Page 28 of Craved By You
Fuck.
“It’s okay.” I helped her up to her feet after I gave her a few moments to gather her composure, making sure she could stand before I let go of her. “I’m still satisfied knowing that I took care of you.” Astrid smiled at me sweetly.
She had constantly tried to explain this to me, and it’s a concept that I just couldn’t grasp. Women always seemed to complain if the man busted quickly, leaving them feeling like they got the horrible end of the bargain. I couldn’t blame them, I’m sure I would feel the same, except with Astrid. At this point, I would give anything for her to be able to come with no issues. Even if it meant I didn’t. She was deserving of that experience, and I hoped that one day we would figure everything out and we would be able to share the experiences.
I smiled at her insistence. “You know, it’s okay to be upset.” I pulled back the bedspread and sheet and gestured for her to get into bed. “Want to talk about it?”
“It’s just-” she began, “it’s just not fair. You work so hard and build me up so much and it feels like it’s going to happen and then… it’s gone.” She paused. “Where does it even go?”
“It’s magic.” I waved my hands like a magician and we both started to die laughing before I went silent.
“What was your mom like?” Astrid asked. “I know that seems like a strange question considering, I just wonder where you got your personality from. And your kind eyes.”
Nice distraction, Astrid.
I sighed deeply, unamused that this is where the conversation was going to go instead of talking about everything she had just experienced. We could always talk about that another time. For now, it appeared this was the conversation that was going to semi-haunt me until I finally accepted defeat and opened up.This is how she is metaphorically going to get her rocks off.“My mom was one of the kindest women you would ever meet. Hell, she would have loved you.” He smiled. “Every time she walked into a room, even the darkest room, it would illuminate brightly. No matter how I was feeling, she could always make me feel better, until…” I paused.
Astrid rolled over and placed her leg across mine. “Until your step-mother showed up?”
“Yes.” I stopped and thought about what to say next. “Her name was Dawn.” As her name slipped between my lips I couldn’t help but to travel back in time.
At first, when Dawn came into our lives she was great. She made me feel wanted as a child and I couldn’t wait for us to all be a family. Mom seemed happy too, like the one piece of the puzzle that had been missing had finally been found and we were complete. They moved in together within a couple of months. Dawn surprised me with an Xbox and mom semi-lectured her about making sure she didn’t spoil me rotten, even though that would never happen. I was just excited to finally be able to join my friends in a Battle Royale of sorts or hunting zombies. Thenone day, when I came home from school, I noticed that mom had a lot of bruises on her face and arms.
“She’s going to be okay honey, she just took a tumble down the stairs,” Dawn had explained. I looked for my mom to respond but there was no emotion radiating from behind her eyes. After that day, her light grew dimmer and dimmer.
I cleared my throat, attempting to hold back a sob. I hadn’t cried in years and I’d be damned if I cried tonight. “I should have known something wasn’t right. The signs were all there and I let Dawn continue to insist that Mom had suddenly developed a newfound enemy: stairs.”
Astrid placed her hand over my heart and I hoped she couldn’t feel it trying to beat out of my chest. “You were just a child, Colt.”
“I could have called the cops and had her checked out.”
“You didn’t know,” Astrid continued to try and bring me back down. “You trusted Dawn. She made you believe you could trust her. There’s a special place in Hell with her name on it when she gets there.”
I chuckled nervously. “She’s already there.”
“What do you mean?” I could hear the hesitation in Astrid’s voice growing.
I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.I could tell her, right? Or at least parts of it?“The day that I came home and found my mom dead, Dawn was waiting for me.” Astrid gasped. “I knew that I couldn’t let her get away and have the opportunity to do the same thing to someone else so I reacted… I killed her.”
“You…” She paused. “Youkilledher?”
I wanted to die. “I… did.” I acknowledged again hesitantly. My biggest secret was now out in the open. At least one of them, anyway. I definitely wasn’t going to casually slip in the part about how I alsoateher.
“What about the body?” Of course, she would ask. She’s thorough.
Thankfully, I got my thinking quick on my feet from my dad, who was so quick he disappeared off the face of the earth. “I called my uncle, and he took care of that for me, making sure that everything was cleaned up properly. I had him as my alibi, and we rehearsed our story over and over until we could recite it in perfect unison. There was no way either of us would get caught.”
“That’s quick thinking.” Astrid was starting to fight sleep. “I’m just in shock over all of this.”
“Trust me sunshine, so was I.” Now felt like a good time to change the subject. “Promise me you won’t say anything to anyone.”
Astrid nodded as she yawned. “Of course, I promise.” She reached over and took my hand in hers. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that.”
“Me too.”
I could feel Astrid’s doe eyes staring up at me. “I’m getting tired, can we sleep now?” She scooted over and laid her head on my chest.
It had been a long night already. “Of course.”
