The Broken (12 page)

“Sit and get
warm. You’re freezing to death.”

He rubs my bare
arms, causing friction to heat my skin.

“Thanks.”

I look to Sammy
who is scowling at Derek. “So, Derek, care to elaborate on what you
were saying about Danny?” Sammy asks, coming to stand behind me.
Derek smiles down at me and takes a step away. “I just meant with
it being the time of year in which his sister tragically died.”

I gasp.
“What?”

He raises his
eyebrows then drops them his eyes apologetic. “I’m sorry, I thought
you would know that. It’s in public records. It came up on a Google
search.”

I lower myself
into a leather armchair next to the fire place. “How? When?” I
mutter.

He strides over
to me, dropping to his knees in front of me. “I’m really sorry,
River. It was ten years ago. She was eight and she drowned in the
bath. Apparently, she was sick with flu all week and they assumed
she passed out in the bathtub and slipped under the water.”

I feel numb,
how could I not know he had a sister, why wouldn’t he of told me?
Danny has never mentioned a sister to me. I look to Sammy. “Did you
know he had a sister?”

He shakes his
head. “No, he told me he’s an only child.”

“Why were you
looking into us?” I ask.

He blushes, his
eyes flicking to Sammy then back to me. He stands and slips his
hands into his pockets. “I was intrigued when I met you.”

Sammy’s body
tenses. “So, you’re a stalker?”

“I’m an
investigator,” Derek says, his tone abrupt. “When I met River, I
noticed bruises around her throat, and instincts took over.”

I feel dizzy,
and Sammy swings around fast to look at me. “What’s he talking
about?”

I stand. “I’m a
dancer, I always have bruises,” I tell him, defensively.

“On your
throat?”

I shake my
head. “Everywhere, Sammy. It’s not a big deal.” My look over to
Derek. “I don’t appreciate you checking up on us. If you had just
asked.”

I take my
clothes and head towards a door, hoping it’s a bedroom or
bathroom.

There’s a queen
sized bed in front of me that I throw my clothes on, dropping the
towel and hurrying to get dressed. I’m nervous that Derek has been
checking into us and curious as to why Danny never mentioned a
sister. There’s a rap on the door, drawing me from muddled mind. I
realise I’m fully dressed, and just standing in the room. I open
the door to see a worried Sammy.

“Everything
okay, Twink? You’ve been in here a while.”

I shuffle out
of the room not looking either of them in the eye.

“So, thanks for
the deep freeze, but I need to get back.”

I fake a smile
and head towards the door. “You’re welcome here anytime, River, and
I’m sorry if I overstepped. In future, I will simply ask you
anything I wish to know about you.”

Sammy shifts
and pushes me from the room.

W
hat a fucking creep that guy was. He was eyeing River
with me standing right there. Pretending like he doesn’t know I’m
more than just her neighbour.
You are just her neighbour,
my
mind mocks me. I have to break into a light jog to keep up with
River.

“Where’s the
fire?”

Her small frame
turns to me a with a weak-ass smile on her lips. I’m pissed that
she’s so upset Danny held something from her. She’s been letting me
inside her body and now she’s pissed over her fucking boyfriend
keeping shit from her. I fucking hate that she feels things for
him, when it should be me.
It should have been me.

“Nowhere, I
just wanted to get out of there.”

I shake my head
and jump in front of her retreating form. “What’s wrong Twink?
Upset that lover boy didn’t share that he had a sister? Maybe
you’re not as loved up as you think?”

Her face pales
and she scowls at me and pushes my chest. “You have no idea what I
think, and don’t call him my lover, Sammy.”

I laugh. “I’m
sorry, I guess you’re right. He’s not lover boy, is he? I guess
that’s my title. Or am I just the neighbour?”

She narrows her
eyes. “Why are you being an ass? You know you’re more than just a
neighbour. You’re a friend.”

I step into her
space so we’re nose to nose. “A friend?” I ask, my voice
hoarse.

“Yeah, a
friend.”

I watch her
chest rise and fall as her breathing picks up. Her eyes are half
hooded. I reach for her, lifting her from the ground. Her legs
instinctively wind around my waist and I back her up against the
tree we hid behind earlier. I reach under her dress, gripping her
damp panties and giving them a hard tug; they come away in my hand.
She gasps and grips her thighs tighter. I stuff her panties in my
pocket and tug the buttons open on my jeans.

“Just a
friendly neighbour, Twink?” I breathe into her ear, before sucking
her lobe into my mouth and biting down.

“A close
friendly neighbour,” she moans.

I pull back to
watch her as I line my dick up to her slick, wet pussy and ram
forward, impaling her onto me.

“Yeah, we are
pretty fucking close,” I growl as her tight pussy sheathes me. I
retreat, and then plough forward again, her back slamming against
the tree.

She moans in
pleasure. “A good, close, friendly neighbour.”

I continue
filling her over and over again.

“A great,
close, friendly neighbour,” she calls out, and I take my thumb to
her clit and add pressure there. My mouth devours the flesh on her
neck.

“Oh, God, the
best fucking friendly neighbour!” she cries, as her pussy floods,
coating my dick in her come.

It was a hard,
fast fuck, but I think I made my point that we’re a lot more than
just neighbours. She fucking owns me. She’s always owned me.

I
say goodnight to Sammy as we pull up at our houses,
and rush from the car straight to my house. I hear Sammy calling
me, but I don’t answer. I lock the front door behind me. Blaydon is
asleep on the couch; Maria curled up next to him. I run to my room
and grab my phone from the bedside table. Danny has been trying to
call. My stomach drops with nerves as I hit redial to call him
back.

“River, where
have you been? I’ve been calling you for hours!”

“I’m sorry, I
got caught up in dancing and I didn’t hear my phone.”

I’m shaking;
the phone is rattling in my hand.

“You need to
quit fucking dancing if it’s going to consume all your time. You
know I worry, and you didn’t even think to text me or call me? Do
you even miss me?” I exhale, but don’t answer fast enough for him.
“Tell me you fucking love me, River, now!” I flinch and stare into
the phone as he continues, “I know you’ve been out and not dancing.
I called Blaydon and he told me you didn’t come home today after
work.”

The tremble in
my hand is making holding the phone impossible, so I put him on
speaker and close my bedroom door. “I was at the studio dancing,
Danny, I swear. I have missed you.”

He’s panting
down the phone. “You’d better not be lying to me, River. So help me
God if I find out you’ve been living it up while I’m away working,
trying to build a future for us. I will fucking kill us both! You
belong to me in this life and the next, do you understand me?”

A cry breaks
from my chest. I’m so conflicted, a part of me just wants an end to
this façade. Can no one see I’m not here? I’m not breathing: I’m
not living? I’m a puppet and Danny holds my strings. Most days no
one resides inside me. I’m lost, my soul broken and weak drifting
on memories of a time I was free.

“Tell me you
love me, River. I fucking miss you so much, and the thought of what
you’re doing is making me crazy. I just love you so much,
beautiful.”

I full on sob.
I’m so broken, how can I escape this nightmare?

“Don’t cry,
baby. I know it’s because you’re missing me. I love you, beautiful.
I love you.”

I suck in a
breath. “I have to go shower now, Danny.”

“Okay, then go
get some sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow, my beautiful girl.”

I end the call
and for the first time, I didn’t tell him I loved him. I notice a
text alert and my heartbeat crashes violently against my chest. I’m
terrified it’s Danny, threatening me for not saying the words back
to him, but it’s not, it’s from Sammy.

You shot out
of the car pretty quickly. Wtf? Can I come over?

I quickly
reply:

Meet you out
the back in ten minutes?

OK.

I take the
quickest shower of my life, throw on some sweats and a tank top,
and head out to the back of the house. Sammy is already there
waiting for me, sitting on the wooden dance platform Blay built me.
I walk to him and lower my body so I’m lying down, facing the sky.
Sammy copies my pose, his hand reaching for mine, linking our
fingers.

“Do you
remember when we first met?” he asks.

A smile tilts
my lips. “Of course. You were crying,” I murmur.

He holds up a
finger. “I was brooding, not crying. Guys don’t cry.”

“Broken guys
do.”

He stares at me
for the longest time. “You know why I was upset?”

I shake my
head, taking in the bright stars. “No, you didn’t talk to me when I
asked. You poked me in the eye through the fence.”

“That’s what
boys do when they see the prettiest thing on this Earth. You’re a
girl, it’s gross for a boy to think a girl is anything but
cootie-ridden.”

We both laugh,
then his voice drops and I feel pain radiating from him. My soul
hurts when he hurts. I stroke my finger over his as his hold
tightens on my hand.

“My mother was
hitting on your dad, while
my
dad brought boxes into the
house. She showed no fucking shame, even when your mom came out to
greet her. It was embarrassing for my dad. This was meant to be
their fresh start from her cheating ways. We didn’t even get the
boxes in the house before she was back to acting like a whore.”

I roll to face
him. “I’m sorry you have her as a mother.”

“I was born
from a womb of a hateful whore. All I can do is make sure I protect
Jase from her venom as much as possible. I wish he had a mother who
loves him.” He scrubs his hands down his face. “It’s a hollow
feeling, not being loved by anyone. I know my dad cared about me,
but he didn’t show me affection. He didn’t show love.”

“You were
loved, Sammy. I wish you didn’t feel hollow. I would have given
anything to fill your emptiness with love.”

His eyes hold a
sheen. “Then why Danny? I don’t understand what happened.”

A tear escapes
my eye. “I can’t tell you, Sammy. It’s so complicated and it’s not
just about me. I have to protect Blay.”

His eyes
question me and I understand why. I roll him on to his back and
smash my lips to his. He doesn’t move at first, but then his hands
come up to my waist. He flips us so he’s above me, and looks into
my eyes before he slowly brings his lips back down to mine. His
tongue slips out to stroke mine; I groan and tug his hair. He
reaches for my hands and brings them above my head as he rains
kisses down my face to my neck, but he’s being too gentle and my
heart rate begins to jump for the wrong reasons. I lift my head up
and sink my teeth into his shoulder. He gasps, and looks up at
me.

“Let me make
love to you, River.”

His hand slowly
glides down and grasps behind my knee, lifting my leg to his waist.
He grinds gently forward, his erection pushing against my sex. His
lips trace my chin and neck, and a tear slips from my eyes.

“I can’t do
that with you, Sammy. It’s what
he
does.”

Pain and hurt
pour from his eyes, then anger takes its place. “Fine then let’s
fuck!”