AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Theo chuckled slightly and looked from my father to me. “Violet, darling, I don’t even play the guitar. And I’m sorry I told your secret, but as soon as I saw this… man…” He made a look of disgust before continuing, “I knew he was who you had been going to see, and I knew I needed to tell your parents immediately. He doesn’t look safe, Violet. I am just trying to look out for you.”
“All this time, you’ve wrapped poor Theo into this… this… scandal! How could you do this, Violet?” My mother had her hand on Theo’s shoulder. “I’m completely disgusted.”
“It washisidea!” I pointed to Theo. “And Tuck is the safest person I’ve ever met. It’s Theo you should all be worried about! He’s a snake!”
My mother scoffed and shook her head.
“It’s okay,” Tuck whispered to me. “It’s okay. I’ll go.”
My father’s grip grew tighter. “Quite right you will. You will go. And you will never see my daughter again.”
I tried to pull away again. “You can’t keep me from him. I won’t let you!” He tugged on me, and I winced at the firm grasp he had on my arm. “Stop, you’re hurting me.” Tears were pouring down my face, but my father wouldn’t relinquish his grip.
“Then stop fighting and go with your mother,” he spat out, clasping on tighter, trying to pull me closer to him.
Tuck moved forward slightly, towering over my father, taller and broader than him with a look that summoned fear. He took my father’s fingers that were wrapped along my bicep and he pulled them apart, one by one, removing them from me. I stepped back, holding my arm where my father had gripped, and watched Theo step closer to my father as though on his side, as though either one of them stood a chance against Tuck.
Tuck’s voice was calm and low. “If you ever touch her like that again, I will break every single one of your fingers.”
My father chuckled uncomfortably and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. “Oh, really? Is that a threat?”
“No,” Tuck said, never once raising his voice. “I’m just warning you.”
Then he turned to me, my eyes spilling over with tears and deep sobs coming from my chest. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I couldn’t believe that Theo could be capable of such wickedness and that my mother and father would be so simple-minded. I’d known that they would never have understood, but the force they were taking to keep me from him,thatI could have never imagined.
Tuck wiped my eyes with his thumbs, and I looked only at him. I didn’t care that my mother was still huffing and my father was muttering under his breath. It was only Tuck and me.
“Lettie, you need to go.”
“Lettie?” my mother shrilled. “Who in God’s name is Lettie?”
I shook my head, crying harder and ignoring her. “But, I don’t want to.”
“You need to. Before this gets bad. Okay? Just for tonight.” He brushed a piece of my hair from my face, the curls losing their bounce with the heat.
“I want to go with you.” I was sobbing hysterically now. I knew my makeup was ruined and that I must have had a face full of sweat mixed with tears and snot, but I couldn’t think about any of that in that moment. “I belong with you. I want to go with you.”
Tuck’s eyes were filling, and I watched one of the tears fall from his gray eyes. Those eyes that made me feel so safe and loved. He wiped it away and sniffed as though that one gesture would make the feelings stop. “Not yet. Not here. Not like this.”
I knew he was right. If I took off with Tuck now, everything would blow up. My parents would follow me, and I would never be able to make it before they dug their claws into me and forced me back.
I nodded. “Tomorrow? Before you go?”
He kissed my forehead.
“Tomorrow. Right, Tuck?” I repeated, waiting for him to reassure me that I would see him again. “I love you, Tuck.”
I watched his throat bob as he swallowed. “I love you. Now and forever.”
With either hand on his face, I gently placed my lips on his, tasting our salty tears mixing, and when I pulled away, I turned to my parents and Theo.
“I hate you. All of you.”
And then I pushed past them and walked to the door, Avery and my mother trailing behind me.
FIFTY-ONE
TUCK
