Worth It

Thinking about the things he did out of anger made me shiver with horror and worry for this beautiful boy cowering against me.



After staring at me for an overly long second, the boy blinked and seemed to relax under my beseeching gaze. Slowly, his hand fell from my lips. We continued to stare at each other as the search party combed past us, never discovering our hiding spot. Minutes drifted by and still, neither of us moved. Finally, he glanced away as if to ensure our safety. But his gaze tracked right back to me.



“You’re not screaming,” he said, seemingly perplexed by the notion.



Oh, crap. I was supposed to scream now, wasn’t I?



With a small clearing of my throat, I lifted my chin and straightened my back. “Well...you’re not running away.”



His gaze darted around my face, confusion and maybe a little awe in his eyes. I think he realized then, just as I did, that maybe we weren’t complete enemies after all.



He straightened to his feet and backed a step away, seeming almost leery of me. When he turned to leave, I panicked, not ready for him to go.



“Hey.” I leapt up after him, only to cause my vision to blur and a dull ache to ricochet through my goose egg.



He paused. A second passed, then two. Finally, he glanced back. “What?”



“Did you really do that to my brother’s bed?”



A grin lit his face, a grin that had my stomach flipping over and my heart skipping madly. A slight nod later, he answered, “And I’m going to keep doing it every time I have to change one of his daughter’s dirty diapers.”



I exhaled a breath I’d been holding, a little impressed he’d had the nerve to do something so bold against Garrett, against anyone in my family, and even warmer in the belly that he felt so protective of his sister. I wondered if either of my brothers would seek that kind of justice for me if I’d landed in the same situation. But what I said was, “I can’t believe you broke into my house.”



“I didn’t steal anything.” He took a step toward me, then another.



I didn’t move away, but I did hold my breath. A toxic mixture of fear and excitement raced through me.



Slowly, he lifted his hand. When I still refused to back away from him, he paused with his fingers lifted halfway between us. Then he gave in to whatever had been holding him back and reached out to pluck a broken twig from my hair.



With a sharp breath, I glanced from the twig to his face. Then I shook my head. “You still vandalized my brother’s room. That’s not right.”



His eyes narrowed. “It’s a lot less wrong than what he did to my sister.”



“I don’t...” When he lifted his eyebrows, waiting for me to continue, I took a quick breath. “I mean, I don’t think Garrett...you know...I don’t think he’s the father.”



With a sniff of dismissal, the boy glanced away. “Of course you’d say that.”



“No, really. I’m serious. I know my brother. I know he’s not perfect. And he’s definitely capable of doing something like...this. He can lie and deny the truth to your face only to turn around and brag about it to his friends. But I’ve heard him talking to his buddies about this, and he still denies it to them.”



“Well, I’ve seen the baby,” the Parker boy countered. This time, when he reached for my hair, it wasn’t to pull anything from it. He wound a strand around his finger. “And she looks exactly like you.”



My breath caught. “Well...I-I’m certainly not the father.”



He gave a soft laugh and smiled. Wow, I liked his smile. Were poor Parkers supposed to have such straight white teeth and amazing smiles?



But then the smile dipped into an irritated scowl, as if he’d just remembered I was one of the rich, pretentious Bainbridges. His fingers jerked from my hair. “She’s definitely related to you. Flaming red hair. Eyes so blue they’re almost turquoise and only about two freckles on her entire face. Kind of pretty, actually.”



I tried not to react, except my skin heated violently. His compliment blushed through my entire system, and every breath I took made me more exhilarated than the last.



Until he had to add, “For a Bainbridge.”



Spinning away, he hurried off and disappeared around a tree.



I stood there, gaping at the place he’d just been. Even though he’d tried to end our encounter with criticism, my chest expanded and filled with warmth and an exuberance I couldn’t contain because it leaked out my lips and stretched the tips up until I was grinning like an idiot.



He might not have taken anything from my home, but he’d definitely just stolen something from me, something I’d never get back. It was as if he’d sucked out everything dismal and distressing in my life and left me glowing with nothing but a giddy radiance.