“Who was he?”
I debated telling Kyle to go screw himself, but I couldn’t. “Why should I tell you anything about my life?” I argued. “It’s not like you trust me to confide in.”
He grinded his teeth. “Just answer me Lee and I’ll answer anything you want.”
I contemplated his gruff words. I could tell he was trying to control his temper.
“Perry Franklin.” I said shakily.
He nodded excessively. I could tell he was filing the name away in his head somewhere.
“When?” he asked, his voice laced with anger.
I look up in confusion, “When?”
Kyle slammed his palm on the steering wheel. “Yes when Lee. When did this happen? When did this guy attack you? And when the fuck, were you going to tell me?”
He didn’t give me a chance to answer, before the truck swerved to a stop and he was pulling me into his arms, telling me everything would be all right. I knew it wouldn’t, but the story from that night spilled from my lips.
I found myself telling Kyle everything about that night. I opened my soul and let all the pain and suffering I felt from that night weep out. I found myself revealing much more to Kyle than I had to Cam. How I was tricked by Perry to go to prom with him. How I had found out he had asked me as a dare from his other teammates. How it felt when his rough hands groped me and how I had wanted to die. I wasn’t sure why I told Kyle, but it felt like he could heal me.
In that moment, it felt like Kyle Carter could break my fall. He could give me back that piece of me Perry had broken. I didn’t tell him about my father though. Not even Kyle could fix that piece of me.
I let him hold me. I let him kiss my hair and rub my back. I let myself cry in his arms and be comforted by his words. I felt like a weight had lifted. Kyle was here and he believed me. Kyle might not love me or want me the way I did him, but he did care. He cared and I was safe.
I imagined this would have been how it would have felt, if someone had believed me at the time.
Chapter Twenty-five
Kyle
She was pulling away again. I could feel her withdrawing. We were sitting beside each other on the back step of the house, drinking coffee and Lee hadn’t said a word in the twenty minutes we’d been back.
I knew she was overthinking things. I wanted to make her feel better. I wanted her to know that I didn’t judge her, or blame her for that asshole.
I raked my brain for something, anything that would bring her back to me. “I grew up in foster care.”
Well, that wasn’t something I’d ever anticipated coming out of my mouth, but there it was.
Lee’s eyes widened as she turned to face me. “But, you’re rich?”
I laughed at her innocent accusation. “I wasn’t always.”
She didn’t say anything, which both comforted and confused me. Was she afraid to ask? Did she not care?
“What are you thinking?” I asked her. I needed to know.
She sighed. “Honestly?” I nodded. “I want to ask you a million and one questions, but I’m not sure if you want me to.”
I smiled at her answer. “Why don’t you ask me one at a time and we’ll see how it goes?”
She turned her body towards me, cradling her cup between her fragile hands. “How did you go from being in foster care to owning a string of hotels?”
“It’s a long story,” I said, pondering the best way to tackle it. “My mother was sixteen when she had me. I didn’t know my father; I don’t think she did either.”
I watched her face for her reaction; she didn’t look horrified or disgusted. She looked at me with accepting eyes. “I don’t remember her clearly,” I continued. “Just that she was blonde and beautiful. She died from a drug overdose when I was three. She had no family and my father was a John Doe so I was turned over to the state.”
Lee rested her hand rest on mine and the words flew out of me in a rush. “Don’t ask me how, but, when I was twelve my father’s father found out I existed and he filed for custody of me. He was granted custody of me and I moved to Boulder to live with him. He died almost two years ago and left me everything.” Grandpa and Linda had found me at a time, when I was starting to lose hope, beginning to get into trouble. They had saved me.
Lee blew out a breath. I kept my eyes on her face, gaging her reaction.
I couldn’t believe I’d told her. I hated talking about my past. It was humiliating. It was fucking upsetting and I didn’t want anyone’s pity.
Lee squeezed me hand. “Do you miss him?”
I didn’t expect that question. I’d never been asked that before. “Frank was a hard man, not the soft fuzzy type of grandfather, but he saved me from a life of being passed around like a fucking parcel. I’m more grateful than anything.”