AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why’d you come?” Callie asked, breaking into my thoughts.
I stared ahead, suddenly feeling shy.
“Who was that guy?”
She kicked a pebble in her way, then veered off the road through a few bushes.
“Come this way. We’re going to clean you up.”
I guided my bike without a second thought. The trail was dense and hard to see as the canopy mostly blocked the sun, but it was only a short trek before there was a babbling stream cutting through the woods.
She tossed her bike on the bank and then slowly climbed down to the river.
“Here, come on. You want to stick your hands in. It’s cold, so it’ll be like sticking it into an ice bath.”
I did as she said, taking my shoes and socks off, then wading into the water.
“It’s freezing!” I hissed.
Callie laughed, and it sounded like something I wanted to hold onto, like a lucky rock or a charm. I found myself smiling up at her.
She joined me moments later, removing her ripped tennis shoes and mismatched socks.
“I like this spot. I mean, it doesn’t go super deep for swimming, but it’s private. I almost ran here that first night, instead of your house.”
Callie walked in far enough for the water to reach the hem of her shorts, and I tried to ignore how pretty she looked with the fingers trailing the top surface and how her eyes lit up.
“Why did you come to my treehouse?”
She shrugged. “Remembered seeing it on one of my bike rides and wondered what it would be like to sleep inside it. Sleeping in a tree seemed like a safe idea—away from predators, away from people, drunks, and bikes.”
I didn’t like her words. They made me feel like I did when I was hitting that idiot.
“Who was that guy back there?” I asked again.
She let out a sigh and began taking water and wetting the back of her neck.
“Logan Linton. He’s an asshole. Football player, and thinks everyone in the school is there to please him. He’s always grabbing me and hurting me.”
I clenched my aching fist that was already starting to swell and dipped it under the water.
“So…he’s not your boyfriend?” I only asked to make sure she wasn’t letting him treat her like this.
Callie’s lips slung to the side as her eyes found mine. “If he were, he wouldn’t be after today.”
“Why?” I couldn’t quite work out what she was saying.
She let out a laugh.
“Because you beat him up! That would be sort of embarrassing, to keep dating him, wouldn’t it?”
I thought that over and let my next question slide between us before I chickened out. “And who was the other guy, Killian?”
Her gaze stayed on the water gently pushing at our legs as she let out a happy sigh. “Killian is like my older brother. He’s a prospect, even though he’s only sixteen. His daddy is a bad guy, just got sent away for twenty years, so my dad took Killian under his wing, patched him in, and now he’s family. He’s supposed to follow me home every day, but he’s always late.”
I thought that over, oddly glad that her dad had someone looking out for her.
“Why did you come, Wes? Why did you hit Logan like you couldn’t stop?”
