AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He nods, looking grim. “I heard you were sent away. My mum tried talking to them a few times. Lara was always drunk or high. I think your parents ignoring it did more damage to her. They neglected the both of you. With her, they chose to shower her with affection, when really, she needed some tough loving. And with you, they just ignored you, when you deserved to be showered with affection.”
My eyes water at hearing him talk about Lara that way. “I didn’t know she did drugs. I was close to her, and I would have noticed.”
“No, you wouldn’t have. I didn’t know your sister well enough to say whether rumours were true or not, but she wasn’t perfect, Em. If I were to guess, she hid it from you well. She needed someone who didn’t lecture her to come off them. I know a few of her mates tried to get her to get help, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“I feel like I didn’t know her, Banner,” I whisper, feeling a sharp pain in my chest. “This is hard to process. I want to hate you for slagging her off when she isn’t here to defend herself, to yell at you for talking bad of her, but I don’t have it in me. The months leading up to her death was when I knew something was going on. I was blinded before because I craved her affection. She was the only one who showed me any at home. Outside, I had Lake and her family. I just wish she’d come to me for help. I hate myself for not seeing what was going on with her.”
“I think, in the end, she didn’t know herself.”
“In her diary, she was fine—up until a few months before. That was when she started ranting over Darren. I didn’t know it was him she was writing about, but she said she loved him, that he was the only one who got her. It got worse in the weeks before she died. He wouldn’t leave his girlfriend.”
“It was a messed-up situation,” he whispers.
“Those drugs were mixed with poison. Whether she or Darren knew that when he gave them to her, I don’t know. Either way, she killed herself. She’s not coming back. She left me and didn’t even say goodbye.”
“Come on,” he says, jumping to his feet and knocking the umbrella over. I scream when the rain hits me in the face and glare up at Banner. He pulls me up, letting the blankets and sheet get drenched.
“What are you doing?”
“I didn’t come here to make you sad. I came here to cheer you up.”
“Okay…” I drawl slowly, scrunching my eyebrows together.
“Jump.”
“You want me to jump?”
His smile is contagious. “Yep. You want happy memories, then jump. Splash in the puddles to your heart’s content. Jump!”
Holding hands, we move over to the path. I jump in the air, and the minute I land in the puddle beneath me, everything I’ve been holding in, gets set free. I let him go, laughing as I kick the puddle, splashing rain water everywhere. I feel free for the first time in ages. I close my eyes and tilt my head up the sky. The rain splatters across my face as I spread my arms out wide, spinning in circles.
There’s no almost free about this moment. Not one thing. All my troubles, all my fears, they wash away with the rain.
Hands grab my hips and I stumble to a stop. Opening my eyes, I meet Banner’s honey-coloured gaze. Everything around me stills, the world gone quiet as we stare into each other’s eyes.
“Banner,” I rasp.
My heart hammers against my chest. This is the moment.
The moment I tell him how I feel.
He takes a step forward, his chest caressing mine as he peers down at me. The desire staring back at me takes my breath away.
He run the back of his hand over my cheek before reaching up to tuck a wet strand of hair behind my ear. I lean into his touch, following the warmth of it, and close my eyes.
When I open them, his fingers press into my hips, and he leans forward. I hold my breath, my heart beating rapidly.
He’s going to kiss me.
Just as I pucker my lips, ready to meet him halfway, his head jerks forward, smacking into mine.
“Ow,” I moan, holding my sore head.
He glares at someone over his shoulder before bending down and picking up a football. “Go fucking play somewhere else,” he growls, kicking the football back before turning back to me. “Who fucking plays football in the rain?”
I try to hide my grin but fail. “Um, the same kind of people who sit in the rain to drink coffee?”
He chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. My phone rings in my pocket and I shrug apologetically when Banner curses under his breath. I pull it out, seeing Mark’s name on the screen.
