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Yeah, there was no way I’d be ready in twenty-five minutes.
“Watch it. Overprotective and you know why.” She shoots me her signature mom look and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. She must know it too because she raises an eyebrow as if to saytry me.
I turn towards her and sigh. “Mom, can you please talk to him about the car? Furthermore, can’tyoujust get me a car? You make more money than he does!”
“It’s not about the money, baby. It’s your attitude.”
“I don’t have an attitude!” I hear the whine in my voice, which rarely works with my mother, but sometimes I have a chance. “Dominic just…irks me.”
“He irks you? Stassia Rae, if I ever said that about my stepfather, my mother would have put me over her knee. Hell, if I said itnow, she’d put me over her knee.”
“That’s different, Grandpapa is the best thing that ever happened to Grandmaandyou.”
“No,you’rethe best thing that ever happened to me.” She stands and presses a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll work on D about the car, if you work on your attitude, and not skipping French club.” She points at me before holding out her pinky for us to link just like we always do. I oblige, wrapping my pinky around it and we kiss our fists. “Have a wonderful day at school; I’ll see you later.”
“Not if I see you first,” I reply my usual response.
My mother was barely twenty years old when she had me. She was a young mother; and learned the very tough lesson that putting herself through college and then med school was no easy feat. But my grandparents are actual saints, and my mother worked her ass off, with two day jobs and night classes. They say it takes a village, and she certainly had one supporting her, rooting for her, and a long nine years later, she graduated top of her class. I still remember sitting at her medical school graduation, cheering as she walked across the stage. I was her number one fan, and for as long as I could remember, she was mine.
The sound of my name over the loudspeaker causes the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. A shiver snakes down my spine instantly as a frown finds my face. I recognized the voice as the school secretary; a voice that is usually cheery and full of enthusiasm that causes a class full of apathetic teenagers to roll their eyes. Unlike all those other times, her voice is morose and glum making me wonder brieflywho died?
I pack up my stuff quickly, avoiding the eyes of all my peers as I make my way out of third period Chemistry. I’ve made it no more than ten steps when my phone buzzes alerting me of a text.
Kate: Heard you got sprung from Chem. What gives!?
I roll my eyes at the thought that word spreads faster than wildfire at this school. I punch out a text to my nosy best friend letting her know that I’m not sure but I’ll keep her posted. I’m looking down, not paying attention when I walk right into something hard and firm. Hands grip my biceps, forcing my gaze upwards and away from my phone and straight into the eyes of my stepfather.
“Oh hey—” I start until his eyes give it all away.Something’s wrong.“What…what’s wrong?”
“Stassi—” His voice breaks and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was about to completely break down.
He pulls me into a hug in the hallway, rubbing his hand down my back so slowly and in slow circles that it sends a lightning bolt of tingles through me. I snuggle my face into his chest, loving the feeling of his strong hands around me. A taboo thought floats through my mind, wondering what it would feel like to brush my lips against his throat and taste the skin there.
Fuck.
I shake my head and take a step back, away from the embrace of my stepfather and bite my lips nervously.Well, that was new.
He cups my cheek and rubs his thumb over it as he gives me a sad smile. “Let’s go, Stass.” I frown, wondering why we’re leaving in the middle of the school day and more importantly why he’s so solemn, but I’m too afraid to ask.
Minutes later, we’re in his car and he still hasn’t told me what’s happening.
“Dominic, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
“Stas—” His voice breaks and he shakes his head slowly.
Hearing the emotion in his voice is like a punch to the gut and I find myself struggling to breathe. I’m not sure what a panic attack feels like, but I think the way my throat is closing up and my heart is racing is pretty close to what it feels like. I unbuckle my seatbelt, desperate not to feel the weight of the belt against my chest for a second longer. The tension in the car is so thick it’s almost unbearable and despite the rain falling on this particularly cold April day I roll the window down slightly.
“Where are we going?” I manage out between deep breaths.
“In and out, sweetheart.” My eyes flick to him, hearing the term of endearment he hadn’t used in years. I move my gaze away from his face to the steering wheel, noting his firm grip that has his knuckles turning white.
“Dominic,” I repeat his name, “I’m not kidding around. You yank me out of school without a word in the middle of the school day. What the fuck?”
His eyes move away from the road for no more than a second to chastise me for my language I’m sure. He doesn’t, but I see the brief scolding look in his eyes before he turns back to the road. His brows are furrowed as if he’s angry but I can see the devastation in his eyes and he has the posture of a man that looks as if he’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders. Slumped and defeated and so unlike how he usually carries himself. Every few seconds his Adam’s apple bobs, like he’s struggling to swallow and suddenly the need to comfort him overwhelms me like a wave threatening to take me under.
“I’ll tell you as soon as we get there. I’m worried…” He swallows. “Worried that once I say it, I’m going to lose it. And you…” He lets out a deep breath. “You’re definitely going to lose it.”
Idon’t say anything in response to Dominic’s ominous comment. Instead, I let my mind run wild with all of the possible scenarios. I note that we aren’t going to my house, but we’re taking the familiar route to where my mother works. Feelings of dread pool in my stomach in hopes that we’re just going to visit my mother and not that someone we know isinthe hospital. Those feelings of dread turn to terror as he pulls into the Emergency Room parking lot which isnotthe entrance we would use if this was just a friendly visit.
