Not a moment too soon either. Jack was on the first step. I rushed the few feet to open the door before he could reach for the bell.
“Hey.”
He grinned. “Hey.”
I stepped back so he could come in, but he slowed when he saw Cara. She waved. He nodded.
“I told her,” I said to him. To her, I chided, “You can go back to playing Barbies now that you’ve seen him.”
She rolled her eyes, her default setting since turning thirteen. “Whatever. Momma’s gonna be here any minute.”
“Good.” I pulled Jack to the stairs. “Bye, Cara,” I sang.
Her laughter followed us up the stairs. Jack trailed silently behind me, only speaking once we were alone in my room.
“Thanksgiving went okay?” he asked.
“Meh. Crowded.” I didn’t want to bring up any of the bad, but it clouded in, dampening my mood like the annoying ache in my arm. “Did y’all have big holidays before you moved here?” I asked. Stalled, more fittingly.
Jack kicked his shoes off near my bed, then shrugged. “Not really.” He wore a dark gold sweater and jeans, and the white collar of his undershirt peeked out a little at the neck. I licked my lips, wanting his pale skin between my teeth.
“Uh, it might rain tonight,” I mumbled.
“You really want to talk about the weather right now?”
“No.”
I launched forward as Jack did. We crashed into each other, chest against chest, and then our lips met in what I was beginning to think of as our mating dance. He gripped my head in his hands as I fisted the material around his waist. Jack jammed his tongue in my mouth. Had I not known it would happen, had I not been secretly begging for it, I might have choked.
Our fevered groping and kissing didn’t last long enough to erase the troubles in my mind. With a regretful sigh, I inhaled as I forced space between us. Maybe not the weather, but we needed to talk.
Jack swallowed, hearing my unspoken words. “Okay, yeah.”
I took his hand in mine and tugged him toward my bed. He sat beside me, searching my face as if he might find a clue as to what I would say.
“Sasha showed up.”
Jack paused as if that hadn’t been what he’d expected. “Why?” he finally asked between gritted teeth.
I squeezed his hand, then shook my head. “To cause trouble. I didn’t invite her.” I added the last in all haste, hoping he hadn’t thought I had.
Jack rolled his eyes. Okay, maybe he hadn’t thought that. “What happened? You tell her to fuck off?”
“I did. Well, I told her to leave several times.”
Jack nodded. “And she didn’t listen.”
“Nope.” I’d gone back and forth on whether I should show him or not, but since he already knew Sasha had hurt me before, would it be any surprise? I let go of his hand and pushed my sleeve high enough the scratches from Sasha’s nails stood out on my tan skin.
“The fuck, Cal?” Jack barked in contrast to how gently he cradled my abused forearm with his hands. “She did this?”
Sasha had left marks before, but in the face of Jack’s outrage, I wondered how numb I’d let myself become. Was this worse than I thought? I stared at the cuts. Ten of them. Small, red, and a few with tails like shooting stars where she’d raked my arm as I jerked free.
“Why? Why did she grab you at all?”
My vision blurred with hot tears not quite ready to fall. “I dunno. She’s a snake. I don’t know how to handle her. She comes at me, and if I move wrong, she’s cryin’ and sayin’ I hurt her.”
“Hurther?” Jack gaped as he darted his wide gaze from my face to my arm and back. “Maybe she deserves it.”
