in my body.
“When’s the last time you didn’t drink, Cash? The last time you didn’t take somethin’ in order to feel nothin’? Huh? Tell me, when’s the last time you were sober?”
I wanted to know the answer to that question probably just as much as his father did. I waited on pins and needles for him to respond, but his eyes shifted toward the edge of the stairs, right where I was standing.
“Junie,” he coaxed, causing his father to spin and find me there as well.
“I’m sorry, I... I mean... I... the door was open.” I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts in order to make any sense. “Not that it excuses my intruding. I didn’t—”
“We best get outta here before Detective McGraw arrests us for breakin’ and enterin’.”
I frowned, my stomach sinking to the ground.
“Cash.” His dad grabbed his arm as he sidestepped him. “She’s just a kid,” Dylan whispered faintly. I could barely hear him.
“She’s legal. Still can’t arrest me, old man.”
“She’s family, Cash. Don’t drag her down wit’ you.”
We both jerked back.
“Wow ... thanks for provin’ how big of a piece of shit you really think I am.” He yanked his arm away. “As always, go to hell.”
His father and I locked eyes as Cash made his way down the stairs.
“Don’t look at him, Junie. Look at me,” Cash ordered once he was standing before me.
Hesitantly, I did.
“He doesn’t know shit ’bout shit.” Gripping onto the back of my neck, he murmured in my ear, “Show me what love is, baby. I want you to show me.”
My gaze still found its way back to his father, who hadn’t moved from where he was standing at the top of the stairs.
“I need you to show me, Junie.”
His dad shook his head, as if he could hear what Cash was whispering. Mouthing, “Don’t do it. Don’t enable him. Please. Tell him no.”
My mind and my heart were suddenly ripped in two different directions. The detective was trying to protect me.
From what exactly?
He was acting so much like my brother. His very own father was against him. I couldn’t for the life of me understand how everyone could abandon him when he needed them the most. It didn’t make any sense. Cash wasn’t this monster they were making him out to be. He was never like that with me.
This past week proved how much he cared. He wouldn’t even sleep in the same bed with me, and he made sure I had everything I needed. His main concern was me. Putting all his emotions aside when it came down to sleeping with me. I didn’t see this destructive human they were painting him to be.
I wanted to help him, if it was the last thing I did.
“’Cuz you’re mine,” Cash softly sang. “I walk any line.”
I was torn in two.
My loyalty to my brother on one hand and my love for his enemy on the other.
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Since you were a little girl, you’ve brought light into my life. You’ve always been able to calm me. You know that. I know you know that, Junie. You came back into my life for a reason. You’re my journey to being a better man. I’ll stop drinkin’ and druggin’. I’ll do it for you. I can’t live like this no more. Hear me, listen to me when I tell you—I’ll get clean and sober for you.”
His father once again shook his head. It was like Cash was aware of what his dad was doing.
Emphasizing, “I don’t have a problem, Junie. If I did, you’re wit’ me now. I don’t need nothin’ else. I’ll show you the world, baby. Things you’ve only ever dreamt ’bout. ‘One day I’m gonna be grown just like you, and you’re gonna be all mine’,” he repeated my words from Rockfest, melting my heart. “You’ll have everythin’ you’ve ever wanted, includin’ me. I’ll spend the rest of my life makin’ sure of it. I promise you’ll experience things you’ve only read ’bout in your books, Junie. I’ll take you places you didn’t even know existed. Please, baby ... I wanna see my world through your eyes. Be wit’ me. Be mine.”
He was saying everything I wanted to hear. Everything I ever wanted.
A life.
With him.
“I promise you. I’ll change, for you. Start the next chapter of our lives wit’ me, so I can turn the page and leave this life behind. Show me what love is, Junie. Please ... I