Stronger with You (With You Trilogy) (18 page)

“What?” I asked suspiciously, looking back and forth between the two of them.

“Dude, come on, Jake probably wasn’t serious,” Ginger said to Blond Sam.

My frown deepened. Blond Sam seemed a little uncomfortable and I didn’t understand why.

“Jake warned you not to talk to me, didn’t he?” I groaned, realisation dawning.

“Something along those lines,” Blond Sam admitted awkwardly.

“I think he just didn’t want us chatting you up,” Ginger reassured me.

“I have a boyfriend and Jake knows that,” I sighed. I really had underestimated how much Jake hated me. He didn’t even want me talking to his friends. I humphed childishly and chucked my camouflage onto the desk with a little extra gusto. “I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble with the birthday boy. I’ll keep out of your way,” I said, keeping my eyes on my feet. I knew I was being rude and I hated myself for it but I was too upset to control my temper.

“Wait-” one of them called after me but I carried on into the female toilets to hide away.

I freshened up in the bathroom before sitting on the side with the sinks and resting my head in my hands. It was bad enough that Jake stood by Duff through everything he’d done to me, but his not believing me – despite the fact that I’d never lied to him – was too much.

I’d not expected him to believe me straight away, Duff had been his best friend since they were four years old, but it had been over a month since he found out.
Surely he must know the truth by now?

I wish Jason was here
. I sighed and pulled my phone out my pocket, deciding to text him.

Hey Jason. Hope you

and Ben are okay. We

just played laser tag. Our

team won, but I feel like I

shouldn’t be here. :(

I love you xxx

I’d just hit send when I heard the bathroom door swing open.

“This is the ladies’,” I said pointedly, looking up to see Ian.

“There’s only us here, Jelly,” he shrugged, swiping my phone out of my hand and looking at it.

I sighed inwardly, knowing he was looking at my text messages.

“Is it that fucking horrible spending the day with us?” He snarled, looking up from my phone. He slipped my mobile into his back pocket.

I shook my head, hopping down from the sinks and taking a few steps back. I hadn’t meant it like that. I had no idea Ian was going to read my text messages.

“You’re meant to be spending the weekend with us but it’s so fucking hard that you can’t go a few hours without talking to Jason?”

“I was just texting him,” I said quietly. I could see Ian making the shift to soldier mode as he loomed over me. His shoulders tensed and the muscles in his jaw bunched up as he glared down at me. “It’s not that I don’t like spen-”

“Shut up,” he yelled, giving me a hard shove backwards.

My back met with the hand dryer and knocked the wind out of me. I fell to the floor, gasping for air.

“This is Jake’s day. I don’t give a shit whether you like it or not. Stop being a spoilt little brat. You’ll do as you’re fucking told and you’ll do it with a smile on your face. Do I make myself clear?” He yelled, standing over me, his face twisted in anger.

I tried to respond, tried to get the words out, but I was still winded and couldn’t catch my breath.

“I said, do I make myself clear?” He barked, grabbing my wrists and pulling me roughly to my feet.

I gasped and pulled in a much needed lungful of oxygen. “Yes, sir,” I wheezed, my eyes on his shoes.

“Good,” he said abruptly before sighing and releasing my arms. “Now go and get in the car.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. I scuttled past him, keeping my eyes on the floor as I made my way out to the Beast. I passed the others in the barn building and hopped into the waiting limo, sitting quietly in my corner with my legs drawn up to my chest.

My back was pounding, I’d hit the hand dryer hard and I was pretty sure I’d almost cracked a rib. There was bound to be some bruising but I couldn’t think about that right now. Ian was right; this was supposed to be Jake’s birthday celebration. I shouldn’t have complained to Jason like that. I’d only text him because I’d been a bit upset and Jason usually cheered me up. I hadn’t meant to offend Ian. I didn’t want him thinking I didn’t like being with them.

The others filed into the car and I ended up sandwiched between the twins. I figured that was better than being next to one of the Sams who were currently studiously avoiding meeting my eye. That suited me just fine. I didn’t feel like making eye contact with any of them.

One of the advantages of being the youngest in a big family was that nobody expected me to talk much. There was always someone else to talk for me. Nobody paid me any attention and I didn’t draw any to myself. That way I could kill two birds with one stone. I wouldn’t say anything that would offend Ian or make me seem ungrateful, nor would I remind Jake of my unwanted presence.

The Beast dropped the two Sams off in town before returning us to the hotel. I followed my brothers in quietly, keeping close to Craig so I didn’t fall too far behind.

“What’s wrong, Jellybean?” Craig asked as he shut the door behind me.

“No complaints here,” I shook my head. “Can I use the shower?”

“Don’t give me that crap,” he scowled. “I don’t buy it. You were all happy when we finished playing and you’ve been sulking ever since.”

“I wasn’t sulking, I was just being quiet,” I shrugged, pretending to look for something in my bag so he couldn’t see my face or the tears seeping down it.

“Bullshit,” he scoffed. “What’s wrong?”

“Craig, please,” I pleaded with him to drop it.

“Don’t ‘Craig please’ me,” he threatened, pulling me up from my squatting position on the floor by my arm. “What’s wrong, Jelly?”

“I pissed Ian off,” I choked, lifting my face to meet his gaze.

I immediately felt him loosen his grip on my arm, pulling me into a hug instead.

“Why didn’t you just say that?” He sighed, understanding my plight. Craig knew what it was like to piss one of our big brothers off.

“I was ashamed,” I admitted, sniffling against his t-shirt.

He squeezed me a little bit tighter, making me wince as he put pressure on my bruised back.

“You can shower first,” he said gently, opening the bathroom door for me and stepping aside so I could pass.

I nodded gratefully and went to drown my sorrows under a hot stream of water. I let the scolding water pound my skin for a little longer than I should have; I knew I was going to be red all over when I stepped out. I had to remind myself that Craig would want to use the shower too and forced myself out.

After rubbing in a generous helping of coconut body butter, I wrapped one of the hotel towels around me and went out into the bedroom to see Craig lounging back on the bed watching the television.

“Finally!” He grinned his lop-sided grin.

I smiled and apologised, holding my towel around me as I went across to my bag. I watched Craig hop up from the bed and pull his t-shirt and jeans off, emptying his pockets onto the bedside table. Mere seconds after he put his phone down, it started ringing. He picked it up again and I saw his eyebrows knit together in confusion as he looked at the screen.

“Hello?” He answered, glancing across at me before he sat down on the other side of the bed with his back to me.

“Yeah, she is,” I heard him say as I pulled out some clean underwear and quickly pulled them on whilst his back was turned.

“How the fuck would I know, she’s your girlfriend,” Craig sighed.

That caught my attention. I turned around to look at Craig who was now looking at me curiously.

“Is that Jason?” I mouthed.

Craig nodded in response and turned his attention back to the call. “Give me a sec,” he told Jason before pressing the phone against his bare chest so he could talk to me without Jason overhearing.

“Jason thinks you’re ignoring him,” Craig grinned wickedly.

My heart broke a little. “Ian took my phone,” I pouted. “Can I talk to him?”

Craig put the phone back to his ear and held his finger out to me, signalling for me to wait.

“She hasn’t had her phone on her,” Craig explained. “Yeah, she’s fine.”

I took a step closer to Craig, gesturing for him to let me speak to Jason, silently pleading with him.

I saw a look of frustration cross his brow and he quickly wrapped his arm around my neck, holding his hand firmly over my mouth to keep me quiet. I moaned in frustration against his hand, my own hands clinging to my towel to keep it around me.

“No, you spoke to her a few hours ago,” Craig continued his conversation with Jason as if the effort of restraining me was nothing to him.

“Well fucking grow a pair then. You’ll see her tomorrow,” he grinned, glancing down at me and giving me chance to scowl at him.

“I’ll have her with me and I’ll have my phone,” he added gently, nodding as he listened to Jason’s replied. “Alright, Reed. Talk to you later.” Craig clicked his phone off and released me.

“Why didn’t you let me talk to him?” I complained, glaring at him.

“Because Ian obviously took it off you for a reason and I’m not getting my ass kicked just so you can make kissy noises down the phone to your paranoid boyfriend,” he scowled, letting me know that he wasn’t pleased with me questioning him.

“Sorry,” I apologised immediately, lowering my gaze.

“It’s okay, Jellybean. I’d probably be reacting the same in Jason’s shoes,” he sighed.

I frowned in surprise. I didn’t expect Craig to be sympathetic to the situation but I appreciated that he was. It probably had something to do with the fact that he and Jason were almost friends, or maybe he was just being nice. Either way, I appreciated it.

Chapter 14

Wednesday, 5th June 2002

Ian made dinner and I sat at the table with my empty plate. My head felt funny because I was so hungry. My stomach had stopped hurting but I knew it would start again at any second. It was like a flickering light bulb going on and off without any warning.

I stared at my hands, hoping my brothers would eat everything quickly so I wouldn’t have to smell the food any longer.

“Why are you doing this to yourself, Jelly?” Ian asked, his eyes both angry and a little concerned. “All you have to do is ask.”

I shook my head and glanced over at Jake quickly to see his smug smile before I lowered my gaze once more. I obviously hadn’t glanced quickly enough, I saw Ian’s gaze follow mine and settle on Jake whose face fell immediately when he saw Ian glaring at him.

Ian sighed and spooned lots of pasta and sauce onto my plate. “Eat up, Jelly,” he smiled weakly before tucking into his own dinner. He didn’t have to tell me twice. I devoured the lot as quickly as I could. The delicious tomato coated pasta tasted wonderful on my starved taste buds. Nothing had ever tasted so good.

“Good girl,” Ian smiled, noticing that I’d thoroughly cleaned my plate. “You want a yoghurt for desert?”

I nodded cautiously, worried he was going to say I’d have to speak up and ask for one, but he simply stood up and fetched me one from the fridge.

“Jake, go downstairs and wait for me in the den,” he ordered, glaring at Jake with a look that said he wasn’t messing about.

Jake looked like he might just throw up. He shot a nervous glance at Ian before turning his gaze to me.

“Yes, sir,” he nodded, swallowing as he deposited his dishes in the sink

He glared at me like I’d done something wrong but I hadn’t done anything. I shook my head at him and tried to silently communicate that I’d done as he’d said and kept quiet. I didn’t want him hurting Nelly.

“You can go and watch the telly with your brothers once you’ve finished your yoghurt, okay?”

I nodded and smiled to say thank you. He kissed me on the head and went down to the den to find Jake. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I hated Jake more than anything for doing this to me but I didn’t want him to get hurt.

At first, I’d been frustrated by not being able to speak. It had been exasperating and I’d made all my brothers annoyed with me at some point or another. However, now I was starting to feel like I was winning some unknown battle. I did as I was told all the time. I’d never purposely do anything to annoy my brothers and they controlled everything: when we ate, what we watched, when we slept. I knew it was stupid but it was nice to feel in control of something for once. They’d threatened me, shouted, refused me food, but they couldn’t make me say anything and it made me feel strangely strong. Strong was not something I was used to feeling.

Rick lifted me up off my chair and threw me over his shoulder. I giggled and held onto his belt as he carried me into the lounge and flicked the television on with the remote. To my surprise, he put the cartoon channel on and sat down on the sofa, dropping me down next to him.

“You want to watch this, Jelly?” He asked me.

I nodded and wrapped my arms round him to say thank you. He chuckled and hugged me back. I smiled happily, watching the colourful characters on the screen, sandwiched in between the twins. The volume wasn’t up high enough to block out the loud noises from the den. I tensed up at the sound of Ian’s raised voice.

“Relax, Jellybean,” Danny wrapped his arm around my shoulders, trying to comfort me. “For once, you’re not the one in trouble. Nice change isn’t it?”

I pouted up at him and he grinned back. I wasn’t worried that I might be next, I was worried what would happen to Jake, but I couldn’t tell them that because I couldn’t speak. I didn’t want to speak.

“Get the fuck up there and bring it down. If you’re not down here again in less than two minutes then we go straight back down to the gym!” Ian yelled and we heard the sound of Jake thundering up the stairs.

The twins rolled their eyes at each other and turned to look at Ian as he came into the room, his face already set in its neutral expression but his eyes still burning. He sat down on the other end of the sofa, a little way away from Craig.