The Redemption of Callie and Kayden (14 page)

beach house that sits near the ocean. The sky is unblemished and

the sunlight reflects off the water and makes it look like crystal.

“You want us to go to the beach?” Seth squints at the photo

as he bends forward, leaning in.

Luke nods as he gathers the papers and lines them up by

tapping them against the desk. “Yep, my father has a beach house

in California that he hardly ever uses and I have a key and

everything.”

“You want us to drive to California?” Seth gapes at him like

he’s insane.

Luke shuts off the computer, grabs the papers, and strolls

toward his organized closet with the papers secured underneath

his arm. “It’s only, like, ten hours.”

Seth glances at me with skepticism. “Really? Only ten hours?”

“I’ve never been to the beach,” I admit. When Seth and Luke

gape at me, I shrug. “What? My family doesn’t like to travel. My

grandparents even live in Florida, but in the central area and every

time we’ve been there my mom refuses to drive anywhere besides

the closest grocery store. And my dad always just wants to watch

the sports network.”

Luke blinks as he shakes his head, and then he begins

yanking shirts off hangers, some falling onto the brownish carpet,

but he doesn’t bother picking them up. “Well, that gives us even

more reason to go.”

Seth bobs his head up and down in agreement. “Agreed

completely. And might I say that it’s a brilliant plan. Much more

brilliant than my lame old road trip I was planning to a cabin up at

the sky resort.”

Luke throws a few shirts and pants into a large navy blue

duffel bag that he gets from the top shelf and then he adds a pair

of striped shorts and a pair of sandals and sets the bag onto his

bed. “I’m just desperate to get away from here, man. That’s all.”

I wonder what he’s running away from. “How long are we

going to be gone?”

Luke’s shoulder moves up and down as he zips up the bag.

“Until break’s over, I guess.”

I look at Seth to see if he agrees and he merely nods his

head. “We have nothing better to do than hang out with your

mom.” He makes a disgusted face. “And I for one don’t want to do

that.”

“Yeah, but telling my mother that I’m not going to be here

for New Year’s… she’s going to flip,” I tell them.

“Then don’t tell her,” Seth says simply. “Text while we’re on

the road.”

I contemplate the idea for a briefer amount of time than I

expected. “I can do that.”

Seth beams and points a finger at his chest. “I’m a very bad

influence and I’m glad.”

Luke slings his bag over his shoulder, folds the papers neatly

in fourths, and then stuffs them into his back pocket of his pants.

“Ready to hit the road?” He walks toward the door, scooping up

his car keys off the desk. “We’ll stop and pick up your things and

then we’ll go get Kayden.”

“But how are we going to get Kayden?” I ask as Seth and I

follow him across the room. “He wouldn’t even talk to me when I

went to see him. And what if he doesn’t want to go?”

His fingers wrap around the doorknob and he jerks the

bedroom door open. “I don’t give a shit what he wants. He needs

to go and get away from that fucking torture chamber known as

his house. It’s fucked up that he’s there.” He steps out into the hall and glances over his shoulder at me. “Besides, we’re going to

teach you how to be a little bit more persuading.”

“We?” I ask, confused. I try to breathe through my mouth as I

enter the hallway and the air becomes asphyxiating again. “As in…”

He tips his chin at Seth, who flashes us a brilliant smile. “As in

Seth and me.”

My shoulders slouch as we head down the gloomy hallway,

the air pressurizing the farther down we go. “I just worry we’re

going to do more harm to him by taking him away.”

Luke stops abruptly. Hitching his thumb underneath the

strap of the duffel bag, he reels to face me and his bag bangs

against the wood-paneled wall. “Callie, I’ve known Kayden for

forever, and trust me, that house is going to do more harm to him

than going away with us will.”

“All right,” I agree, but my stomach twines into thorny, firm

knots. Not because I want him to stay at his home, but because I’m

worried. Worried I’ll do something wrong—mess it up for him

again. I worry he’ll end up lying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood.

Unexpectedly, the front door slams shut and a bustle of

banging sounds fill up the house. “Luke,” someone singsongs in a

high octave.

Luke’s body stiffens and his breath hitches. “Shit.”

“What’s wrong?” I whisper, but Luke doesn’t respond. He just

stands there with his hands limp at his sides and grinding his teeth.

The bag starts to fall from his shoulder and I reach for him

and then withdraw as he turns on his heels and motions at us to

move backward. Seth drags me by the shirt as I hurry backward

and Luke takes energetic strides as he ushers us into the room and

toward his bedroom window.

“We’ll have to go out this way,” he insists as he unlatches the

lock and boosts the window up. Artic air rushes in and breezes

through my hair and kisses my cheeks.

“What?” Seth peers down at the high mound of snow below

the window. “Are you crazy? We’ll get stuck in the snow.”

Luke shakes his head as he backtracks to the desk. “No, we

won’t. I promise.”

“Luke!” the woman shouts. “I know you’re here so come out,

come out wherever you are.”

“Please,” Luke begs with dread in his large brown eyes as he

scoops up the iPod from the desk.

I’ve seen that kind of fear in my own eyes and in Kayden’s.

Without any more hesitation, I swing my leg over the windowsill.

Seth’s fingers fold around my skin as he snatches me by the

elbow. “Callie, are you crazy?”

I wiggle my elbow out of his hand, and before he can grab

me again, I step up onto the windowsill. Bending over, I spring

onto my toes and launch myself out the window. When I hit the

ground, my legs sink knee-deep into the snow and the wetness

instantly seeps through my jeans and into my shoes. Seconds later,

Luke lands beside me. He doesn’t allow enough time to sink too

deep as he bends his knees, falls forward, and summersaults down

the hill. He lets go of his bag and climbs back up the hill, offering his hands to me. I take them, even though my initial reaction is to

recoil. With a soft tug, my legs are freed and I slide down the hill

on my stomach, my shirt riding up a little and the ice stinging my

skin.

When I roll onto my back and look up at the window, Seth’s

feet are dangling out. He peeks over his shoulder into the room

and then shakes his head. “What about the window?”

Luke picks up his bag and brushes the snow off it before

fastening the handle over his shoulder. “What about it?” He hikes

toward the side of the house and stomps his boots in a bare area

of the yard. “Leave it open for all I care. I just want to get the fuck out of here.”

Seth sighs and then, giving a push with his hands, he

dismounts from the windowsill and falls into the snow. Like me he

sinks, but he shimmies his hips and gets his knees bent. He easily

slips his foot out and drops down on his hands. He claws at the

snow with his fingers and gets his other leg free, then rolls down

the rest of the way.

“Fuck.” He flips onto his stomach and pushes up to his hands

and knees, panting from the fall. “That wasn’t fun.”

“What do you think that was about?” I ask, giving a peek

over my shoulder at Luke flicking his lighter and firing up a

cigarette. He’s standing near the corner and raking his hand

through his hair as he mutters to himself.

Seth shakes his head. “I have no idea, but I have a feeling

that this beach escape plan is to run away from whoever that was.”

I offer Seth my hand and he interlocks his fingers with mine.

“I think it’s his mom.” I pull him to his feet and then he holds onto my arm as we trample through the snow toward Luke, stomping

the snow off our shoes when we reach a flat area near the corner.

We don’t ask him questions because Seth and I both

understand the need for secrets. If he wants to talk to us, he will.

We understand thatWe step out onto the driveway, onto a thin

sheet of ice and Luke leads the way down the fence line toward

the road. When we curve around the last of the house where

Luke’s truck is parked, my hand falls from Seth’s hand. Kayden is

there and so is the motorcycle from the picture, dent and all.

“Kayden.” I gasp at the sight of him. His lips are tinted blue

and he doesn’t have a coat on, just a hoodie. His brown hair is

sticking up all over the place and his cheeks are bright red. He

looks like a frozen ice statue and my instinct is to run to him, so I do, moving my feet quickly, completely forgetting that I’m

standing on ice.

Two steps forward, I slip and my feet shoot out from

underneath me. I go flying in the air like an injured bird. Seth’s

hands snap out to catch me, but he misses and I fall flat on my

back and my head slams against the ice. It severely hurts and I

don’t get up right away. But I’m not sure if it’s because of the pain or the fact that once I get up, I’m going to have to find out if he’s going to run away from me again.

* * *

Kayden

I drive through town for what seems like forever, until I can

no longer feel my fingers and my lips are as numb as the inside of

me. Then I head for Luke’s because it’s better than going back

home. For a split second I consider going to Callie’s house on the

other side of town, but I can only imagine how that would go since

her parents are so fond of the douche bag I beat the shit out of.

Besides, I need to stay away from her. It’s important that I do.

For her.

I park my motorcycle next to the curb, relieved to see that

Luke’s truck is out front. But my face falls when I see his mom’s

Cadillac parked next to it. I don’t want to talk to anyone and Luke’s mom is weird and likes to talk about nonsense. She’ll want to talk

too, especially if she’s heard the rumors about me.

I pry my frozen fingers from the handlebars and climb off.

Then I stand there, staring at the house, deciding if I really want to go in. It’s not like Luke would press me for what happened, but it’d

be hanging in the air.

I’m about to climb back on the bike and drive away when

Luke comes strolling around from the back of the house with a

bag on his shoulder. I start to walk toward him when Callie and

Seth step out behind him. They’re holding hands and Callie looks

like she’s struggling to walk across the ice. Her attention is focused on her feet, but her blue eyes slide up from the ground and land

on me. They widen and her hand falls from Seth’s. Her brown hair

waves in the wind as she starts to run toward me. I begin to back

away, but she hits a patch of ice and her feet go flying out from

underneath her. In a few lengthy strides, I’ve made it across the

snow-packed front yard and to her. Her hair is spread around her

head and he eyes are enormous and glossy. The pale, smooth skin

that I know covers her entire body almost matches the shade of

the snow. She blinks up at me as she clutches her head and lets

out an agonizing groan that tears at my heart.

“That hurt.” Her chest ascends and falls as she sighs with her

lip pouting out.

It’s the most fucking adorable thing I’ve ever seen and it

briefly flings me back to that place in her bed where she’s looking

up at me and trusting me as I thrust inside her. But as I reach my

arm out to her, I catch a glimpse of the scar on my arm and I’m

back on the floor at my house and my father is stabbing me. I’m

cold and helpless and I don’t know where I’m going to end up.

Callie puts her hand in mine and warmth envelops my body. I

pull her to her feet, and unable to help myself, slip an arm around

her waist and balance her in my arms. It feels so good to hold her

and I start to choke up. What the fuck is wrong with me?

She tips her head up and peers at me with her big eyes. “Hi.”

She bites on her lip, like she’s embarrassed by her word choice.

This time I decide to do better than the last time she said this

to me. “Hi.” I run my hand through her hair, brushing some snow

out of it.

Her lips tug up into a smile. “Are you okay?” She skims

across my frozen skin and her lips go slack. “You look frozen.”

I can’t help but smile. “You just fell and slammed your head

on the ice and you’re wondering if I’m okay?”

She nods like it’s not a strange question. “Did you drive your

bike here?” She glances over at the motorcycle and then back at

me. “Without a coat on?”

My fingers dig deeper into her hips, mainly because I’m

looking for an excuse to cling onto her. “Maybe.”

She frowns. “You have to be cold.”

“Not really,” I lie.

“Ummm… guys?” Luke interrupts and Callie and I blink out of

our own little world.

I look at him, pulling Callie closer to my chest. “What?”

Luke signals at his house where his mother is staring at us