Unraveling (Second Chances) - By Micalea Smeltzer Page 0,68
curls, playing with it.
“I’ve grown used to it,” I whispered.
He let go of my hair and cupped my cheek in his large calloused hand. I stiffened at first, but then relaxed.
“It shouldn’t be something you have to deal with, Katy. You’re so good. I hate that something like that had to happen to you,” his thumb rubbed circles over my cheek.
I reached up and put my hand over his. “Jared, you shouldn’t have had to deal with what your dad did to you. Every day, something bad happens to someone, somewhere and they don’t deserve it. You just have to decide if you’re going to let the bad break you… or make you. I hate that I let it break me for so long.”
“Katy, if you let it break you, you would’ve done something drastic,” his hand guided down my cheek to my chin.
I took a deep breath, preparing myself to admit my failure. “But I did.”
“What did you do?” His dark brows furrowed together.
I licked my lips and sat up. The sheet dropped down to my waist. My arms were bare, the scar easily visible. I held out my arm and Jared studied it. Confused, he sat up and turned on the light. He took my arm in my hand and twisted it in the light.
“You cut yourself,” he stated.
“I did… about a week after-” I swallowed, “-after it happened. I couldn’t deal. My mom didn’t believe me and I couldn’t go to the cops. They wouldn’t have believed me, since I destroyed any evidence in my anger.” I chuckled to myself. “Even if I hadn’t they probably still wouldn’t have. I come from a very small town, Jared, a town where everyone knows everybody and their business. Preston was… is,” I amended, “the local hero. Everybody thinks he’s good as gold and worships the ground he walks on. No one can see that he’s fake. Nothing about him is real; it’s all a show. Underneath it all, he’s sick and disgusting.”
A tear slid down my cheek and Jared immediately wiped it away.
I looked down at the scar on my arm and ran a finger over it. “It used to look different, my scar. My mom made me go to a plastic surgeon to make it less ‘ugly’. She didn’t want people to notice it, and know what I had tried to do. But they knew anyway.”
Jared gently grabbed my arm. Before I knew what was happening, his soft lips were pressed against my scar. A moan of pleasure escaped my lips.
“Nothing about you, could ever be ugly,” he said, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin of my arm. I shivered, despite the fact that my temperature had spiked a couple of degrees. He pressed another kiss to my scar before pulling away. “I’m going to get a shower,” he said, getting out of bed. His pajama bottoms were low on his hips. He stretched and I watched the muscles in his back ripple. That, combined with his mention of a shower, had me getting all hot and bothered.
Jared. Naked. Wet.
My cheeks flamed and I wanted to crawl in a hole. Even before things went sour with Preston, I’d never had thoughts like this about him.
Jared opened his dresser door and grabbed some clothes. He flashed me a knowing smile and headed down the hall to the shower.
I made his bed and got dressed for the day. I’d have to take my shower later, there was no way I could go in there now, after my dirty thoughts.
I could hear Karlie getting ready in her room, so I decided to make breakfast, albeit awkwardly thanks to my cast.
I suddenly stopped on the bottom step.
I’d never read what Jared had written.
I spotted Karlie’s message first.
Feel Better!
Love, Karlie
Below that, I saw what Jared had written and my heart faltered.
Kitten,
You’re my world.
My one.
My only.
Your scars are my scars.Your pain is my pain. But together we can heal eachother because love can heal anything.
-Jared
Most people probably wouldn’t have been affected by those words, like I was. But I wasn’t most people. I clung to those words like a lifeline.
I finally made it to the kitchen and started breakfast. It took me a little while to locate everything, but not too long since the kitchen was so small.
I made each of us an egg sandwich and had just finished putting everything on the table when Jared and Karlie came downstairs.
“Something smells delicious,” Jared grinned. “You didn’t need to make breakfast, Katy.”