Play Me

Mom turned to Aubrey. “Lunch tomorrow?”

“For sure.”

They became engrossed in all things wedding while I turned my focus back to Hunter.

“You’re giving up control of planning the wedding?”

“Yes, my priority is us. Not all the small details. I can’t promise I won’t get hung up on schedules and outlines, but know I will always put us first at the end of the day.”

The point of a marriage wasn’t all the planning for the day. It was the two people joining their lives together and becoming one. Through Hunter’s love, I understood that.

“You are my beginning and my end, Kendall.”

34

Hunter

Josh and I rode silently along the fence line. Neither of us had said a word since we had saddled up the horses and took off for an afternoon ride.

Patience was the key, so I waited. When I thought I would be waiting all day, he finally spoke and told me his story.

“Her name was Lisa. I met her sophomore year of high school and instantly fell in love with her.”

I looked at him, wondering where this conversation was going and if it would be the reason beh

ind his behavior.

Josh shook his head as we both brought our horses to a stop. He stared out over the countryside as if lost in thought.

“Have you ever met a woman who made you want to kill her and love her at the same time?”

Smirking, I nodded as I thought of Kendall. “Yes. Yes, I have.”

Josh let out a halfhearted laugh. “That was Lisa. God, she was like a breath of fresh air one minute and my mortal enemy the next. Just when I thought I wanted to kiss her, she would do something that made me want to strangler her. I guess it was her way of trying to push me away.”

I frowned. “Why would she try to push you away?”

His smile faded. “At the time, I had no idea. All I knew was she was the most interesting girl I’d ever met. She was new to our school and instantly fit in with everyone. The popular kids, the science nerds, the jocks—everyone adored her. I was no exception. The moment she smiled at me, I knew I had to have her. I worked my ass off to impress her, but the more shit I did to show off, the more she ignored me. Pissed me off.”

I laughed. “I don’t miss those days.”

Josh faced me and grinned. I could see the pain and hurt in his eyes, and I started to think all of this kid’s issues had less to do with his father and more to do with this girl.

“Did you ever win her over?” I asked.

He turned and looked out over the pasture. “Yes. It took me a few months, but I did. She told me she liked me the first day she saw me in biology class. I guess it was love at first sight for both of us.”

“How did you win her over?”

Josh chuckled. “Ignoring her was the first plan of action. I figured if she didn’t like me, then I would just pretend she didn't faze me in the least. Fate kept throwing us together, though. She was my lab partner in biology class, then we were voted to be part of the homecoming court, and if you can believe it, we got partnered up for a fundraiser the football players and cheerleaders were doing. It seemed like at every turn, we were pushed together—no matter how hard I tried to stay away from her. I couldn’t take it and finally told her how I felt about her.”

“What did she say to that?”

“She admitted to liking me, too. We started dating, and for the first time in my life everything felt perfect. I didn’t care that my father wasn’t around, and when he was, I wasn’t bothered by his constant bashing of how badly I played or how I could have gotten a higher grade on a test. Nothing mattered to me but Lisa.”

His voice cracked at the end, and he closed his eyes as if he were being taken back in time. After clearing his throat, Josh went on. “I think I saw the signs from the very beginning but chose to ignore them. We dated for two years, and I never once went into her house. She would always meet me on the porch if I picked her up. She never talked about her family life at all. All I knew was her mother stayed at home with her little sister and her older brother was in college. Her father worked for a bank in town. He was the vice president or something like that. The first time I met them was at a football game. Lisa was so nervous when I introduced myself to her father. He was a fan of my dad’s, so he seemed pretty nice. Told me how much he admired my father, what a great football player he was, and how I had a bright future ahead of me. Based on that, I couldn’t figure out why Lisa never brought me around her folks. She said her father was strict and already didn’t like the idea that we were dating. He tolerated it because of who my father was.”

A sinking feeling started in my chest as I listened to Josh tell his story. I prayed like hell it wouldn’t go in one of the many different directions my mind was taking it.

“The night we had sex for the first time, she was really scared. I kept telling her we didn’t have to do it for me to love her. We’d been dating for over nine months, and I hadn’t pressured her at all. We messed around—went pretty far with things—but never had sex. I would have waited a lifetime for her if she wanted me to. I loved her like I’ve never loved anyone in my life.” He shook his head and let out a breath. “She wanted us to be together, told me she needed it, needed to feel the connection between us. Hell, in the end, I wanted to be with her more than I could admit. I probably could have talked her out of it, but I wanted her, too. I tried to make it as romantic as possible. I got the key to our lake house and told my folks I was spending the weekend there with a couple of buddies of mine. They went with us, and so did two of Lisa’s friends. It was perfect. Everything about it was perfect. From the candles in the room to the way she whispered how much she loved me. I knew my life would never be the same. I no longer cared about football being the number one thing in my life. I cared about her. Lisa was number one.”

“What happened?” I asked, watching his face drain of color.

“For awhile after that everything was amazing. My mother loved Lisa. Even my father liked her, but like I said, she was hard not to love. She had this way about her that just made everyone love her. The end of our junior year, she told me she was pregnant. We were so careful all the time, and she told me she was going to go on the pill. Come to find out she never did because she was afraid her parents would find them. Her dad especially. I didn’t find out until it was too late just what a prick he was. Lisa hid the fact that he would use her and her mother as a punching bag, so she tried to avoid any little thing that might set him off. Things slowly started to make sense. Why I hardly went to her house. Why she would meet me places instead of letting me pick her up. The bruises she used to have that she made up stories for. All of it made perfect sense.”

My stomach felt like I’d swallowed a twenty-pound weight.

“When did you find out her father was hitting her?”

“The day she told me she was pregnant. She was freaking out big time, and I didn’t know what to do. My father was home that weekend, and I told her it would be okay to talk to my folks. I knew my mother would stand by us; I wasn’t so sure about my father. When we told them Lisa was pregnant, my father, of course, told me right in front of Lisa that I had just ruined my chances of ever being a football player.”

My mouth dropped open. “That was his first reaction?”

Josh nodded. “He made sure to get in a few good jabs before my mother stopped him from going too far with his words. My mother, on the other hand, told us it would all be okay. She would help us in any way she could. She even went with us when we told Lisa’s parents.”

“How did they take it?”

“Weirdly fine. Her father was calm, but of course it was because my mother was with us. After we left, I just couldn’t shake the feeling something bad was going to happen. I remember telling my mother we needed to get Lisa out of that house. She needed to come stay with us, but my mom told me I was being overprotective of her because she was carrying my baby. She said I needed to take a deep breath and let Lisa and her parents process everything. The next day in school, Lisa tried to avoid me the entire day.”

Josh stopped for a moment and pulled in a deep breath before continuing. “I skipped football practice and went to her cheerleading practice. She instantly started crying when she saw me and ran into my arms. It wasn’t until she pulled away that I saw the black eye. She’d had a couple before but had always said another cheerleader had elbowed her in the face during practice. This time, I knew it was the bastard of a father who’d done it, who had caused all of them. I made her leave with me, and we went to our spot at the lake. We’d had sex there a number of times, and Lisa said it was the only place in the world she felt happy. I’m sure we conceived our baby there. She told me about the abuse, how it started when her little sister was born. Turns out Lisa’s mom had been having an affair with an old college boyfriend, and Lisa and her younger sister were this other guy’s kids. Her father started hitting her and her mom after finding out the truth, which was not long after the baby sister was born and her brother went off to college. Lisa said her mom begged her dad for a divorce but he wouldn’t give it to her. I guess he decided to keep them around to take ou

t his anger. Lisa said she would hear her mother screaming sometimes from her parents’ bedroom while her father would beat her and then make her have sex with him.”

A sick feeling rolled through my entire body. “He didn’t ever touch the girls, did he?”

“No. At least Lisa said he didn’t.” Josh turned and looked at me. His eyes filled with tears. “She begged me to run away with her that day, to just up and leave everything. As much as I loved her, Hunter, I couldn’t do that. I had to think about her and our baby’s future. My best shot was football. I knew I was good enough to make something of myself. Pay to support our family. I told her she could move out and live with my folks and me. I knew without a doubt my parents would be on board, especially when they found out her old man was hitting her. We made a plan that afternoon. I would go home and tell my mother and father what was happening. She was going to go home, pack a bag, and meet me at my house.”

Josh pulled in a shaky breath. “She never showed. I kept calling her, but she wasn’t answering her phone. I begged my father to go with me to her house. When we showed up, Lisa’s mom was frantic and the police were there. She begged me and my father to find Lisa because her father told her he was going to take the baby away from her and she would never see it. Her mom’s face was swollen and bruised, so I couldn't image what he had done to Lisa. The police started asking me if I knew where she would have gone. Instantly, I thought of our spot at the lake. They followed my father and me up to the lake, and when we pulled up, she was there.”

Tears streamed down Josh’s face, and I closed my eyes, knowing the outcome wasn’t going to be a good one.