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The fuck he would. He was handling the whole situation in a way that behooved him.
“Let’s get you inside.” I grabbed the shakes and walked her back to my place and pushed the door open. This was foreign territory for me. Sure, I’d dated my fair share, but never someone like Demi.
Sweet and genuine and good.
With a complicated fucking family that I’d have to navigate, because she loved them, and I saw them for who they were.
I kicked the door closed and led her to the couch before pulling her onto my lap. She unzipped her jacket and dropped it onto the couch, burying her head beneath my neck.
“Thank you for telling me what happened.”
“I trust you, and I hope you trust me and will tell me what your hang-up is with my family. I can take it. I’ve dealt with my fair share of shit, too. Just because my family has money does not mean our lives are perfect.” She pushed up to meet my gaze. “My brother broke into the coffee shop and is a drug addict. My parents aren’t speaking to him. I’ve got a family friend who attacked me in the middle of the night. I’m not made of porcelain. I’m tougher than I look.”
I nodded because she was right. And she’d trusted me with her fucked-up secret, so I’d tell her mine.
I tugged her back down and settled her head beneath my chin so I could tell her this without looking at her. Because if she looked upset, I wouldn’t go through with it. This was the only way I could get through this.
Hurting Demi Crawford was not something that I was looking forward to doing.
“Tell me,” she whispered. “We can’t move forward until we get it all out there.”
“Do you remember years ago when River and I got into trouble at The Daily Market?” Small-town gossip was real, and two local kids getting busted didn’t go unnoticed by many.
“I remember hearing something about it, but I was young, so I don’t know the story.”
“My dad had just gone to prison, and I was angry and nervous for my mom and my sister. Wondering how we weregoing to survive. It had been a long road with my father, so I was dealing with a lot of shit back then.”
“I’m sure that must have been really hard. Seeing someone you love battle addiction is emotionally exhausting.”
I took my time. Reliving that day was not something I did often. “I was fourteen years old, and I’d ditched school because I was too pissed off at the world for my own good. And River, he was seventeen years old at the time. And the five of us, you know, we’re more like brothers— but with River being the oldest, he almost took on a paternal role in my life back then.”
“I can see how close you all are.”
I nodded, wrapping my arms around her, keeping her close. “He left school and came and found me hiding out at the park. We talked for a while, and he told me they’d all have my back and my family would be fine. Then we went over to The Daily Market to get some junk food.”
“I’m glad he was there for you,” she whispered.
“Your brother was there with another kid. He wasn’t from here, and I don’t know who he was. Your brother was River’s age, so older than me. And they were fucked up.”
She sat up to look at me. “Slade was drunk?”
I raised a brow. “I think he was drunk and high. It was no secret back then that your brother was partying hard, Demi.”
Her gaze searched mine, and I motioned for her to lean back because I couldn’t do this if she kept looking at me with that sadness in her eyes. She rested her head on my chest, and I stroked her hair.
“I didn’t think he did any of that until after the boating accident.”
“Well, I’ve had my fair share of experience with people who mess with drugs and booze, and your brother was doing both back then.” I cleared my throat. “Oscar wasn’t working that day. He was home sick, apparently. It was a guy who worked part-time at the store covering him, Walt Salden. And he didn’t know how to handle your brother and his friend, because they started pushing things off the shelves and breaking shit.”
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “What did you do?”
“River gave me a look like we needed to get the fuck out of there. And then your brother shoved a bottle of booze down his pants, and Walt came running around the counter to stop him.”
“I never heard anything about this.”
I wasn’t surprised. They’d brushed it under the rug.
“Walt started shouting, and your brother got in his face. There was a lot of shoving and yelling going on. River and I made a run for it. We wanted to get the hell out of there.”
