her mother was talking about Reese’s parents. She just knew. Her gut told her that

to be true, and she felt sick.

“Honey, they were called too many times to count. I don’t know how they got away with

keeping him, I really don’t, but they did. Short of kidnapping the little boy there wasn’t anything we could do.”

Kiera still felt so much disgust over the life Reese had lived. He didn’t have anything positive

in his life.

“You have plans today? Maybe with Molly or Ian?” Her mom changed the subject flawlessly,

but their conversation wouldn’t be leaving Kiera any time soon.

Kiera stared into her cereal bowl. “Molly’s coming over in a bit.” Her mother said a few more

things, but Kiera was too engrossed in her thoughts. She was left alone in the kitchen, but her stomach was tied in knots, and she pushed her cereal bowl away, no longer hungry. She wanted to talk to

Reese about these things, but how in the hell did you bring up something that would most likely be

painful?

After she was dressed Kiera sat on the couch and waited for Molly to show. She didn’t have to

wait long, though. Molly came through the front door, not bothering knocking, and sat down beside her on the couch. By the silly grin on her face Kiera assumed things had been worked out with Ian.

“So, I take it things are good with Ian?”

Molly’s smile grew, and Kiera laughed. She was glad Molly was happy.

“Yeah, I asked him to come over and talk with me.” Molly rested her head on the back of the

couch and turned it so she was looking at Kiera. “You should have seen his face when I let him in. I swear it looked like he was walking to the electric chair.” They both chuckled, although Kiera felt

bad for the clear anguish he had gone through. “We talked for hours. I told him about everything I felt.

I explained that I was scared that things would change between us after what we did. He listened so

patiently and didn’t say anything until I was done.” A beat of silence passed before Molly spoke

again, and Kiera knew whatever her friend was about to say was big. “He told me he loved me,

Kiera.” Molly sat up, the clear excitement and wonder evident on her face.

“He said what?” Kiera twisted on the couch, and she knew her surprise was as clear on her

face as it was on Molly’s. “Oh my God, Molls. What did you say to that?” Her best friend looked

down, but the smile was still on her face.

“I told him I loved him, too.” When she lifted her eyes Kiera could see the truth behind them.

“And I do, so much it makes my chest hurt.”

“I-I’m so happy for you guys.” Kiera pulled her into a tight hug and murmured against her

shoulder, “I’m glad you found the strength to tell him how you feel and lay it all out.”

“Yeah, I’m glad I did, too.” Molly pulled away, and Kiera twisted the edge of the shirt in her

hands. “What?”

After talking with her mom Kiera knew she just couldn’t forget about their conversation. She

had to find out the truth. “What do you know about Reese and his parents?”

Molly looked confused. “What do you mean?”

Kiera knew she should just go to Reese and ask right from the source, but surely asking such

personal questions might offend him. He told her plenty of personal things last night, but hadn’t really delved too much more into it, and rightly so if what she heard was the truth. That led her to believe he didn’t want to talk about it. “Well, I was talking to my mom, and she was saying some pretty

disturbing things about Reese’s parents, or who she thought might be his parents. I just wanted to

know if you heard anything.”

Molly looked a bit uncomfortable then shrugged. “I don’t know much, but I did hear rumors

freshman year. I don’t know if they are true or not, but I do remember when Reese got word that some sophomore was spreading them he kicked the shit out of him. I never heard another rumor after that.”

Kiera stared at Molly, wondering where in the hell she was when all of this was going down.

“How did I not hear about this?”

Molly shrugged. “Kiera, you don’t exactly have a social life aside from hanging with me and

Ian.” She smiled a little coyly and said, “No offense.”

Kiera couldn’t get upset because it was the truth. She kept to herself, but until this moment she

had never regretted it. Maybe if she had been more open it wouldn’t have taken her and Reese so long to actually talk? “I can’t really argue that, but I assumed I would have at least heard people talking about it in the hall that first year.”

Molly shook her head. “You remember that party I got invited to right after we started school

that first year, but you didn’t want to go to?”

Kiera thought back and nodded. “The one Heather got you invited to?” Heather was Molly’s

older sister, but had since graduated and lived in New York.

“Yeah, well practically every senior and junior was there, and only a handful of underclassmen.

I can’t remember the kid’s name now, but I do remember he was talking all this crap about Reese,

saying he was white trash and that his parents were drunks and whatnot. The guy was really starting to draw a crowd.” Molly shook her head. “It was really sad to be honest. The things he said—”

“Like what?” Was what her mother said true? And if so were those people really Reese’s

parents?

“I don’t remember everything. That was years ago.”

“Well, what do you remember?” Kiera persisted.

“Why don’t you just ask Reese if you’re so curious? I mean you guys seem like you’re getting

along pretty well.” When Kiera had gotten home last night she sent a text to Molly. It had been vague, but of course Molly hadn’t let it rest, so Kiera found herself telling her everything.

“I can’t. I mean, I don’t want him to be offended, but I need to know.” Kiera knew it was wrong

going about it this way, but she had to know what she was up against.

Molly sighed heavily. “He was just saying that Reese’s mom was a druggie and his dad an