Page 41 of Hodge
“No. She ruined them! You just can’t accept it. Go home, Hodge.” My heart is breaking inside of me, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I’m suffocating. I need out of here. I need to be as far from them as I can possibly get.
I storm past them and out the front door, sucking in deep breathes of the cold night air. I hear the door close behind me, but I don’t turn to look and see who it is. I can’t.
“I’m gonna kill him. I came here to tell you that.”
“Who?”
“Your father.” Now I turn to see Hodge standing there with blood dripping from his lip.
“You can’t do that. He’s dangerous.”
“So am I.”
“Hodge, please. Don’t do this.”
“I’m gonna find out who the bastard is that hurt you, Kemah. I’m gonna kill him next.”
“Why are you doing this?” I cry. Tears spill down my cheeks as I watch him walk closer to me.
“You know why,” he states, the closer he gets.
“No, Hodge, I really don’t. You said you didn’t want me. You said I should go, and I did what you said, Hodge. So no, I don’t fucking know why you’re doing any of this!” I scream at him. The tears on my cheeks are cold from the wind blowing, and my lips feel chapped. A shiver runs through me, and Hodge notices.
“You’re right. You should go inside.” He turns to walk away, and that pisses me off even more.
“That’s it? You fucking coward!” That must have hit him harder than it did before because he stops and turns to look at me.
“Coward? I’m fuckin’ here, ain’t I? I came here, Kemah!”
“And for what? To tell me you’re killing my dad? To put your life in danger?”
“It’s worth it, yeah?”
“Is it?”
“What do you want from me, Kemah? Huh?” He yells, throwing his arms out to his sides.
“If you have to ask, then fuck it,” I tell him. I turn around and head back for the door when he lets out a roar that rattles me from the inside. I don’t turn back. I can’t.
Instead, I reach for the door when Hodge grabs me, spinning me around and slamming me against the door. Then his lips are there, consuming mine like a madman. His kiss is intense and says everything to me that he couldn’t. He feels it. What I feel, he feels it. There’s something between us, and we both know it. This is Hodge’s way of showing it.
He doesn’t stop kissing me. Not until I can barely breath. But he doesn’t pull away. He moves his lips down my neck, sending waves of pleasure through my body. He kisses the soft spot behind my ear, runs his tongue along my neck. My body responds to him, and he knows it.
“We’re spendin’ the night here, but tomorrow, you’re comin’ home.” His breath is warm against my flesh as I stand here as still as stone.
“You didn’t want me there.”
“I changed my mind, Kemah. I want you there. I’m just … it’s just that …”
“You’re scared.”
“For you, yeah. I’m afraid my life will impact yours the way it did theirs.”
“I’m not her, Hodge. I’m not going to do what she did.”
“I know you won’t.” His words send warmth through my body as he pulls back to look me in the eye. “I’m keepin’ you, Kemah. Just like I said I was.”
“How do you know that’s what I want?” I ask in return.
