AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Christ, Eliza,” he moaned, still panting. He had a slight sheen of sweat on his chest.
I swallowed the last bit of him and smiled. “Coffee?” I asked.
“I’ll make it.” He swung out of bed and padded to the small kitchen. “Don’t leave that bed, sweetheart.”
He returned only a minute later with a cup of coffee in each hand. And that’s how we spent the rest of the morning, looking out at the ocean from the bed, sipping coffee, talking about everything, enjoying the silence, and dozing on and off. It was perfect.
His phone was constantly buzzing, but I had to applaud his effort when it came to ignoring it. I knew it was his family. Instead, we just pretended it was only us for a little longer.
But fairytales eventually had to come to an end. Eventually, we had to check out of our little paradise and go back to the real world. I’d thought he might have forgotten his post-sex declaration of paying off my medical bill, but he hadn’t. Trask insisted on taking the paperwork. He gave me a long kiss, promising to take care of it.
My car was in the shop so I had him drop me off at the end of my driveway just because it was easier to gauge the chaos of my grandparents from afar. It was also easier to sneak in that way. And I was grateful for my foresight. There were several old cars littering the front of the house and my stomach sank when I recognized most of the vehicles as belonging to friends of my grandparents or estranged aunts and uncles. The holidays really did bring out the worst in people. Or maybe it just brought out the worst people. It was wet and cold and I thought I could slip in unnoticed.
I was wrong.
“The whore is home!” Grandma called as soon as I made it up the porch steps.
I walked into the house and was immediately overwhelmed by the amount of secondhand smoke lingering in the air. I coughed when an uncle I hadn’t seen in months blew a drag in my face. “She looks like her mother,” he said.
I tried to shoulder past them but he pulled my bag from my shoulder, gripping my arm. “Where were you?” Grandpa asked.
“Out with friends,” I said, trying to avoid his sour breath.
“Well, you can go back out with your friends, quit using up our heat, eating our food,” Grandpa said. He squeezed my arm and hauled me back onto the porch, slamming the door in my face.
“Fuck!” I yelled, kicking at the door. I walked around to my window, momentarily forgetting that they were boarded up. I needed my backpack. It had my phone, wallet, everything. I couldn’t get into Rosalie’s without my key ring. My car wasn’t going to be fixed for another few days either. I tried the backdoor, but it was locked. I banged on it with my fists. “Let me in!” I yelled. “I need my keys! I’ll crash at Rosalie’s! Please!”
My uncles grumbled while my grandparents yelled at each other. I shivered when the wind picked up. “Merry fucking Christmas to me.”
24
TRASK
“Trask baby,” my mom said, looking around the kitchen full of people for the Davis Annual Christmas Eve Extravaganza. It was more of a migraine-inducing event than anything else. “Would you do me a huge favor and run to the store to grab more ice?”
“Sure!” I said it a little fast because she raised an eyebrow at me.
“Look, I don’t love how you and Eliza disappeared—”
“Sorry her throat was busy collapsing—”
“That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it!”
I bit my tongue until I tasted blood. “I’m sorry, Mom. I should have told you my plans for our little getaway. If it makes you feel better we spent most of the evening in the Emergency Room.”
My mom sighed, refilling her glass with wine, smiling at the few people milling about. “No, it doesn’t make me feel better, I just miss you.Wemiss you and it’s Christmas and I just want you around, is that too much to ask?”
“It will be fine,” I said. “I’ll grab the ice. Be back in fifteen.”
As soon as I was out the door, I loosened my tie and called Eliza. No answer.
I swung by the gas station near Eliza's place. I drove by her house a few times, confused by the sheer number of cars there. She hadn’t told me about any event happening at her place. I called her again. Nothing. So I called again. Nothing. I pulled into her driveway, killing the lights when I neared the house. It was dusk, and I didn’t want to draw more attention to myself if I didn’t need to. But that’s when I saw her, pounding on the front door, shivering in the snow flurries.
“Please, Grandpa, let me in. I need my keys. Please!” She kicked the door and went back to pounding on it with her fists. “Open the door! Please, open the door!”
“Eliza!” I jumped from my truck.
Her head whipped around, eyes growing wide when she saw me. “You should go.” She sniffed, wiping away tears.
