Bump and Run (Wide Open #6)

Chapter Twenty

Charlie

The sound of my cell phone ringing woke me, but I tried to ignore it. Jones was curled against my side as he slept, one arm wrapped around my waist, his head on my chest, and his leg tucked between both of mine. I pressed a kiss against his forehead, his breath warm against my skin. We were both still naked, even though I had washed him up while he drifted to sleep, and I loved the way he felt against me. Like he was made to be there. When my phone began to ring again, I reluctantly untangled myself from his arms to answer it.

Dad. Just seeing that name sent shivers up my spine. This couldn’t be good. Not in the middle of the night while he was away from business.

“Hello?” I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Jones was still sleeping, his blond curls mashed against his face. His fingers had curled into the sheet where I had been, like he was reaching for me, trying to find me.

“Did you forget about the cameras outside the house? The ones around the pool?” my father growled into my ear.

My stomach dropped because, yes, I had. God, had he seen everything? “Hello to you, too, Dad.”

“Don’t try to be cute with me, Charles,” he snarled, and I quickly grabbed my briefs to slip them up my hips before I left my room. “Imagine my surprise when I got a message from security that someone was in the pool. But not just someone. My son and his soon-to-be stepbrother. Disgusting. You’re a disgrace to the Callahan name. You will stop seeing him this instant.”

Don’t tell your father to go fuck himself. Don’t tell your father to go fuck himself, I repeated over and over in my mind.

“I love him,” I blurted instead. The sharp intake of breath I heard on the other end of the line made me wish I hadn’t said that. Even though it was one hundred percent true. “I’m sorry, but it’s true. You couldn’t possibly understand—”

“If you don’t break it off with that Jones boy right now, you’ll lose everything,” Dad warned. “My money, your mother’s; I’ll make sure you don’t have a single cent to your name.”

Rage ripped through my body. How dare my father try to blackmail me like this? My entire body began to tremble. “I don’t care about the money.”

“There will be no school for you, Charles. You will be kicked out of your apartment, making you homeless. Your mother won’t be able to help you, and I will make damn sure that no one ever hires you. Not even to clean toilets. And your sweet Jones? He’ll never work in NASCAR. It will take one simple phone call to put all of this into effect.” My father sounded madder than I had ever heard from him. And, believe me, I had done plenty of things to piss him off through the years.

I stepped farther away from my room. “You wouldn’t dare. ”

“Is that something you’re willing to find out? It’ll take one call to Henry to ruin your boyfriend’s future, too. It’s no skin off my back.”

“He’s going to be your stepson.”

Dad chuckled softly. “Is that supposed to mean something? I wanted his mother. He was extra baggage that I’m more than willing to get rid of. Do you think your Jones would like to work in an office day after day? Coming into work when the sun hasn’t even come up and leaving when it’s dark? He seems a little too fragile for that. But I can make it happen if you don’t listen to me. Don’t tempt me.”

I saw red and clenched my teeth. “You leave Jones alone; do you hear me? If you dare hurt him, I will end you.” Not that I could do that.

“Break it off with him. Now. Pack your things and just go.” He suggested it like it was no big deal.

The thought of leaving Jones behind, just disappearing like that, made me sick to my stomach. It would break him into pieces. I knew that what we had would come to an end, I just thought I had more time.

I wanted to hit something. Rip the paintings from the wall, smash a window, whatever my rage wanted. That would do me no good. I didn’t want to take the chance of waking Jones.

“Please don’t make me do this,” I whispered.

“I have plans for you, Charles. You’ll marry Beverly, just as we planned. She’ll make you happy. You’ll have beautiful children together, and this little thing with Jones will be nothing but a distant memory. You’ll forget all about him, and he’ll move on. ”

Tears stung my eyes. “I won’t. It’s not just a little thing, Dad.”

“You’re not to see this boy again, Charles. Do you understand me? I’m pretty sure that I made myself clear about what will happen if you do. Think of him living a life he hates yet coming home to you in your cardboard box. Think of what might happen to his mother,” he hissed angrily.

My heart cracked. Jones would never survive a nine-to-five-day job. I couldn’t watch him suffer like that for the rest of our lives. It would be a slow death for him. He was meant for fast cars and traveling the states to do what he loved.

“You’ll make sure his dreams come true? That he has everything he needs?”

“You have my word,” my father assured me.

I glanced over my shoulder at my bedroom door. The fear I had felt faded into heartache. “And you won’t hurt him or Alice? You’ll...” I tried to swallow the giant lump in my throat. “You’ll take care of both of them the way they deserve.”

“I will, yes,” Dad answered.

“Consider it done.” I hung up before he could demand anything else of me.

I packed everything I could into my Jeep while Jones was sleeping. With every single sound I made, I was sure he was going to wake up, ask me what I was doing, and beg me to stay. I would have, if that happened. I would have done anything Jones asked me, but he never stirred .

My father texted me that he would send someone to clean up the balloons, roses, and leftover food as long as I got out of the house. He also told me a new phone would be delivered to me once I returned to Boston and the one I was currently using was going to be shut off. And that there was a one-way ticket waiting for me at the airport. I was not to return to North Carolina, to cut all ties with Jones, and never speak of him or to him again.

Once I had showered and changed, leaving nothing behind in my room, I stood over where Jones slept peacefully. His blond curls covered his eyes, and my fingers itched to push it away. To touch him one last time. I couldn’t chance it. If Jones woke, I would never leave, and his life would be ruined because I was selfish. I had a brief moment where I considered climbing back into the bed to hold him one more time. To touch his soft skin, feel his body against mine, but I resisted the urge.

Instead, I leaned down so my lips were inches from his ear. “I love you, Jonesy. Nothing will ever change that. I will find a way to come back to you. I promise. Please don’t forget me or hate me. I’m doing this for you,” I whispered as my heart cracked. “If you find someone else, someone you can trust again, don’t be afraid to love them. I only want you to be happy, Bashful.”

He still smelled like the pool and the sweet body wash he used. A soft snore escaped him before I heard him mumble a response.

“Love you, too, Charlie.”

In that instant, I hated my father more than I ever had. He had treated my mother like trash, pretended I didn’t exist unless it was to somehow make him look good, and now he was now making me break the boy I loved, breaking me in the process. I vowed to somehow get my revenge, no matter what it cost.

I hurried from the room before I did something stupid, like wake Jones, and climbed into my vehicle. I glanced over at the passenger side, where Jones had sat not that long ago, and remembered the shy smile he gave me the first day I picked him up. How those hazel eyes begged me to kiss him. The moment I had realized I was falling for him.

Tears streamed down my face as I drove to the airport, and when I finally arrived home to my mother, I had deleted, blocked, and removed Jones from my life. Just so that I could protect him.