"It'll only take a few minutes. If you want me to leave after that, I will."
Chapter Twenty-Two
Brook
Dean agrees to my offer and we go to the couch. He stares straight ahead at the door. I turn toward him, trying to keep my eyes on his face. I wish he'd put a shirt on. It's hard to focus on what I'm saying when I'm distracted by all his muscles.
"I don't know what happened," I tell him, "but it must be something really bad for you to be like this after being like you were last night. When you left my house, you were so happy. I was too. After you left, I realized I'd never felt that way with Chad, and I knew I never would. I couldn't wait another minute to tell him it was over."
"Brook, I know you need to talk about your breakup but I don't have time. I need to get on the computer. I have to—"
"Just let me finish. This isn’t about the breakup. What I was saying is that I never would've known what I was missing if I hadn't met you. I would've kept dating Chad thinking that was it. That's the happiest I'd ever be, even though I wasn't happy.” I look at him, wishing he’d look back at me but his eyes remain on the door. “You showed me what real happiness feels like. And I want to do the same for you. I want to be the person who gives you hope, happiness, the feeling that makes you excited to get up each morning. I never had that until I met you. I want you to have that too."
He gets up. "You're wasting your time. There's no hope here. No happiness. It's not in the cards for me."
"It is," I say, standing in front of him. "Whatever's happening now will pass and things will get better."
"You have no fucking clue." He walks to the door. "I heard you out. Now go."
I storm up to him. "Dammit, Dean, just tell me what's going on! Did your mom come back? Or your dad?"
His eyes dart around, which I've noticed he does when he's trying to hide something. He did it as soon as I mentioned his dad.
"That's it, isn't it? Your dad came back and he wants money." I wait for his eyes to move but they don't.
He opens the door. "Go home, Brook."
"What's the deal with your dad? Why won't you talk about him?"
His jaw tightens. "I swear to God, Brook, if you don't leave this second I'll—" He takes a deep breath. "Please, I'm begging you. Leave."
"Why did he go?" I ask, knowing the question will just make him angrier but it's the only way to get to the truth. "Did he do something illegal? Drugs? Robbery?"
Dean stares down at me. "I'll throw you out if that's what it takes."
"He's on the run. He got in trouble and had to leave town. And now he's back."
Dean's breathing harder, nostrils flared, like he's about to explode. It's frightening, given his size and strength, but I'm not afraid of him. I know he'd never hurt me.
"What are you not telling me, Dean? What don't you want me to know?"
He slams the door shut. "He's in prison! My dad's in prison. You happy now? You got your damn answer." He storms past me.
I give him a moment to calm down, then meet him by the kitchen table. "You could've told me that. It doesn't matter to me."
"Yeah," he huffs. "You want to hang out with the son of a convict. Like I'm gonna believe that."
"Why would that matter? I'm friends withyou, not him. And I don't know why it's such a huge secret. There's probably other people at school with a parent in prison."
"Yeah, and no one talks about it. We keep that shit private."
"You didn't have to keep it from me. You know I wouldn't judge you for that."
He sits down at the table and opens the laptop.
I sit beside him. "Can I ask what he's in for?"
"Might as well," he says with a harsh laugh.
