She sighed heavily, and I could picture the expression on her face perfectly.
My stomach cramped.
“You know we never approved of sending you all the way across the country, and this disrespectful behavior is certainly not reassuring. Your father and I have already been looking into other choices for next year, especially if your final academic progress embarrasses us. I have to say that if this is the kind of attitude you’re adopting over there, though, I really do think it might be best to have you continue your studies closer to home, regardless of your grades.”
I froze.
Not… not come back for my sophomore year? I was already dreading having to return home for the summer, and even though I knew I couldn’t expect to get Tyson as a roommate again next year, I still didn’t want to… I would really rather… I’d been hoping that…
“Sean?” Mother snapped. “Did you hear me? I’ll be forwarding applications from several universities your father and I approve of. Please complete them promptly.”
My blood was pounding in my ears, which I guess was why I hadn’t heard Tyson come in. One minute I was all on my own and starting to feel like I wasdrowning, and the next he was suddenly just there too, wrapping his arms around me from behind and pulling me back tight against him. “Hang up, baby,” he growled in my ear.
“What was that?” Mother asked sharply.
I swallowed. “Um, I… I heard you, Mother,” I croaked out, my throat still feeling too tight to make the words come out right even now, with the hard heat of Tyson’s body surrounding me like a shield.
That shield was temporary, though, and next year… next year I wouldn’t have any hope of seeing him at all, not once my parents made me change schools.
A horrible little sound escaped me before I could stop it, and all of a sudden Tyson spun me around to face him, grabbing my shoulders as his eyes burned into me. “Who’s in charge here, Sean?” he asked, keeping his voice low enough that Mother probably wouldn’t be able to make out the words.
He looked so angry that I wanted to cry. “Y-Y-You are,” I managed, holding it in. Even though I’d made him angry, his question settled me a little. He’d never exactly said so before, but he was in charge, wasn’t he? And I wanted him to be. I’d miss it so much when he wasn’t around to tell me what to do anymore.
My throat suddenly locked tight again. Oh my God, I’d have toleavehim.
It was one thing to know that the special kind of attention he’d been giving me this week would come to an end at some point, but to never see him again at all?
Notever?
My eyes suddenly welled up with tears as the reality of that hit me and Tyson bit out a low, vicious curse, wiping them off my cheeks as they started to fall.
“Sean Geoffrey Cabot.” Mother’s voice blared out of my phone’s speaker. She always used my full name—and that tone—when she pointed out my failures. “Speak up. You’remumbling. I know you were raised better than that, so please act like it.”
Tyson glared over at my phone, then looked back at me, pinning me in place with his eyes as he gripped my shoulders tight again. “I’min charge, not her,” he hissed, low and angry. “Me. And what did I just tell you to do, sweetheart?”
Hearing him call me that, even now, when he was mad, shocked me enough to dry up my tears. He’d told me to… to....
“H-H-Hang up on her?” I whispered, my eyes wide. “But, Tyson—”
“Sean,” he growled, talking over something else Mother said that I totally missed. “Are you going to do what I tell you to, or not?”
Yes.
Always.
At least, Iwantedto, but...
“Please, baby,” he said softly, suddenly not looking mad at all. He cradled my face in his hands. “Hang up. It will be okay, I promise.”
I really didn’t think it would be, but I reached over and ended the call anyway. It was one thing to disappoint my parents. I didn’t like doing it, but I was used to it. But disappointing Tyson? I couldn’t stand it.
That didn’t mean that hearing Mother’s voice cut off so abruptly didn’t terrify me, though.
“Oh my God,” I whispered into the sudden silence, my heart thundering as I started to shake. “She’s going to be so mad. She’s going tokillme.”
Tyson’s eyes went all stormy and hard for a moment, then he closed them. When he opened them again, he smiled. “You think I’d let that happen?” he asked, smoothing my hair back from my forehead. “You just keep listening to me, sweetness.Me, not her. Be good for me like you always are. Didn’t I promise to take care of you?”
I nodded. He was saying stuff like that a lot now. I mean, he’d always been super nice to me, ever since we’d first moved in together, but lately, this past week…
