Page 88 of Forbidden

I gripped on Tatz’s hand tighter and pulled him into the house.

“Seriously, you had to mention the Jeep?” I snapped at him, knowing everyone could still hear us.

Tatz shrugged and then stopped walking, just when we were about to get out of my family’s hearing distance.

“Can I ask you something, Hannah?” The cockiness that was usually in his voice wasn’t there. I turned to look back at him. I had been busy trying to drag him to the front door, away from Dad and Tyson.

I sighed and came to a stop, knowing that my family was still busy listening in case I said I was leaving with him. “Sure, Tatz go ahead.” I didn’t see what was so important.

He glanced down at our linked hands. And then looked back up, looking me in the eye. “Are you off limits?” He said it slowly. “Like, to me?”

I frowned, not understanding the question. Was he trying to ask if Tyson and Dad had the power to keep me from him? Or if I looked at him like that to begin with?

I shook my head. “You shouldn’t even be asking me that question.” Whether it was about Tyson and Dad, or whether I liked him, it wasn’t something we could talk about in hearing distance of my family.

“Yet, I’m asking. So, Hannah, yes or no. Are you out of my league or not? I get you need to get over the bloke that hurt you. But if Tyson is right, and you are out of my limits, I just want to know.”

I sighed. My cheek was sore, my breast was burning and Tatz wanted to have a deep and meaningful conversation while my whole family and fucking Andrea could hear us.

“No,” I looked up at him. “No, I’m not out of your league.” When it came to it, I was never out of anyone’s league; it was the guys who were out of mine. Like Brad, for example. “But I know you. So I know what you want, and so my answer remains the same and it is no. I’m not out of your league.”

Tatz wasn’t looking for a girlfriend. He was looking for a girl he liked enough to have regular sex with. That was it. No emotions, no strings, no labels. Just sex.

Tatz smirked. “So you already know what I want, hey?”

“You do realize my parents and brother can hear every word, right?” I challenged him.

“Fine, let’s get out of their hearing distance then.” He was the one pushing me up the hallway now. I laughed and it immediately hurt. “You okay?” His voice dripped into concern, as he must have seen my expression when the laughter caused pain.

I opened the front door and closed it after us. “Yeah, I’ll be okay.” I would smile at him but smiling hurt too. “Thanks for, well, you know.” I came to a stop on the porch. “For not getting in a fight with them. I know it goes against your blood not to get into a fight.” My eyes dropped to the ground. “Sorry you had to see that.”

I wished everyone that had seen Dad hit me hadn’t. At least then it would be between Dad and I and that would be it. Mum wouldn’t be panicking that she was losing a daughter and Tyson wouldn’t be thinking I was about to take off with Tatz.

Tatz’s fingers gently lifted my head up. He touched me so softly. “I’m going to ask again, are you okay to stay here? Cause your Dad just gave you a good reason to move out.”

Move out. I guess I had always said that I would if Dad ever hit me. Everyone knew Dad had a temper—he barely ever had control over it. But when it came to me, he kept a firmer grip over it because he knew that I would never take him hitting me as acceptable.

I think I was five or maybe six, I don’t remember the age, but I remember the day clearly. Tyson lived to test Dad’s limits. I walked into Dad’s study seeing him raise his hand at Tyson, about to hit him, and then he saw me and stopped.

Dad never hit us. Well, I think he had got into the odd drunken fight with Tyson now. Now that Tyson could handle himself in a fight he was actually a good match to Dad. I think it was because Tyson had been Dad’s example on how to fight.

Anyway, on that day I was so scared that one day Dad would hit me. I got so upset about it that he promised me that he would never hit me, and if he did, I could leave. Dad was the one to tell me what I could do if he hit me. I remember a few of things he mentioned. The two main ones were that I never had to speak to him again and I could leave and not tell him where I’d gone to. He said if he ever hit me then he didn’t deserve to be in my life to begin with.

However, tonight’s events hadn’t meant a clean black and white decision.

So I knew I could leave with Tatz now and never come back. And Dad wouldn’t come after me. He would respect it.

But I also knew I had caused Dad to snap tonight. I was the one to push him to do what he did.

So I nodded my head to Tatz. “I’ll be fine.” And I tried to give him a smile, but it hurt too much.

Tatz sighed. “Fuck, I hate it when women don’t listen to me.”

I smirked just a little. “No, you hate it when I don’t listen to you.”

He dipped his head, nodding, “Exactly.” He slowly moved forward and kissed my non-damaged cheek lightly. “I’ll pick you up in the morning for school.”

I frowned. “You don’t have to.”

“Layla is forcing me to drive her around all week while I fix her car. So picking you up comes with her demands.” He smiled a real smile. “I’m going to be taking the extra time with you as an advantage.”

I put a hand on his chest and pushed him back slightly and toward his car. “You are such a flirt,” I said, trying hard not to let the smile capture my face. “Oh, and I want my jumper!”

“I think you care more about this jumper than you do people,” Tatz grinned at me and then kissed my cheek once again before leaving.

When he pulled away I actually felt somewhat better till I turned and looked at my front door.

I sighed. Well, at least they would be out back. I could slip away upstairs and just keep to myself. In fact, from now on that was exactly what I was doing. I was keeping away from them.

---