Page 22 of Falling for You

I hear her deep intake of breath and I feel her soft lips nuzzle against my hand. My heart beats faster at the touch.

“Thank you, Sawyer.”

We’re both quiet for a moment and I think maybe she’s fallen asleep. “Sawyer, can you tell me what happened to you? Why did you assume the worst about me at first? What happened to put you in the position you’re in with your uncle? I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but I really need to think about something else.” She pauses. “And I want to know more about you.”

I turn over onto my back and lay my hand on my stomach. To tell the whole truth, the partial truth, or nothing at all? Will she freak if I tell her everything?

I hate being judged by what my father did. It’s been nice to have someone around who just knows me for me, but after what happened to her tonight, I’m willing to tell her anything to get her mind off my asshole cousin. I decide to tell her most of my story, but maybe leave out the parts that make me seem like too much of an asshole.

I take a deep breath. If she thinks differently of me, then she does. There’s nothing I can do about it. All I can do is start at the beginning.

“My mom was almost disowned when she got pregnant with me. Her brother is Brad’s father and the whole family is a bunch of uptight lawyers. My mom was sixteen when she got knocked up. My dad was a local college student at the time. He claimed he had no idea how old she was. Let’s just say her family did not approve. Especially because he came from a poor Guatemalan family. His parents were immigrants and he busted his ass to pay for college while they worked as janitors at the local high school. Once upon a time, I admired him for that.”

I feel Ronnie’s hand lightly touch my chest. I glance over at her. There’s emotion swimming in her beautiful eyes and I clear my throat. It’s been awhile since I admitted my dad had any good qualities at all.

“My dad asked my mom to marry him and she did. She finally talked her brother into giving him a chance. My dad started working at the family firm. First in the mailroom, then he made it through college and law school. He was smart and tenacious. He wanted more than what his parents had, much more. My mother thought he walked on water. As I grew up, he was around less and less and she always made excuses for him. He was constantly working. He was always working to keep up with her family. He wanted to make sure they thought he was good enough. Somewhere along the way, he became obsessed. Once he got a little bit of money, he wanted more and more. He wanted to have everything.”

I close my eyes as I feel her fingers run lightly over my chest. Her touch is comforting and I’m able to continue.

“One day, on my seventeenth birthday if you can believe it, he just didn’t come home. No explanation, no phone call. Nothing. My mom was frantic. She stayed up the first few days, not sleeping. She was so worried. It took a few days to find out what my dad had done.”

I stop for a moment and listen to Red’s soft breathing. I hate this part. I hate knowing that I’m the legacy to this man.

“My Uncle Robert came to see us. That’s Brad’s father. He said that they had discovered that my dad had been stealing money from the company for years. He had a secret bank account in the Caribbean that he had been siphoning off money to. He stole millions, Ronnie. Not just enough to live off the rest of his life, but enough to buy his own island kind of money. I don’t know how no one noticed it. My dad was slick. He was good with the lines too.” I shoot her a grim smile.

“Obviously, I get that ability from him. Asshole even had the nerve to commit the biggest cliché ever. He ran off with his blonde secretary, the ditz.” I feel the venom rise up in my throat again. I hate that my dad still makes me this full of emotion. “He even bought her a boob job before he ran off and left us high and dry. Luckily, he died of a heart attack before my uncle could get to him. My uncle knows some shady people and they were sent to track him down. All they found was the blonde fucking the pool boy and a cross with his name on it in the public graveyard.”

Her small hand strokes lightly over my jaw and I turn my face to look at her again. Tears are running down her cheeks.

I wipe the tears away lightly. “Hey, now no need to cry. He was a pretty shitty dad anyway and he died doing what he loved, screwing other people over.”

She reaches out for my hand and I grip hers back tightly.

“You say that, but he was still your dad. I know somewhere in there, you’re hurting.” Her voice is so soft that I can barely hear her.

My first instinct is to lash out. I want to shout that I’m not sad, that I’m fucking angry as hell, and that she knows nothing about me. I stop myself and stare into her green eyes. The genuine empathy there changes my answer.

“Maybe,” I softly whisper.

I clear my throat. “Anyway, when my dad died, my mom changed. She was always so strong, so independent, and then suddenly she wasn’t. She fell into a deep depression and no matter what I did I couldn’t snap her out of it.” A knot rises in my throat. I remember all of the times that I tried to get her out of bed and couldn’t. I remember the feeling of leaving to go to school and not knowing if she was going to be okay by herself. There were times that I was terrified she would hurt herself. I kept my fears inside and kept going. When my uncle offered to help, I clung to that offer like a life raft. He found a counselor for her and made sure her therapy was paid for. All the money in her bank account had been wiped out by my father too, so Uncle Robert provided her the help I wasn’t able to afford. Instead of helping us because that’s what family do, my uncle made me pay him back in so many ways. I tell Ronnie none of the awful things I’ve done to repay my debt.

“My uncle offered to help us. I let him, and so I owe him. I do small odd jobs for him because he gives us a roof over our head. He makes sure my mom is taken care of.”

“He must not be all bad then, right?”

I think of the packages I’ve delivered in the middle of the night and the people I’ve paid off for Brad’s behavior. What would Ronnie think of me if she knew? My uncle is not a good person, but I’m not sure I am either.

I make a slight sound of agreement. Let her think he’s a decent guy. Maybe she won’t think the whole family is a bunch of rich, entitled pricks even though they are.

Time to lighten things up. My chest feels heavy and the last thing I want to think about while I’m with this girl is my crazy family. I want to see her smile and hear her laugh. I turn on my side and stroke her damp face.

“Do you know from the first moment I saw you standing outside the school, I thought you were the most beautiful girl in the world? I saw you, and it was like that stupid moment in the movies where the guy can’t speak or move because he sees a girl so pretty he can’t breathe?” I smile and she chuckles.

“Sawyer Rodriquez, are you trying to woo me? That’s really sweet of you.” She looks away shyly and her cheeks are slightly red. “I know I’m nothing special, and I should have known there was a reason behind all of the attention Brad was suddenly giving me.”

“Red, that’s not true.” I turn her face so that we are almost nose to nose. “I noticed you that very first day. You’re beautiful and unique. Brad is a douchebag.” I growl out the last few words and place a light kiss on her cheek. I don’t want to hear Brad’s name right now. He deserves no place here. He really deserves no place except jail.

“You noticed me? You really thought I was beautiful?” She sounds puzzled and flustered.

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