The Redemption of Callie & Kayden

wrong with him? Is he so warped and split that he likes torturing me?
    “Come on over here and introduce him,” he calls out as he arrives at the bottom step.
    “Fuck you!” Seth shouts, taking longer strides, practically dragging me backward down the driveway as my tiny legs work to keep up with him.
    My legs feel like rubber and won’t work right and I keep tripping over my feet. I wish I could find some kind of strength that has to be suppressed inside me and shout at him, take him down, scream, throw things. Do anything to wipe the pleased smirk off his face.
    But in his presence I’m still the child he pinned down on the bed. He has his hand forced over my mouth while he shatters me into fragments. I allow Seth to haul me down the driveway toward Luke’s truck, watching Caleb through the curtain of snowfall. His eyes are fixed on mine and I feel tears beginning to leak out of my own. I’m crying and weak and I want to crumble into the ground and melt with the snowflakes.
    “Callie.” The sound of Kayden’s voice snaps me back to real life and the bigger picture.
    I have more problems at the moment than how I feel, like getting Kayden away from Caleb before a reenactment of that night happens. I spin around and Seth’s hand falls from me. Kayden is standing in front of the bumper of the truck with his arms folded. His eyes are not on me but locked on Caleb. His face looks like a shadow as he stands with the rays of the headlights aimed at his back.
    I shift my bag higher onto my shoulder and my shoes lose traction against the snow as I run to him. His eyes don’t leave Caleb even as I approach him and then he steps forward, dodging to the side, out of my path. I drop my bag and before he can get any closer to the house jump up, fling my arms around his neck, and latch onto him.
    Every muscle in his body hardens as I hook my legs around his waist, clutching onto him like I’m a leech because that’s what I need to be at the moment—something he can’t get rid of without a lot of work.
    “Callie,” he says in a low tone, not holding onto to me. “Let me go.”
    I rapidly shake my head. “No, please just get back into the truck.”
    His hair brushes against my cheeks as he shakes his head. “Callie… I can’t.” He sounds strangled and I really believe that he thinks he can’t walk away.
    “But you can.” I breathe against his ear as I bury my face into his neck. “For me.”
    It’s like I’ve discovered the magic words and unexpectedly he’s backing up toward the truck, slowly, but he’s going.
    Then I hear Caleb say, “Oh, so she didn’t ditch you. I guess she’s turning into a little slut then.”
    “Please, please, please,” I chant as he starts to walk forward. “Please don’t do this. I need you. I need you. I need you.” I close my eyes as I hear a door creak open and then another one opening. Suddenly everyone is shouting.
    I hear Luke’s voice first. “Why don’t you shut your fucking mouth and go back inside before you get yourself hurt again.”
    “Oh, I’m so going to press charges now,” Caleb replies. “The epic, favorite—and apparently suicidal—football player is going down.”
    And then I hear my mother’s. “Callie Lawrence, you get in here this instant. I told you to stay away from him.”
    I feel Kayden’s chest stirring with mine as he seeks oxygen with me, treading forward and then backward, like he can’t decide where to go or what he wants to do.
    “Callie Lawrence!” my mom shouts and her voice echoes through the streets and dogs start to bark. “It’s Christmas break. You should be in here with your family.”
    But I am with my family.
I summon every last ounce of courage I still have thriving inside me, push back from Kayden’s shoulders, and forcefully meet his gaze. “Please take me out of here,” I plead in an uneven voice. The anger fleetingly diminishes in his pupils as he blinks at me. “I can’t do this without you.”
    Just like that we connect again and our hearts beat together, erratic and untamed but still together. And that’s all that matters. It’s just him and me, shielded from the shouting and yelling going on around us. He backs up to the truck, holding onto me, and opens the door. Without taking his eyes off me, he climbs in and slams the door shut. The warm air engulfs us as we hold onto each other. Seconds later the driver’s-side door opens and Seth hops in and Luke follows. The shouting enters the cab,