Page 64 of We Are Yours

“If she hauled ass on us because my old man couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, maybe… or maybe we just weren’t good enough for her… or maybe she was just a selfish piece of shit and didn’t want a family or kids anymore. Who the hell knows? And quite frankly, I don’t give a fuck. She’s gone, and she’s never coming back, and I’m okay with that.”

She sucked in air, taking in everything I was saying, reliving something in her gaze that was still completely focused on me. She licked her lips, needing the moisture to soothe the burn of my words. My eyes followed the simple gesture of her tongue.

“It’s not your fault,” she sympathized. “I may not know the whole story, but that much I do know. You can’t blame yourself for something you had no control over. You’re the kid. She’s the adult.”

“I was never a kid.”

“I know.” She nodded. “The roles weren’t supposed to be reversed, but we don’t get to pick our parents, now do we. If that were true, I’d have some.”

I laughed it off. “So we’re both fucked up, then?”

“No.” She stood, walking toward me. I watched her take each step. Once she stood in front of me, she revealed, “I’m far from fucked up, Kraven. I’m nothing like them, and I never will be. I’ve made it this far, and I only have a little over a year left until I’m an adult and can put this all behind me. None of what I’ve gone through defines who I am, and although I have no idea what you’ve experienced, I know it doesn’t define you either. We’re better than all of them put together.”

I tugged on the end of her hair, letting my fingers linger. In this lighting, the red reminded me of autumn, my favorite season.

In a smart-ass reply, I teased, “Is that your bedtime story for me?”

Standing this close to her while touching the silkiness of her hair, I was hit with the weight of the truth I’d never shared with anyone, realizing all too quickly that the first person I’d ever open up to…

Just happened to be my brother’s girl.

Isla

My body shook, creating goose bumps all over my flesh.

I was blown away that he confessed all that to me.

Needing to even the score, I professed, “The day I ran, I didn’t do anything to provoke anyone. I never did, but that didn’t stop the abuse. I learned that if I kept to myself, didn’t talk, blended in, and pretended I didn’t exist, I was safe for the most part. After days turned into months and months into years, I got used to not talking.”

“How long has it been?”

“A while.”

The back of his fingers shifted to the side of my face. “So I’m your first?”

I nodded.

“No,” he remarked, eyeing me in a curious regard. “I want to hear you say it.”

“Yes,” I muttered under my breath.

My mind spun.

I wanted to scream.

To run.

To hide from the truth when it was right there, all around us.

Without any warning, the front door opened, revealing Julius.

His eyes went from Kraven to his hand that was still on the side of my face, to me. I instantly stepped back and, at a moment’s notice, I rushed into Julius’s arms.

I wanted to tell him that I missed him.

That I talked…

To Kraven.