Page 19 of Finding a Melody

I stared at him, trying to figure out what his intent was.

“Why?”

“Cadence.” His tone was light, amusement in his smile. “Just give them to me.”

I untucked my legs from underneath me and slowly stretched out.

He grabbed them and tugged until they were in his lap and he commenced to give me an amazing foot massage. I would say it was the best I’d ever had, but I also never had one before so I couldn’t compare.

I moaned and closed my eyes.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Are you getting enough rest after the break-in?”

“Stop. You’re acting like I nearly died.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that you had to jump out of your house to get away from a stranger who had broken in and tried to hide himself from you.”

“I jumped onto a very fluffy bush.”

“That left you scratched up and bruised. On top of that, you have other injuries from your mother that you’re still trying to heal.”

I went to reply when his words caught my attention.

Your mother.

I narrowed my eyes on him. I knew the others were trying to not pay attention to our conversation, but they sucked at being subtle. Their concern was written all over them as they looked at me. Except for Justin. He refused to meet my gaze.

I glanced between them, going from one to another, taking in that expression that seemed to say they knew. Finally, I settled on Justin and remained on him. Still, he refused to look at me. His body was stiff, lips thinned out as they pressed together, but I couldn’t see his eyes, so I didn’t know what he was feeling.

And I didn’t care.

Fury washed over me. Almost as heavy as the shame and embarrassment. It all punched me at once in a cacophony of chaos.

“You!” I yelled, yanking my feet out of Seth’s grip and jumping to my feet. “Wh-what the fuck?” I screamed, my heart hammering against my chest.

I looked around the room in a panic, suddenly feeling too trapped. The pain blossoming in my chest hurt so much more than a slap to a face, and I only knew that because I’d been slapped before. This hurt so much more.

They knew.

“You told them,” I croaked out with wide disbelieving eyes. “I trusted you with something private and you fucking told them?” I yelled at Justin. He finally looked at me, his eyes wide with panic, but it was nothing compared to the hole opening up inside of me.

“Caden—” Seth started, but stopped when I shook my head furiously, glaring at them all before focusing back on Justin.

“I fucking trusted you to keep your mouth shut. I figured since you rarely talked anyway that it wouldn’t have been too fucking hard!”

Justin looked like I punched him, but I was too far gone now to stop. I was aware of everyone getting to their feet to surround me.

“We’re concerned about you, Cadence,” Paxon said.

I scowled at him. “Concern? Concern does not give someone the right to open their mouth and spew shit out that was said in confidence,” I snapped.

They moved, trying to surround me, but I backed up before they closed the circle, putting my back to a wall. I knew all the exits, and began planning the escape routes. I didn’t feel completely trapped, and it helped that they kept their distance from me. They were surrounding me, wanting to calm me down, but there was enough space to slip out between them if I needed to.

“We just want to help you,” Toby spoke up.

I shook my head. “It doesn’t mean you use someone to pump information out of me and then fucking tell everyone. My past isn’t news you go around sharing. If you want to know, come to me instead of getting a damn report on it! I get it, you guys share. I understood that quickly, but not everything is meant to be shared. It’s called fucking trust! You trust that when I’m ready, I’ll come to you and let you know. Just like I’m trusting that you all will eventually tell me your own demons, like the full story as to why Paxon and Calvin live with only their dad and Calvin is the way he is. Or why Toby lives with his aunt. Or why Bryan practically spends more time at everyone else’s house but his own.”

I scoffed at them all and shoved through Justin and Toby. I grabbed my purse and stormed out of the house. Throwing my shit into my car, I peeled out of the driveway and backed out onto the road.