He corners the large oak table and grips my wet wrists holding the dishcloth and brings his face next to mine. He’s so close. Too close.
I swallow. My breath halts while he has me like this.
Leaning in, he runs his nose against my neck, sending a flurry of tingles across my skin. He smells me, moving up to my hair, sniffing me like a feral dog in heat. “You’ve been smoking. Did you take their shit?”
My eyes widen. Unable to speak, I stutter. Of all the different foster parents I’ve had over the years, I’ve never been afraid to answer back and tell them to go to hell, and I’m not about to change a habit of a lifetime. I swallow again, shifting the lump lodged in my throat. “It was only a toke.”
He twists my wrist. “Don’t you ever take anything from them. You hear me?” He doesn’t shout. With the authority in his tone, he doesn’t need to. Paired with the tightening grip on my wrist, his message is loud and clear.
“Okay, okay.”
He stares into my eyes, breathing heavily, his nose almost touching mine as he dips his head, locking me into a trance. I inhale his scent, a mixture of wood, sweat and his own brand of the good stuff. Maybe they are rival dealers.
“Did they touch you?” he says with pain in his eyes.
“No.”
His grip tightens as if trying to squeeze the truth from me.
“Okay. You’re hurting me.”
He steps back and lets me go. “They’re not your friends. I want you to stay away from them and I don’t want to see them on my land.” His tone still demanding authority.
“All right. Got it.” I chew on the inside of my cheek. Is it weird that I actually liked him telling me off? It’s almost like he cared for my welfare. Although it’s probably nothing to do with me at all and some deep-rooted family rivalry or something, but it still felt nice.
“Give me your phone.” He holds his hand out as though I’m just going to hand it over.
I pinch my eyebrows together with a huff. “You’re not taking my phone. I’m not twelve.”
His lip curls in the corner. “I’m just gonna add my number.”
“Oh. Right. Yeah.” I hand my phone over. Belle nudges my leg, distracting my attention.
“Next time you want a lift home, you call me. You hear?”
I bend down, ruffling Belle as I nod in agreement. He pulls his phone from his pocket and sits both phones on the worktop, adding his number. I don’t know why he didn’t just let me do it. I could have done it in half the time.
He gives me the phone back. “I bought a few different things for dinner. I wasn’t sure what you liked.” He gestures to the bags on the table behind him.
“Thank you. I like anything, really.” Beggars can’t be choosers. I unpack the bags and smile at the box of chocolate coco pops. “Are these for me or you?”
He runs a hand through his dark waves and gives me a half smile with a shrug of his shoulder. When he smiles, the wrinkles around his eyes are present, hinting at his age and all the stresses of life.
“I’ll cook us something if you like.” I spot chicken in the bag and some wraps. “Fajitas?”
“Sounds good. I’m gonna take a shower.” He hesitates before leaving me alone like he wanted to say more or do more. There’s no denying he’s intense, but I’ll take him any day over some of the father figures I’ve had. There’s something about the way he looks at me, his grey-blue eyes filled with love. Even when he was scolding me. It’s clearly the love he felt for my mum. It’s foreign to me, but now I’ve had a small taste, I want more.
My heart thuds against my ribs as a car tears up the gravel drive.
Kane shouts from halfway up the stairs, “Who the fuck’s this now?”
“I’ll go,” I yell as I rush to the door before he does, thinking it’s the boys again. They wouldn’t come down to the house though, would they?
6
KANE
Iglance out the window to see my mate Dominic’s Range Rover towing an old Fiesta. Vi’s already opened the door. Belle darts out, circling the cars.
