Veiled Innocence

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Past…

God, how long would this take?

I’d just given my false recap of what happened between Brandon and me, and as predicted, he would be expelled. He’d have to finish the school year at a different high school.

“Mr. McKendrick, if that’s all, you may leave. We’ll take it from here.”

I stood, pushing the chair back and then looked at the boy—and that’s what he was, just a boy—slumped down in his seat. Brandon glared at me, and I felt the full weight of my negligence.

This boy had trusted me—I’d let him down.

“I hope things turn around for you, Mr. Williams.”

I offered my hand to him, but instead of taking it, his eyes took on a hard glint—I’d put that there. No, he’d already had an edge. I’d just sharpened it.

Raising his gaze from my hand, his top lip curled as he told me, “You better go and find Anne.”

Anne? What was he...? And then I remembered my lesson on King Henry’s wives.

… Many believe he chased Anne and was drawn to her because she resisted his attempts…

He didn’t know how wrong he was. I hadn’t chased Addison, but I was about to. I needed to find her.

I left the office without saying another word. My lip was throbbing and my head was starting to pound but that didn’t stop me from heading straight for the parking lot.

Addison couldn’t leave because if she did, her parents would be called, and she wouldn’t want that. I looked at my watch and knew I had the period free, so I headed across the track and through the gate. I spotted her car in the lot and made my way over.

I peered through the window and saw nothing. It was empty.

Straightening, I surveyed the lot. There was no one around. I was about to go and check inside, when I spotted something.

Over by my truck, I saw white material peeking out from underneath and knew immediately that it was her. I jogged over to where I’d parked and rounded the tail of my truck bed—and there she was. Sitting up against the huge tire on the driver’s side, she seemed so small and fragile.

As the loose gravel crunched under my shoes, she turned to see me walking toward her. She had her knees bent and pulled into her chest with her arms wrapped around them.

“Addison,” I whispered softly.

She looked like a trapped animal. Trapped inside her mind.

Her hair was a mess, probably from dragging her hands through it, and I could see her fingers tapping on her knee—one, two, three. One, two, three.

I kept my distance and crouched down until we were on the same level. “Addison.”

She raised her head and I had to clasp my hands in my lap so I wouldn’t follow my instinct to reach out and touch.

“Talk to me,” I coaxed gently.

Nothing. I got nothing from her. She’d withdrawn inside herself.

Pulling my legs out from under me, I planted my ass firmly on the ground and placed a foot on either side of her, careful not to touch.

“What’s going on? I thought—”

“What?” her voice was faint when she finally spoke up. Her eyes held me in place and for once, I felt at a loss for words. “What did you think?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I thought I could make you feel better.”

She brought an arm up and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

“Yeah, let’s make sure I’m better. God, now you’re thinking just like them.”

Before I knew what I was doing, I crawled over until I was kneeling by her side.

“No. I’m nothing like them,” I told her emphatically. “I’m here with you, aren’t I?”

How could I have ever thought she was what was wrong in my life? She was the only thing that made any sense, and when she was broken and hurting, so was I.

My dad was right—if I wanted her heart, I had to take it. If I was doing this out of love, it was beyond good and evil.

“Addison.”

She continued staring past my shoulder, so I took her chin in my hand and made her look at me.

“Addison, look at me.” As her eyes focused on mine, I repeated the same words she’d once told me. “Look at all of me.”

Her hand cupped my throbbing cheek, and as her thumb gently swept over the stubble and bruise I knew was forming, fresh tears welled in her eyes. I released her chin and brushed my hand over her hair, pushing it back from her face.

“What’s going on in that head of yours, hmm?”

With a shaky breath, she finally admitted, “I’m broken.”

I shook my head. “No, Addison. Just perfectly imperfect. None of us are perfect.”

Her bottom lip jutted out, and as tears ran down her cheeks, I couldn’t help myself, I leaned forward and put my lips to them. Her cheek was cool and the tears warm as I lifted my mouth. I brushed my nose with hers and whispered what I could no longer deny. “I love you.”

She pressed her forehead to mine and replied so softly I almost missed it, “You shouldn’t.”

Her answer made my heart ache and my head swirl.

I knew she was right, it didn’t make any sense. I shouldn’t love her. It couldn’t end well, and I’d already lost the only other person who meant anything to me. This was just setting myself up for heartbreak. But as I took this broken girl in my arms and she crawled up into my lap, there was no way I could deny she had my heart firmly in her hands.

Present…

“I thought I might find you here.”

I turn to see Doc stepping into the library where I’m studying.

“Yeah, I needed to find a poet for the English portion of the test.”

“Oh,” Doc says as he pulls out the chair beside me and sits down. “Who did you decide on?”

I slide the book I’m reading over to him.

“Aleksandr Pushkin.”

“He’s Russian.”

“I never would have guessed,” Doc replies dryly. “Which poem? He has so many.”

I wait until he looks up from the page before I tell him, “I chose ‘Farewell.’ It seemed fitting.”

Doc returns his attention to the book and locates the poem. Before he has a chance to say anything, I clearly recite Pushkin’s words. I’m finally at peace with the decision to fight, move on, and perhaps even let go.

“It’s the last time, when I dare

To cradle your image in my mind…”

Doc closes the book as I continue the poem word for word, and when I finish, he says softly, “That’s beautiful, Addy. I’m proud of you. It is time to say farewell to the past. I’m glad you recognize that. Keep up the good work here. The big test is just around the corner.”

Past…

Crawling on to Grayson’s lap, I touched his hair and felt the pain in my chest intensify. I knew this was good-bye. I had to break it off here.

“I shouldn’t have started this. I didn’t know,” I confessed, and grazed his lips with my fingers. “I didn’t know it would be like this. That you would love…that…you need to walk away now. Forget about me.”

One of his hands smoothed down my back as he replied, “Probably.”

I was relieved that he seemed to understand what I was trying to do—until his lips found the corner of mine and he whispered, “But I’m not going anywhere.”

As a tear slipped between our lips, my tongue came out to taste it and found his mouth. Our lips connected and I lost myself in him.

I tangled my fingers into the shorter strands of his hair and held his head as I pushed my tongue deeper, hungry to find his. His hands moved to my hips, pulling me up against him, and as we disappeared into our own world, we recklessly forgot the one around us.

Until our two worlds collided.

“Grayson?”

As the voice penetrated the silence and I felt Grayson’s body freeze, I knew I hadn’t imagined the voice that was almost as familiar to me as his was.

“Addison? What…what are you doing?” the unbelieving voice asked, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. I scrambled away from Grayson and back to where I’d been sitting against the tire.

This wasn’t going to end well, and as I looked at the slump of his shoulders, I knew he was aware of that too. But he’d known all along, hadn’t he? I’d been naive to think it could have ended any other way.

Getting to his feet, Grayson turned and stepped in front of me. He was protecting me from the woman standing between the two cars we had been hiding behind. Once they were face to face he opened his mouth and spoke.

“Helene.”