I could feel my body shaking and the last thing I wanted was for Keeton to face his father alone.
The moment the shouting grew louder Duke began barking and I did my best to calm him.
Pressing my ear to the door I tried to hear what they were saying.
“He’s in jail and I need the money to get him out.” The words were slurred. “You got the money, Keeton, just give me it.”
“I’m not giving you money for Karver. His ass can stay there.” Keeton’s voice remained calm but anyone who truly knew him would be able to pick up on the obvious irritation.
“You stupid fucking ass.” When his father spoke those words they infuriated me. How could any father speak to their child like that? “Always thinking you’re better than us. You ain’t better. You’ll amount to nothing; you’ll see. And that cute little brunette you got staying here will see that too, one day.”
“Don’t you fucking bring her into this. Don’t speak of her.” Now Keeton grew angry.
“Oh.” His father chuckled. “I hit a nerve. The girl is the weakness, I see.”
A loud crack made me jump in surprise, followed by a sickening groan of pain.
I opened the door and ran from the room just in time to see Keeton hovering over his father as he was slumped forward on the floor, holding his nose. “This shit ends here.” Keeton’s voice echoed throughout the apartment. “You’re dead to me; you both are. Do you hear me, old man?” He leaned in closer and punctuated each word. “You. Are. Dead. To. Me.”
I had never in my life seen anything like what I just witnessed. A strong sense of fear washed over me just as Keeton turned and found me standing only a few feet away observing everything.
A look of disgrace took over his features, yet I refused to allow him to feel shameful. He had been pushed to do this. He lived this kind of life day in and day out, and he’d reached his breaking point.
I rushed to him just as two cops pushed their way through the door and began assessing the situation. One of them grabbed Keeton while the other gripped his father’s hands and held them behind his back. “Which one of you live here?” the taller cop asked.
“It’s my place. He doesn’t belong here.” I hadn’t ever seen this side of Keeton. He had warned me this version of him existed, but I had never witnessed it until now. He was cold and distant. It was like the sweet man I had fallen in love with had checked out, and there before me stood a man I didn’t know.
“Who is this man to you?” the other cop asked as he helped Keeton’s father from the floor.
“He’s a nobody. Just some drunk asshole who thinks he still has control of me.” Keeton didn’t take his eyes off his father. Not when the cop pinned his arms behind his back or when he placed the cuffs on his wrists.
“He’s my son,” his father mumbled. “And he attacked me.”
“No, he didn’t,” I interrupted his father’s show and Keeton glared at me. The look he gave me was one meant to intimidate me, but he had to know it wouldn’t work. I was immune to those types of looks; I grew up my entire life receiving them.
“You show up here demanding money and making threats, and Keeton just takes it. He should have had your ass arrested a long time ago, but unlike you, he has a damn heart. You’re a selfish bastard who doesn’t deserve his kindness.”
“You little bitch.” His father said, and suddenly Keeton began an attempt to get closer to his father once more, that angry look from earlier returning.
“Slow down,” the taller cop barked as he restrained Keeton.
“Cuff ’em both,” he told the other officer, and my stomach dropped.
“No,” I said as the tears formed in my eyes. “He didn’t do anything.”
“This is a domestic dispute and until we get things figured out they’re both going in.” There was no use in arguing. I knew it wouldn’t help.
I stood to the side, holding Duke by his collar as they first led Keeton’s father from the apartment in cuffs, followed by Keeton.
He refused to look at me and I think that was what hurt the worst.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Keeton
I left the station over an hour ago. I still couldn’t go home. I was too ashamed. I’d never wanted Olivia to ever have to witness anything like that.
But it was my fault.
I should have long ago put a stop to the torment my father inflicted on me whenever something in his life went wrong. But no, I just took the shit week after week and did nothing to stop it.
Until now.
I held the temporary restraining order in my hand; not only against my father, but my brother too. But going home to face Olivia was so much harder than anything else. I didn’t know if I could face her. I didn’t know if I could take that look in her eyes, the one of pity.
So I wandered the streets around the station, attempting to gain the nerve I needed. I had no phone, no keys, and the shirt I was wearing didn’t even belong to me.
I just wished I could go back and choose differently. I would have chosen to call the cops immediately instead of opening the door. But I let the anger and frustration take over and landed myself in jail alongside my worthless father.
I used the one phone call I had to call my mother. And for the first time in my life I broke and cried over all the shit I had gone through growing up. I asked her how she could just leave and live her life knowing that my father tortured me and even Karver daily. But even after I fell apart and lost my shit, she only answered with words that did nothing to support her actions.
“I’d had enough, Keeton.”
Well you know what? I’d had enough too.
The longer I sat there on the bench just at the edge of the park only two blocks from my apartment, the more clear things became.
I had a girl who loved me waiting for me at home. I had a girl who stood by me even when I didn’t deserve it. And I was sitting here in a dark park feeling sorry for myself.
Without another thought I stood and began walking toward my place, suddenly needing to see the one person I knew would always be on my side.
***
As I stood outside my door, I listened for any sign that Liv was still awake. The windows were dark, and there was nothing but silence. A sudden fear that she was no longer there hit me and I knocked on the door.
I heard the sound of Duke barking just before the door came open, and there in the doorway stood Liv, wearing nothing but my t-shirt. I didn’t give her time to speak before I stepped through the door and hooked her around the waist, pulling her body against mine. Crashing my lips to hers, I could feel all the hate and anger slowly fade.
Olivia was my calm, and in that moment I realized just how much her presence in my life was needed.
“I love you,” I whispered between kisses. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I’m sorry I didn’t handle it sooner and I’m…” I couldn’t finish the last sentence because she pressed her lips to mine.
“It’s okay to have weak moments, Keeton,” she told me as she leaned back and gripped each side of my face in her hands. “It doesn’t change anything between us. It doesn’t make me love you any less. Nothing could ever change the way I feel about you.”
I nodded because I was afraid to speak. I still felt so damn raw from my night that I didn’t trust myself to speak.
“Are you hungry?” she asked and I only shook my head, still holding onto her tightly. “I could start the shower for you.”
“Only if you share it with me,” I replied.
I just felt like I couldn’t get close enough to her. I wanted her with me, touching me, kissing me. I didn’t want to be apart, not now. “I need you, baby,” I confessed, only feeling even weaker than I had moments ago.
“You have me Keeton; you always will,” she assured me as she took my hand in hers and began leading me down the hall toward the bathroom.
I stood next to the sink as she turned on the water and felt it before flipping the handle and the water began to fall from the shower head above.
When she turned back to face me, I watched in awe as she slowly began removing her clothes before stepping closer to help me remove my own.
“I’m right by your side, through it all,” she said, rising up on her toes to kiss me softly. “I’m your biggest fan, Keeton Pearce. Haven’t you figured that out by now?”
Our eyes locked on one another and the weight I felt for the last couple of hours slowly began to fade.
“I love you,” she whispered. “Nothing can change that.”
And I believed her. Because I felt the same. Nothing could make me love this girl any less. No one could taint what we had. Not even the ugliness of my father.
I wouldn’t allow it.
I couldn’t.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Olivia
After that night with Keeton’s father, something shifted between us. He began to open up more and more regarding his past. And he no longer got that look of shame when something from his past was brought up.
He also shared with me the conversation he had with his mother the night he had gone to jail. And when he said he finally accepted that she, too, no longer cared, it almost broke my heart.
I was angry at his mother and father for giving him the life they had.